music – Page 5 of 5 – The Orbital

28Jan

By Emma BradleyNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Music, Theatre & Performance

Understanding Opera; Misconception & Snobbery

In its prime, opera was considered in much the same way as we now think of cinema. So what keeps so many young people away from opera today? Two obvious reasons are the initial uncertainty of watching entertainment in a foreign language, and perception of opera being exclusively geared to a wealthy elite. However, there are more subtle prejudgements surrounding the genre, such as how popular music today is linked to a more free and casual vocal style as opposed to the vocal precision and intensity of opera. With this in mind, how do we go about dealing with the issue of inaccessibility in opera? Is it more important to have an audience who can access and experience more of the work, or respect the composer’s original opera? Taking libretto (the operatic text) as an example; the composer...

Holloway’s Music Scene…

With the arrival of Rebecca Miller, the music department has seen a great many changes and the forthcoming term is no exception. To start the term we have the second in our celebrity masterclass series, a flute masterclass with Juliette Bausor. Principal flautist of the London Mozart Players and of the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Juliette will be giving a masterclass to some of Royal Holloway’s flautists. This is generously supported by the Alumni Fund and is free to students. After their first term as Ensemble in Residence, the Badke Quartet are returning in a variety of events. They will be doing two masterclasses, one an open event to the public, coaching student chamber ensembles. Any group can take part and it is a wonderful opportunity to be coached by professional musicians. The Badk...

“Boots on the Ground!” – The RHUL Symphony Orchestra, The Student Body, and Rebecca Miller

The Royal Holloway Symphony Orchestra kicked off the new term in September with a concert that filled the Windsor Auditorium beyond its own doors. People squeezed into every last head space, perspiring in the heat, to get a glimpse of the Orchestra in its first event of the year, under the baton of RHUL’s new Fellow in Music Performance; BBC Proms 2014 accredited conductor, Rebecca Miller. With an audience pushing maximum capacity and an orchestra to match, swelling with fresh enthusiasm and pushing its own size limits, the year’s musical calendar began with a show of great skill that we are accustomed to seeing year-in-year out; only with a difference! Skill and success aside, it is unheard of to see Royal Holloway’s largest auditorium and concert hall filled out for a musical event. It h...