Alasdair Crosby

Alasdair Crosby is a journalist and author. His passion for country living led him to set up Rural, a quarterly magazine focusing on the Jersey rural environment, culture and community, and how these can stay intact in today’s modern world. A prominent supporter of the Island’s art, music and entertainment scene, we spoke to Alasdair about his journey with music and his inspirations.

At what age did you play music?  

From about 7 to 17 I played the piano, not too unsuccessfully... at least I got beyond the 'Marching Along Together' and 'Fairies in the Wood' stage. I like to dream that when I retire (?) I might take it up again.

What did you love most about playing the piano when you were younger?  

I loved my (limited) ability to make music and draw notes out of the ether and into melody. 

Why does music matter to you?

You could be in for a very long answer, here, so I will try to keep it as short as possible: 

Culture seems like a zig-zag mountain road, and after each bend you are higher up the mountain with a clearer view both downhill and uphill. Down at the bottom we have simple skills - journalism, for example, which has its place so long as it is honest, accurate and clearly expressed. Higher up the zig zag bends can be experienced literature, poetry, then music of various styles, so long as the music is genuine and melodic and, like the best food and wine, has a gout du terroir. Great classical music is on a bend that leads upwards towards the clouds - what will be there for us to discover once we go further up to that next bend that leads higher towards the summit above the clouds, which limit our present vision?   

Where are you from originally & what inspiration do you take from your current home?  

My father was an Army Officer so we moved about a lot when I was young; I have no particular connection with any district; Jersey has been my home on and off during my life, is my permanent home now and likely to remain so. So many people who wander away from Jersey feel drawn back to it - Jersey is truly 'home' even if where one lives is 'away'.    

What is your favourite place on earth?

Loyalty would suggest the answer to that is 'Jersey', but I would probably be quite happy really in any area of traditional countryside, be it farmed or wilderness. No big towns, please, no suburbia, no commuting. The thought of living in a big city make me feel sick.  I have an unrequited wish to live somewhere where I could open the window and hear wolves howling in the distance, which is difficult in Jersey (even in St Ouen).  

Who is your favourite composer?

Chopin or Schubert - I can never decide. 

What or who inspires you most?

Who inspires me most (in the contemporary world)? Prince Charles - I am quite a fan

What inspires me most? The particularly European culture - which it has spread around the world - of aspiring in life towards the good, the true and the beautiful. 

Which historical figure would you choose to have dinner with?

Le Sieur Geoffroi de Charny, or Plato (preferably at a symposium!)

Jennifer Johnston

Jennifer Johnston

Liverpudlian mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston is a prolific concert performer, having performed with many of the world’s greatest orchestras and conductors. She has won numerous awards, including being a former BBC New Generation Artist, along with being a graduate of Cambridge University and the Royal College of Music. She is particularly well-known for her interpretations of the works of Mahler and Elgar, and is closely associated with both the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, for whom she was their Artist-In-Residence. Jennifer is a passionate advocate for music education and believes that all children should have access to music in schools, and has been helping Music in Action this year by running workshops in Jersey schools, along with helping run the Liberation International Music Festival. We had the opportunity to talk to Jennifer recently and get to know her better:

At what age did you decide to become a musician?  

When I was 7 and chose to join the church choir over brownies. Both happened on Thursday evenings and I had to make a decision, which turned out to be life-changing. 

What do you love most about being a singer?  

I love the teamwork it involves. When the chemistry is right with an orchestra and a conductor, musical magic happens. Over this past year, I have missed the adrenaline rush of appearing in front of live audiences too.

Why does music matter to you?

It matters because of the effect it has on people, especially children: calming, enjoyable and inspirational, it lifts people out of their lives and allows them to express themselves without reservation or hindrance.

Where are you from originally & what inspiration do you take from your current home?  

I’m from Liverpool and still live there. it’s where I belong, and where I am at my happiest, surrounded by my family and a stone’s throw from the beach. 

What is your favourite place on earth?

Home.

Who is your favourite composer?

Mahler. the human condition is expressed perfectly in his music, within which you can find all emotions it is possible to experience.

What or who inspires you most?

Those who triumph over adversity, who don’t feel sorry for themselves and plough on regardless of the obstacles they face.

If you hadn’t become a musician, what job would you have wanted to do?

I would have remained a barrister, the job i gave up to become a singer.

Which historical figure would you choose to have dinner with?

Elizabeth 1st. What an extraordinary character.

What can we look forward to from you next?

I’m in the middle of studying at Harvard University on their Women in Leadership programme, and then i will hopefully resume my singing career!

Morgan Szymanski

Described as ‘a player destined for future glories’ (Classical Guitar Magazine) Morgan Szymanski has been highlighted as ‘One to Watch’ by both Gramophone Magazine and the BBC Music Magazine. A featured artist on the cover of Classical Guitar Magazine, Morgan Szymanski was selected as a finalist for the ‘Outstanding Young Artist Award’ by MIDEM Classique/IAMA.

In recent years Morgan has given recitals at major UK venues and festivals including the Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, Bridgewater Hall, Purcell Room, Queen Elizabeth Hall, King’s Place, The Sage Gateshead, Royal Opera House, and London International Guitar Festival. He has appeared as a soloist with orchestras such as the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Hallé, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Filarmónica de la Ciudad de México, Orchestra of the Swan, Southbank Sinfonia, Welsh Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Sinfonia, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, the Cervantes Choir and the Coro de Madrigalistas de Bellas Artes in Mexico’s Palacio de Bellas Artes.

We had a chance to ask Morgan a few questions in the lead up to his digital concert as a part of the 2021 Liberation International Music Festival. Here’s what he had to say:

At what age did you decide to become a musician?

Well, I first picked up a guitar when I was 6 and have been fascinated by it ever since. However, I never really consciously decided to be a musician. It´s just the way life developed and unfolded.

What do you love most about being a guitarist?

Segovia used to say the guitar is like a mini orchestra, with it´s large pallet of tones and colours. I enjoy being creative with sound, and working on my own interpretations. A bit like visual artists choose and use colours and lines, or as a friend once put it: ´sculpting sound´.

Where are you from originally & what brought you to the UK?

I was born in Mexico City to a Scottish mother and a Mexican father of Polish background. I grew up in Valle de Bravo, in the State of Mexico, where I live now. It was music that brought me to the UK, Edinburgh initially, before studying at the Royal College of Music in London and the Conservatoire in Amsterdam.

What is your favourite place on Earth?

Valle de Bravo followed by Tuscany.

Who is your favourite composer?

JS Bach

What or who inspires you most?

Nature

If you hadn’t become a musician, what job would you have wanted to do?

Gardener

What is on your bucket list?

Cuba, Patagonia, learning flamenco and arranging all of Bach´s Cello Suites for Guitar

Which historical figure would you choose to have dinner with?

Frida Kahlo

What can we look forward to from you next?

I´m looking forward to releasing ´Live in South Africa´, a live recording from the Woordfees festival in Stellenbosch with my friends from the Amici Quartet. We recorded works by Vivaldi, Boccerini and Piazzolla. Also looking forward to a series of UK concerts this summer with my friend Mark Padmore, the Benyounes Quartet and Laura Mitchell. Details on my website www.morganszymanski.co.uk

You can see Morgan’s stunning performance in this year’s festival on Saturday, 5 June in a solo recital all of German sonatas (available to watch until 5 July).

Andrew Maginley

“quite beautiful… Maginley prefers a relaxed flow, enhanced by an attractive tone and sure sense of architecture.” – Gramophone. Andrew Maginley is the first professional black classical lute player in modern history. A concert soloist and accompanist, his international career has spanned more than thirty years. He specialises in lutes and early guitars and is a champion of the 18th-century baroque lute.

Andrew has continued to give recitals online during the coronavirus pandemic and teaches lute and guitar. His special insterests include: Black musicians in Early Music; Baroque art and music in 17th and 18th-century Europe and the Americas; the multi-ethnic heritage of lute/guitar techniques. He is also an accomplished portrait artist.

We had a chance to ask Andrew a few questions in the lead up to his digital concert as a part of the 2021 Liberation International Music Festival. Here’s what he had to say:

What do you love most about being a lutenist?

The variety of music performance possibilities. I play repertory from the Medieval through to early Early Classical.

Solo music to Opera and everything inbewteen!

Where are you from originally & what brought you to the UK?

I am from New York City. I moved to Bremen Germany to on a Fulbright Scholarship, then I met my future wife contralto Emma Curtis in Stuttgart. She is British, and we decided to get married and move to the U.K.

What is your favourite place on Earth?

Yucatan in Mexico

Who is your favourite composer(s)?

J.S. Bach & S.L. Weiss

What or who inspires you most?

The music.

If you hadn’t become a musician, what job would you have wanted to do?

There was nothing else I wanted to do than music, art..then again I’m an artist as well.

What is on your bucket list?

Japan. I never visited and its definitely on the list.

Which historical figure would you choose to have dinner with?

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

What can we look forward to from you next?

Performance/recording with Chineke!

You can see Andrew’s stunning performance in this year’s festival on Saturday, 12 June in a solo recital all of German sonatas (available to watch until 12 July).

Lotte Betts-Dean

Praised by The Guardian for her “irrepressible sense of drama and unmissable, urgent musicality”, Australian mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean is very passionate about curation and programming, with a repertoire that encompasses contemporary music, art song, chamber music, early music, opera, oratorio and non-classical collaborations. Lotte joins the Liberation International Music Festival this year as a guest artists on our new Liberation@Home digital concert series.

A versatile concert artist performing predominantly in Australia and in the UK, recent highlights include her debut with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Sir Andrew Davis (Stravinsky Perséphone), recitals at Buxton International Festival, St John’s Smith Square, St Martin in the Fields, Barbican Centre’s Sound Unbound Festival, Tête-à-Tête Festival, Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre, and the Australian Festival of Chamber Music. 

Alongside pianist Joseph Havlat, Lotte won the 2019 Oxford Lieder Young Artist Platform and subsequently gave recitals at the 2019 and 2020 Oxford Lieder Festival. Together they have performed Messiaen’s largest vocal work Harawi at numerous venues and festivals, alongside many other wide-reaching programmes of song and new music. We were able to connect with Lotte recently to get to know her better:

At what age did you decide to become a musician?

I started singing in a children’s choir at age 9, and I think I took it very seriously from then on, really. It was quite a professional group with album recordings, world premieres and international tours, and I loved everything about it - it was quite similar to the choral tradition that many singers in the UK and Europe go through as well. There wasn’t a specific moment where I decided to become a musician, I just always adored music and singing and I was very lucky to be able to develop that passion into a career.

What do you love most about being a singer?

That is a very good and difficult question! I think singing is a very special thing, it feels incredibly personal and connected to the soul, somehow. The communication aspect - the connection with audience - is really important to me. I am quite obsessed by languages, so I love that we have text to engage and play with as well!

Where are you from originally & what brought you to the UK?

I was born in Berlin to Australian parents, and grew up there until moving to Australia at the age of 10. I studied and freelanced in Melbourne until 2014, when I moved to London to start my Masters at the Royal Academy of Music. I’ve been here ever since and the UK really feels like home now!

What is your favourite place on Earth?

After a year of hardly any travel, I think I have to choose a few places! It’s a cliché, but I have a real soft spot for New York, especially Brooklyn. I’d love to live there for a bit, the energy of the city is just incomparable. I also have to mention the glorious Sunshine Coast, north of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. We lived in a beach town called Noosa for a few years when we first moved to Australia - I still miss that beach!

I also visited the Orkney Islands for the first time recently which left a real impression... I will definitely want to go back there soon.

Who is your favourite composer?

The top spot has to go to J.S Bach - Papa Bach as he’s known in my family. It’s just stunning genius and has a way of hitting you emotionally like nothing else, I never tire of his music. Honorable mentions go to Haydn (the string quartets!), Stravinsky, Ligeti, Messiaen, and Percy Grainger.

What or who inspires you most?

This will sound quite cheesy, but I am very inspired by my father, who is a viola player and composer. I love his music and musical language, as well as his approach to the profession. I feel very lucky to have another musician in my immediate family, his advice is always spot on and I always feel energized after our “shop-talk” chats.

I am also very inspired by a handful of wonderful singers who work with all kinds of repertoire, old and new, opera and concert, art song and chamber music, classical and other - living proof that you can in fact “do it all” when it comes to shaping your career.

If you hadn’t become a musician, what job would you have wanted to do?

To be honest, I never even considered another path, it was always going to be music for me! I did a lot of theatre when I was younger and would have loved to try my hand at acting, which is probably more insane than becoming a musician. I also worked in the hospitality industry for many years in all sorts of roles and I love food and cooking - I think I would have been very happy as a chef or restaurateur!

What is on your bucket list?

Another good question. After the past 14 months, I’d love to do some more traveling. A big coast-to-coast road trip through the US, a trip on the train that runs through central Australia, The Ghan, and a visit to Japan are the first that spring to mind. Career-wise, I’d love to one day help run and curate a festival.

Which historical figure would you choose to have dinner with?

Can I pick two? Oscar Wilde and Jane Austen. Imagine the quick fire wit...

What can we look forward to from you next?

I’m very excited to have a few live concerts happening during summer in some beautiful places around the UK like Lewes, Swaledale, Darlington and Market Drayton, as well as London. I’ve so missed singing to audiences so it’ll be special to feel that magic connection again. I’m also looking forward to performing some Gilbert and Sullivan with Opera Holland Park in August, that’ll be a lot of fun. After that, it’s off to Australia for a few concerts - it’s been far too long between visits.

You can see Lotte’s stunning performance in this year’s festival on Sunday, 13 June in a whimsical solo recital all about fairy tales with pianist Joseph Havlat (available to watch until 13 July).

Nathan Williamson

We’re thrilled to have pianist Nathan Williamson join us for the 2021 Liberation International Music Festival. We spoke with him recently to get to know him better and learn why music matters to him. Nathan is a pianist, composer and artistic director. Alongside regular solo, chamber and concerto performances, Nathan is in demand for new work from a wide variety of artists both at home and abroad. He also stages and facilitates projects at local and national level, ranging from collaborations on new repertoire, performances for the concert hall and theatre, and music-making for musicians of all ages and abilities.

Nathan’s career has led to performances at Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, De Doelen, Barbican Centre, Purcell Room, LSO St Luke’s, and the Aldeburgh, Lucerne, Bolzano and Spoleto festivals, and collaborations with artists including Claire Bloom, James Gilchrist, Guy Johnston, Arisa Fujita, Linda Merrick, The Gryphon Trio, Njabulo Madlala, Boris Kucharsky, Alexander Baillie, Ensemble Endymion, the Allegri and Sacconi Quartets, as well as working alongside numerous living composers in performances of their work. Since 2016 Nathan has been a member of the renowned new music ensemble Piano Circus who, alongside their position as artists-in-residence at Brunel University London, have commissioned over 100 new works from leading composers and undertake regular international tours.

At what age did you decide to become a musician?

I was 12. I was trying to compose at school one day and had a weird, almost ‘out of the body experience’ where about three hours vanished in a flash, and suddenly there were 6 bars of music in front of me which I had no recollection of writing. It was only because there was no one else in the room that I could definitively conclude I had written them. Suddenly every waking moment was about music.

What do you love most about being a pianist?

Studying old repertoire I have known for a long time and playing it in new ways, and learning new repertoire which no one has ever played before. I also love going to places I have no connection with to play to people I have never met and will never see again. But those could apply to any instrumentalist. The best part of being a pianist per se is playing entirely on your own.

Where are you from originally?

I was born in Cambridge but my family as a whole hail from the Suffolk coast, where I (and most of them) now live as well.

What is your favourite place on Earth?

Assynt, in the Scottish Highlands. And Paris.

Who is your favourite composer?

I don’t have one particular favourite, but the ones who speak to me the most are Schubert, Brahms, Beethoven, Varese, Berlioz, Rameau, and various others.

What or who inspires you most?

The day to day, year to year ups and downs of being alive is quite enough inspiration for me!

If you hadn’t become a musician, what job would you have wanted to do?

An anaesthetist or a psychoanalyst. I am fascinated by the affect of things on the human body and the mind.

What is on your bucket list?

To have finished some music I am really proud of in a way which no one else could have written. Aside from that its honestly just to live every day to the most. I am happy to just do my best wherever life takes me and am not particularly interested in personal achievements.

Which historical figure would you choose to have dinner with?

The composer Rebecca Clarke. I would want to talk to her about being a performer as well as a composer, why she did not compose more, and the various events of experiences which led her to make the decisions she made.

What can we look forward to from you next?

I am writing a new piece for the Rossetti Ensemble to be premiered at the Alwyn Music Festival on Saturday October 9th, am doing a lot of work with the singer James Gilchrist, including two CDs of British song post 1945 coming out on SOMM, and am learning the 24 Preludes and Fugues by Christopher Brown, a magnum opus of about 2.5 hours duration.

You can see Nathan’s stunning performances in this year’s festival on Saturday, 29 May in the Carnival of the Animals (available to watch until 1 July) and on Sunday, 6 June in a stunning solo recital (available to watch until 6 July).

Ian Rolls

In the 2021 Liberation International Music Festival, you’ll probably notice the stunning art accompanying each event and on the posters that are up on the island. Those beautiful images are by Jersey artist, Ian Rolls. Ian is a full time artist who is well known in Jersey in the Channel Islands, where he has lived for most of his life.

Ian has travelled widely and his travels have been an important source of inspiration for him as an artist. He has spent prolonged periods living and working in India & Sri Lanka, cultures which have deeply affected his life. Ian has shown his work in solo or group exhibitions in India, Sri Lanka, Germany, France, England and regularly in Jersey. Wherever he is, the images he produces are characteristically quirky, playful and up-lifting. His work can be found in collections worldwide.

We recently had a quick interview with Ian to get to know him better.

At what age did you decide to become an artist?

There was no decision as such... as far as I can remember there was never a time when I wasn’t an artist, in that I always produced art and liked doing it. So I just carried on.

What do you love most about being an artist?

Art is my way of coping with life. It is a therapy and a way of processing the world in all it’s confusion and challenges. I have always loved turning negatives into positives using the magic power of creativity, be that using found objects, perceived “rubbish” or just negative emotions to produce art.

Are you from Jersey originally?

My mother is Jersey born, but I was born in Banbury in Oxfordshire, the area where my father was brought up. The family moved to Jersey when I was 3 and I had all my education in the island.

What is your favourite Jersey landscape or view?

St Ouen’s Bay is the reason I have lived in Jersey for most of my life. The open wildness is a breathing space in what could be a very claustrophobic small island. But I love the incredible variety of the landscape here, which makes the island seem much bigger than it is.

What’s your favourite colour and why?

Turquoise... the colour of the sea on a bright windy day with white sand drifting over the beach.

What or who inspires you most?

Meditation has had a life changing effect on my life and is a very important part of my creative practice. I have been meditating regularly twice a day for nearly 30 years and for me it is what keeps me in balance most of the time.

If you hadn’t become an artist, what job would you have wanted to do?

After doing a degree in fine art, I did a post graduate qualification in painting restoration, which was my main source of income for many years. It was a fascinating profession which enabled me to travel to India with an international project, where I met my wife, also a restorer.

What is on your bucket list?

I want to build an eco house by the sea in Sri Lanka. I spent a year in Sri Lanka with my wife and son in 2005 and fell in love with the place, the people and the culture. I’d love to return for what would essentially be a big creative project, working in and with nature.

Which historical figure would you choose to have dinner with?

I’ve never been a big fan of dinner parties, so I’ll pass on the conventional dinner party scenario. But it would be fascinating to have a cup of chai with Siddhartha Gautama, better known as the Buddha.

Where can people buy your work?

I have my own gallery called The Pitt Stream Gallery in Pitt Street in St Helier (just off Charring Cross). It shows a wide selection of my work including original paintings and prints as well as the ceramics of my wife Ruth. www.pittstream.gallery www.ianrolls.co.uk

Thank you Ian for your wonderful art of the island and for allowing us to feature it in this year’s festival!

Jersey Care Homes

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Music in Action has hosted virtual music sessions in care home residents on the island. Local Jersey musicians meet with residents, who are often in isolation, to spread live music and joy virtually over Zoom. The outcome has been remarkable for both the musicians as well as the residents.

Sam Walwyn playing at Maison La Corderie

One of our coordinating partners, Daisy from Lakeside Manor Care Home, commented:

They loved it! Thank you so much. It made their afternoon. They (the residents) absolutely loved it and we look forward to hearing and see you and your fellow musicians again. They like to clap, and if they know the words, they sing along. We have musical instruments, so they use bells, drums and the triangle to play along too.

In 2020 we worked with many different care homes on the island including Maison La Corderie, Pinewood Residential Home, Lakeside Care Home, and Silver Springs Care Home providing a connection through music to over 250 residents.

With a musician like that, you need to clap! Thank you very much. You’ve made my afternoon! - Ken

Ed and Dido Webb perform from their home to residents in isolation

My father was a noted tenor, and I used to play piano for him… it's been a great pleasure, thank you. - Audrey

Thanks to the generosity of Music in Action’s donors, we are continuing this needed work as we battle with the struggles brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic. Music has the ability to connect people, and most of us have, at times, felt moved or comforted by music. It is inspiring to see the impact music has had on Jersey’s care home community. ​These experiences are transformative and truly life-changing. The power of live music, the life-enhancing properties are proved to us again and again.

When I start singing, I can remember. I love it when the music comes on, something triggers me - Marion.

To support our continued work, please consider making a donation. Your generosity makes an impact and helps us create transformative experiences through music. www.musicjersey.com/support-us