SEVN bursary final thoughts
Being made inaugural recipient of the SEVN bursary was honestly such a shock and a real honour. At a time when every artist was vying for funding, I feel even more fortunate to have been awarded this fantastic opportunity.
I would like to share some of my application to show my plan before I conclude what I have learnt:
“As a busy mum and freelancer, this award would give me time and space to grow as an individual musician. I would like to spend time researching and discovering repertoire for solo viola, both long forgotten works and contemporary. As I enter my 25 year in the profession, I find it can be difficult to carve out time for personal artistic growth. Beyond preparing and planning for the next concert there is often little time to discover and research new ideas. Bursaries such as this are an important addition to supports that are starting to be made available due to the terrible impact Covid has had on our sector and I would be very grateful indeed to be a recipient of such support.
I am particularly interested in researching historical Irish work and music by female composers. Based in Wexford, I already have a good relationship with both the Wexford Arts Centre and the National Opera House but would like to explore the venues in a way I have not had access to previously. I would also like to connect with some of the other venues in the SEVN network to explore acoustics and how they might help (or hinder) performances by solo viola. (I am particularly interested in Visual, Carlow & Courthouse, Tinahely) I would like to truly explore a space, not necessarily confining myself to the stage, to find the best sound possible.
As an instrument, the viola enjoys mellow, sonorous tones but as a performer this can sometimes mean that in an unforgiving acoustic, the subtleties of the instrument are lost.
I would be interested in taking some of my new found repertoire to venues within the network to explore the spaces acoustically. I would take Wexford based Producer Gavin Glass with me to record each exploration. This could also be combined to create a talk/blog about the process of exploration and discovery and the resulting performances could be shared online.”
Over the past year, I’ve had the chance to dive into practice like never before. You might think, “Well, that’s to be expected from a professional musician,” but the reality is different. As a freelancer juggling two young boys and running my ensemble, Musici Ireland, practice often falls to the bottom of my to-do list.
Thanks to the SEVN bursary, I was able to hire a childminder without feeling guilty, which allowed me to focus on learning new music. This has been a game-changer for my technique, especially with the complex nature of contemporary viola music. Beyond improving my skills, it has also boosted my self-confidence as a performer. When you’re buried under a mountain of nappies and school runs, it’s easy to lose sight of your artistic self. I’m incredibly grateful for this opportunity to reconnect with my music.
When researching historical Irish music by women composers for solo viola I wasn’t particularly surprised that there was none! There were very few original pieces written for viola until the last 120 odd years, but it was good to look. The bursary also allowed me to spend a fair bit on sheet music, buying solo works by women composers regularly, often with no idea what it would be like. This has become a small obsession and I hope to continue it to a lesser degree in the future!
I will definitely be updating my list of works (you can find it here: https://bethmcninch.com/projects-1/blog-post-title-two-fg9zk) as I discover/commission more works. I also welcome any suggestions by readers/violists who may know of works I have missed.
Another fantastic side product of this award has been making personal contact with so many fantastic women composers such as Deborah Pritchard, Irene Buckley, Deirdre McKay, Anne-Marie O’Farrell, Catherine Kontz, Libby Croad and many more.
Through these conversations, I began to have the urge to commission new work. Often conversations would be about the fact they hadn’t written for solo viola but would love to, so of course, it’s hard to turn down such an invitation!
The first commission I received (as you may have read in a previous post) was by the British composer Libby Croad. We talked at length about women’s rights and the important milestones in our history. From that conversation, she wrote “Deeds not Words” for me, which I am delighted to say we have just agreed to extend into a full, three movement work (stay tuned!)
I will shortly be getting a short work by Deborah Pritchard, an old music college friend who has gone onto great things. Her music has been commissioned and premiered by ensembles including the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Sinfonietta, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Singers, Choir of New College, Oxford, Christ Church Cathedral Choir, Allegri String Quartet, English String Orchestra, Orchestra of the Swan and Composers Ensemble.
Deborah experiences synaesthesia, specifically perceiving sound as colour, light and darkness. In her own words;
"Ever since I was a small child, I’ve been aware that some harmonies seemed warm whilst others appeared cold. The relationship between colours and intervals seemed so natural to me that I didn’t question it ... When I engage with colour, light and darkness in my work, I become aware of a broader emotional content and hope to illuminate some kind of beauty to the listener.[8]"
She frequently paints visualisations of her musical works, and has also been commissioned by the London Sinfonietta to paint music maps of works by other composers (such as György Ligeti, Unsuk Chin and Thomas Adès) for inclusion in concert programme notes. Her visualisations and music maps were exhibited at the Royal Academy of Music's Amazing Women of the Academy exhibition from 2018-2019.
As you can imagine, I am very excited to see what she sends me!
As part of this project I recorded:
“Light at the end of the tunnel” by Thea Musgrave in Wexford Arts Centre (with producer Gavin Glass)
“Rhapsody No.2” by Jessie Montgomery in the National Opera House (with producer Gavin Glass)
“Deeds not words” by Libby Croad at Tinahley Courthouse (recorded on my zoom h4n)
A large part of the application was exploring venues from an acoustic point of view. I definitely found that the stages or usual performance areas were not the best for a solo string instrument. As you will see from photos, I played in the auditorium at the NOH, in the downstairs gallery in Wexford Arts Centre and in the middle of the room at Tinahely! It was interesting to explore this and the recordings definitely showed me that the venue is so important if you plan to record. Outside noise was a big issue, especially in Wexford Arts Centre and all of the venues had vastly different acoustics, some very boomy, some very dry. Although the resulting recordings won’t be suitable for broadcast etc, it was still a very useful experience.
In conclusion, over the past year the South East Venue Network bursary has allowed me to invest in myself as a performer and as a commissioner of new work. This will have a positive affect on my career moving forward and I would like to express my gratitude to :
