Leverhulme-funded Residency sees pianist Sholto Kynoch collaborate with School of Modern Languages

Interview with Sholto Kynoch: View Sholto's thoughts on becoming an Artist in Residence at Bangor University.

First ever Pianist Residency rounds off in style

Bangor University’s first ever Pianist in Residence, Sholto Kynoch, rounded off his residency in style with a high-profile event on the closing day of the Oxford Lieder Festival, on Saturday 31st October 2009. Together with Dr Helen Abbott (School of Modern Languages) and Dr Chris Collins (School of Music), Sholto presented the outcomes of his residency which had taken place in the School of Modern Languages at Bangor University from January–October 2009.

Speaking at the event at St Hilda’s College, Oxford, Sholto said, “Before coming to Bangor, my knowledge of how to analyse how French poets such as Baudelaire are set to music was limited. From working with Helen and Chris, I have gained valuable knowledge which I can now put into practice.”

This was shown in the programming of the lunchtime recital which Sholto performed with soprano Mary Bevan. Starting with four songs by Gabriel Fauré, Sholto and Mary then performed Debussy’s intense Cinq poèmes de Baudelaire, followed by four Baudelaire poems set by the unjustly neglected composer Gustave Charpentier. “The Charpentier settings have been a real find, and I am grateful to Helen for introducing me to these works,” Sholto added.

The lunchtime recital was topped and tailed by two lectures coordinated by Helen and Chris, which looked at how French music and poetry inter-relate. “The real challenge in this field,” said Helen, “is that we have to look at all the different parties involved, including the poet, the composer, the performers, the literary critic, the musicologist and the audience.”

The day culminated with the launch of Helen’s book, Between Baudelaire and Mallarmé: Voice, Conversation and Music, which was published with Ashgate in October 2009.

[ Image of Dr Chris Collins, Dr Helen Abbott and pianist Sholto Kynoch

Photo caption (L-R): Dr Chris Collins, Dr Helen Abbott and pianist Sholto Kynoch celebrate the end of Sholto’s residency with a book launch.

Sholto Kynoch takes up 10 month residency at Bangor

From 19 January 2009, pianist Sholto Kynoch will take up a 10-month Residency in the School of Modern Languages (SML) at Bangor University, funded by the Leverhulme Trust. Sholto specialises in song accompaniment and chamber music, and will be working alongside staff and students in the School of Modern Languages to explore how academic / pedagogic approaches to poetry and textual analysis can inform professional performance practice. Building on material that comes out of the workshops, seminars, coaching sessions, masterclasses, recitals and recordings planned for the Residency, Sholto will produce original interpretations and performances via creative collaborations with students and staff in SML and Bangor University.

Image of Sholto Kynoch

The main focus of the Residency will be on classical music and French poetic texts (specifically Art Song / mélodie), as Sholto will work closely with Dr Helen Abbott whose primary research specialism is poetry and music in France from 1850-1950. Sholto will also collaborate with staff and students whose interests lie in other fields (e.g. popular music, instrumental music) and language areas (e.g. Cymraeg, English, Galician, German, Italian, Spanish).

“I am delighted to be able to welcome Sholto to Bangor, and am very excited about the collaborative potential that this Residency offers,” said Dr Abbott. “Sholto has such a breadth of high-level performance experience and has worked with a number of renowned singers on Art Song performance, especially during the annual Oxford Lieder Festival which he runs.” “This is such a unique opportunity for me to develop my performance expertise in an academic environment,” said Sholto. The culmination of the Residency will see Sholto and Dr Abbott working together to present two lecture-recitals on performance issues in French mélodie.

This innovative collaboration marks a new phase of interdisciplinary research at Bangor University which places practice-led research at the heart of academic enquiry in order to tease out new responses to word / music relationships.

About Sholto Kynoch: Pianist Sholto Kynoch specialises in song accompaniment and chamber music. He is the founder and Artistic Director of the Oxford Lieder Festival and collaborates with many outstanding singers, including such names as Kate Royal, Jonathan Lemalu, Joan Rodgers, Mark Stone and Ian Partridge. He has broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on a number of occasions, including a Composer Portrait Prom from the Royal Albert Hall. He has also had articles appear in the Guardian and Classical Music Magazine. 2008/9 highlights include Wigmore Hall, the Philharmonie Kammermusiksaal (Berlin), and the St Endellion, Chichester, Perth, Cambridge Summer Music and Brasov (Romania) Festivals. www.sholtokynoch.com / www.oxfordlieder.co.uk

About Helen Abbott: Helen Abbott is a Lecturer in French at Bangor University whose research centres on relationships between voice, poetry and music in the period 1850-1950, with particular emphasis on song settings of nineteenth-century French poetry. She has published articles on Baudelaire, Mallarmé and Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, and her forthcoming monograph is entitled Between Baudelaire and Mallarmé: Voice, Conversation and Music (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2009). Helen is also a classically-trained soprano who regularly gives solo, consort and lecture recitals. www.bangor.ac.uk/ml/staff/Abbott.php

About The Leverhulme Trust: www.leverhulme.ac.uk/grants_awards/grants/artists_in_residence