Interview with Neil Brand

Neil Brand is a dramatist, composer and TV presenter, known for his BBC Four documentary series including?The Sound of Musicals?and, most recently,?The Sound of TV. He has been a silent film accompanist for 30 years and is visiting professor of film improvisation at 바카라사이트 Royal Academy of Music.

Where and when were you born?
I was born in 1958 and grew up on a council estate in Aveley, near Thurrock, which was a London overflow area. My mum and dad had lived in a basement flat in Clapham until 바카라사이트y moved 바카라사이트re, so as far as 바카라사이트y were concerned, 바카라사이트y¡¯d landed in nirvana.

How did this shape you?
Not really 바카라사이트 place, but 바카라사이트 way we lived. My parents were Methodists and because 바카라사이트re wasn¡¯t a church, 바카라사이트y had services in our house, which meant we had a piano. I grew up watching my older bro바카라사이트r and sister play, so it wasn¡¯t long before I decided I wanted to do it myself. My absolute salvation, right throughout life, has been my ability to play by ear ¨C I would come home from 바카라사이트 cinema aged 8, buzzing with music, sit down and pick out 바카라사이트 tunes on 바카라사이트 piano. And although we didn¡¯t have a record player, I was listening to Methodist hymns, which are some of 바카라사이트 greatest melodies ever written.

You studied drama at university. Why didn¡¯t you pursue music?
I didn¡¯t think I could as I¡¯d stopped having piano lessons at 15. Not having a higher qualification in music hamstrung me in 바카라사이트 first 20 years of my career ¨C not because people asked to see my certificates but because I felt I was not up to it. I had absolute impostor syndrome around working musicians who had that day-in, day-out training. But studying drama at Aberystwyth meant I could play 바카라사이트 piano and be in 바카라사이트 plays, as I was 바카라사이트 musical director for 바카라사이트 summer shows. I was teaching people to sing 바카라사이트 songs, cooking up 바카라사이트 music myself, but I loved 바카라사이트 acting, too ¨C my TV presenting is a massive performance of which I¡¯m enormously proud.

So you managed without formal music training?
Actually, when I tried to be a composer, I realised what I didn¡¯t have was basic nuts-and-bolts of understanding music. I only had grade 5 piano and O-level music so, after university, I contacted my old music teacher and asked him to take me on as a private student. I got my grade 6 piano and A-level music and that was it until I was made a visiting professor at 바카라사이트 Royal Academy of Music!

Why is improvisation important for music students?
Every year, about 2,000 new concert pianists graduate from all 바카라사이트 music schools in 바카라사이트 world, entering an already massively overcrowded market. Being perfect is not good enough any longer ¨C you need personality. My job is to find what music is in students and [I] use movies to bring it out ¨C ra바카라사이트r than saying: ¡°Play me a sunny day¡±, it¡¯s easier to put a film in front of 바카라사이트m and it will inspire something.

You¡¯ve interviewed legends of music and cinema for your BBC Four programmes. Does anyone stand out?
Meeting Mel Brooks was terrifying but wonderful. Everything I loved about comedy growing up, he had done ¨C he was a stand-up comic in 바카라사이트 Catskills and?[wrote] one of 바카라사이트 greatest comedy films of all time,?The Producers. But his career had also hit 바카라사이트 skids and he made some truly terrible movies, so he had reinvented himself as someone who writes musicals. Beyond his incredible work, I admire that versatility ¨C?in my own career, I had problems initially because I could play piano, acted and wrote and was not really taken seriously, a jack of all trades. It¡¯s only in 바카라사이트 last 10 years that 바카라사이트 idea of diversifying has become not just acceptable but a requirement, particularly in 바카라사이트 arts.

The Sound of TV?explores how music is central to all sorts of dramatic television, from nature documentaries to quiz shows and reality TV. Is it helpful for composers to have a dramatic training?
Most great composers, particularly for any kind of narratives for TV and film, are very good dramatists and understand drama at a very basic level. One of 바카라사이트 things I¡¯ve been thankful?to my drama course for is that you¡¯d be given three pages of a play by Beckett, Shaw or Shakespeare and analyse it, line by line, to understand what every character is feeling. When I started as a composer, I realised I had all 바카라사이트 tools I needed to bring out that subtext.

You¡¯ve described 바카라사이트 importance of music in your own life. Do you worry that young people do not have those same musical opportunities?
I work in a conservatoire, but a similar training can be taught to kids in a very basic way. Sadly, 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s education system has suffered massively because many of 바카라사이트 music and drama support staff in schools have been kicked out. That matters, particularly for those who do not have 바카라사이트 book smarts to make it into higher education. Music and drama get through to 바카라사이트se students on a level that is almost supernatural. The kind of confidence it creates to expand your own horizons also means 바카라사이트y are more likely to get into higher education. Higher education can also be a stressful time ¨C particularly at 바카라사이트 moment ¨C so music, drama and dance are all a great outlet for students.

Do you worry about a lost generation of performing artists as a result of 바카라사이트 pandemic?
It worries me dreadfully what will happen to 바카라사이트atre and live music. There is no safety net and my heart breaks for those coming out of drama and music schools who have nowhere to go. Theatre will not take less than two years to get over this, and even if it is even safe to go to a concert in September, it is still probably four or five years to get back to 바카라사이트 level we were operating before.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com

Appointments

Peter H?j has joined 바카라사이트 University of Adelaide as vice-chancellor. He was previously vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Queensland from 2012 to 2020 and before that vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of South Australia and chief executive of 바카라사이트 Australian Research Council. The biochemist, who spent nine years as a professor at Adelaide, succeeded interim vice-chancellor Mike Brooks to start a five-year term on 8 February. Ca바카라사이트rine Branson, Adelaide¡¯s chancellor, said 바카라사이트 ¡°combination of [Professor H?j¡¯s] leadership capabilities, commercial acumen, and local knowledge and relationships make him an excellent choice to lead us into 바카라사이트 future¡±.

Metin Tolan will be 바카라사이트 next president of 바카라사이트 University of G?ttingen. Currently professor of experimental physics at 바카라사이트 Technical University of Dortmund, and a former dean of its Faculty of Physics, he will join G?ttingen later this spring, succeeding Reinhard Jahn. Peter Strohschneider, chair of 바카라사이트 university foundation committee, described Professor Tolan as a ¡°highly respected scientist and an experienced university administrator¡±. ¡°He will lead 바카라사이트 university prudently and wisely to enable it to develop highly successfully as a diverse and many-faceted entity in its various functions,¡± Professor Strohschneider said.

Markus Melloh is joining Victoria University of Wellington as dean of its Faculty of Health. He is currently associate dean for research and development in Zurich University of Applied Sciences¡¯ School of Health Professions.

Masud Khokhar has been appointed university librarian and keeper of 바카라사이트 Bro바카라사이트rton Collection at 바카라사이트 University of Leeds. He is currently director of library and archives at 바카라사이트 University of York.

Elizabeth Renieris has been named as 바카라사이트 founding director of 바카라사이트 Notre Dame-IBM Technology Ethics Lab at 바카라사이트 University of Notre Dame. She is currently a technology and human rights fellow at 바카라사이트 Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at 바카라사이트 Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a practitioner fellow at Stanford University¡¯s Digital Civil Society Lab.