Juan R Monroy

tells Judith Monk about 25 years of LACCS

Chilean born, Latin American and Caribbean Cultural Society president and founder, Professor Juan R Monroy, talked to me about the arduous but rewarding task of bringing classical musicians from all over the world to the UK.

There is a commonly used phrase in Latin America taken from the famous Colombian singer and 'King of the Tango' Carlos Gardel's song Volver, which asserts that Veinte años no es nada (twenty years is nothing). Well, for LACCS twenty five years seems like no time at all!

Senor Monroy, who studied history at University in Chile, has a lifelong and immensely strong interest in music: a talented guitarist, he was astonished to discover that the classical music of Latin America and the Caribbean was virtually unknown in Britain when he arrived here in the 70's. He determined to do something about this deficiency and the result was the founding of LACCS. The first Festival of Latin American and Caribbean Culture took place in September 1984 and since then the Society has done notable work over the past twenty five seasons and LACCS concerts are now some of the most important and innovative fixtures of the London season.

A thoroughly enjoyable raconteur Juan told me the tale of how nylon guitar strings came into being. Luthier, Albert Augustine, and guitarist Andrés Segovia engineered the early development of nylon guitar strings in 1947. At first DuPont's, who were the leading plastics manufacturer at the time, were sceptical that plastic strings could be made but Augustine persisted and proved them wrong. Today his strings grace the guitars of most classical guitars. Monroy himself, after seeing plastic strings for the first time as a youngster, rushed out and bought a fishing line to try on his guitar!

Professor Monroy was able to point out to me many of the 'firsts' that LACCS has engineered to enable London concert goers to understand and appreciate South American music. "LACCS was the first organisation to include in its concert programmes a new repertoire and not just that of Segovia", he told me. "For the first time, in 1987, Carlos Barbosa-Lima performed a full concert of Brazilian classical music at the Wigmore Hall and then at St John's, Smith Square."

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Nigel Kennedy

talks to Judith Monk

"If you need a single word to describe Nigel Kennedy it should be 'fun'. Talking to him is like experiencing a blast of fresh oxygen - it's energising! An iconic figure on the classical music circuit his solid reputation as a violin virtuoso is undiminished after more than twenty five years of performing and recording.

Kennedy's tastes in haircuts, clothes and speech have all come in for negative comment by various pundits but his official biography states: 'His virtuosic technique, unique talent and mass appeal have brought fresh perspectives to both the classical and contemporary repertoire. He is the best selling classical violinist of all time.' We really can't argue with any of that!

Brighton born Nigel was sent to board at the Yehudi Menuhin School at seven after becoming a protégé of the great man himself. I asked him about this early start to his path to fame:

"It was quite a narrow existence really, there were only a few children my age so socialising was limited." Socialising crops up as a frequent theme in our conversation and I get the idea that our Nigel quite likes to!

He later studied at the Juilliard School of Music in New York under the celebrated teacher, Dorothy DeLay. Here there was no lack of opportunity to socialise and it was in New York that at just 16, he gave his, now infamous appearance, (his teachers warned him not to - it would ruin his career!), in Carnegie Hall with Stéphane Grappelli, a man who was also to have a seminal influence on Nigel's musical life. It seems you can separate a man from jazz but you can't take the jazz out of the man. Nigel is passionate about jazz.

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Florian Leonhard

tells Judith Monk about his Fine Violins

Florian Leonhard's depth of knowledge on the subject of fine violins reveals itself at once. It's his passion which kept me engrossed in the intricate dynamics of violin making and the exquisite world of a master's workshop.

A youthful career choice pointed him towards the world famous Mittenwald Violin-Making School. The path that followed led him to the top of the fabled restoration department at W E Hill & Sons. There, surrounded by some of the world's most noble instruments, Florian refined his expertise and developed the ability to discern an instrument's history and provenance with accuracy.

Today, Mr Leonhard is his generation's most renowned and respected expert on violin authentication and restoration. Beautiful instruments are tenderly restored or crafted from new at his workshop, located in Hampstead's Frognal Lane. I wanted to know more, but made the mistake of saying 'manufactured' only for Florian to step in and correct me.

"We don't use the word 'manufactured' when we speak about top end professionals-violins. In our world they are 'made' or 'crafted'. Some people talk of the art of violin making, but to me art is much too free a concept. Our work is constrained by very strict measurements."

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John Byrne falls for the Recorder and talks to virtuoso

John Turner

Last Christmas, I took my children's choir to Manchester Cathedral to take part in the annual Children's Society Concert. One of the works performed was the world premiere of David Dubery's Away in a Manger for choir with recorder obbligato played by the recorder virtuoso John Turner, who also performed Judith Bingham's wonderful solo piece, Snowy, Starry Night, on a combination of descant and tenor recorders which, in the magnificent acoustic of Manchester Cathedral, made me sit up and take notice of this underrated instrument.

Originally a flautist, John's enthusiastic promotion of contemporary music has inspired concertos by, amongst others, Kenneth Leighton, Peter Hope and Anthony Gilbert as well as being the catalyst for very many other works. He has recorded extensively, and played with many of today's leading chamber ensembles such as the Academy of St Martin's-in-the-Fields, the English Chamber Orchestra, English Baroque Soloists and The Academy of Ancient Music.

To find out more about what makes a recorder player tick, I caught up with John at his Stockport home - an Aladdin's Cave of musical delights. With so many challenging instruments about, why should anyone learn the recorder?

"Almost everyone who plays the recorder also plays something else, but they like the recorder best because they are beguiled by the instrument and what you can do with it. Fascinating tone colours, multi-phonics, false fingerings, all sorts of different tonguing and flutter-tonguing, and these sounds and effects are more specific to the recorder than to other instruments."

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My Memories of David Oistrakh

By Rimma Sushanskaya

The legendary violinist David Oistrakh was known in the Soviet Union and abroad as 'King David' for his great artistry in violin playing. As a child, I often heard his performances, first on the radio and through recordings, and later in concert halls. His playing attracted me then by his most beautiful sound, warm and sweet, and those strong impressions would stay with me for days. I still remember the first recording my parents bought for me of him performing Glazunov's Violin Concerto and Saint-Saëns' Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso.

As my solo career was progressing over the years, I never could imagine even in my dreams that one day I would become David Oistrakh's last pupil. Whilst a young student at the Leningrad (St Petersburg) Conservatoire I was chosen many times by the panel of Professors from the Conservatoire to represent the city's young musicians in various festivals, concert tours, competitions and auditions, sometimes outside of the Soviet Union. And I, without knowing he was present as a jury member, performed twice in the Small Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire in front of distinguished musicians - including Oistrakh himself.

Some time later, after these auditions, I found out from one of the Professors of the Moscow Conservatoire with whom I was well acquainted that David Oistrakh had been impressed with my performance. Wow! - I could not believe my luck! Usually, I was so shy but never when performing on stage.

By that time my PhD studies were completed at the Leningrad Conservatoire, where my mentor and Professor was Mark Komissarov, a wonderful violinist and musician of a younger generation than Oistrakh. During this period I was given the opportunity by the Ministry of Culture to continue my studies at the Moscow Conservatoire with a professor of my choice. By that time, I knew who I wanted that to be - but there was still one problem: to get in touch with David Oistrakh and make my request. The opportunity came during a visit by Oistrakh to Leningrad for concerts in the spring of 1971.

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The Phoenix Singers of Shrewsbury

Richard White is Handing Over The Baton. Mike Willmott tells us more

Richard White first took over the baton of the Phoenix Singers in 1969, when he became Music Adviser for Shropshire. After 40 years' inspiring service, he is now standing down. The phoenix had to rise when this Shrewsbury choir was founded in 1965 on the demise of the St Mary's Singers. Richard can take pride in having subsequently built up a 40-part a capella choir of high standard. Its repertoire spans Bach, Bruckner (and the Beatles). He has masterminded the tradition of choral concerts in Shrewsbury churches and other Shropshire venues, with visits to places as diverse as Canterbury, Cambridge and Llandysil, and tours to France, Russia, Holland, Hungary and Poland.

Richard was born in 1930, educated at Greenford Grammar School, Middlesex, and studied at Trinity College of Music, London. Having taught at Halesowen and Greenford Grammar Schools, he became the first Music Adviser for Lincolnshire. In 1969 he took on the job of Shropshire Music Adviser.

The Phoenix Singers is only one of a long list of his musical initiatives. In 2000 his remarkable community achievement for music was recognised with the award of the then NFMS Sir Charles Groves Prize. The list of his activities is exhausting, and covers Shropshire comprehensively: Concerto Days at Harlescott School; collaborations with the Church Stretton School of Dance and the Lancaster School of Dance, as well as with the Shrewsbury Theatre Guild; Playing Days at the Gateway, Shrewsbury; concerts incorporating the Handbell Ringers from Montford Bridge and the Shrewsbury Consort of Recorders. Under his baton the Shropshire Youth Orchestra went to Russia, Canada (three times), Germany, France, Holland, Italy and Sweden.

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Karim's Journey at the Barbican

Max Harrison sees the film

Karim Said is an extremely gifted musician who has been persistently filmed, the resulting excerpts from his life now appearing as the 59-minute Karim's Journey. This is in the tradition of Christopher Nupen's earlier treatments of Jacqueline du Pré, Itzhak Perlman, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Daniel Barenboim, Pinchas Zukerman, etc., yet with an important difference. In those other cases the cameras rolled only when the artist was known, on the way to maturity, whereas for Karim work started when he was 11 and hence the film takes us from his childhood, though adolescence, virtually to manhood. He is now 19.

Born in Amman, Jordan, Karim's absolutely exceptional talents were recognised when he was about 5 and his first significant teacher was Agnes Bashir, formerly of the Gnesin School, Moscow. Soon however, he came to the attention of Barenboim, who recommended that he study for seven years at the Purcell School here in England although Karim's Journey finds him in several countries. During the period covered he won eight international prizes and Nupen devotes almost as much time to his conducting as to his perfectly fluent and always expressive piano playing. Indeed one of his achievements was the foundation of a volunteer orchestra at the Purcell School which gave its first public concert in 2003 and during which Karim from memory conducted Beethoven's Symphony No.7.

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