Latest news with #RoyalAcademyofMusic
BBC News
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Stoke Ferry piano prodigy invited to Royal Academy of Music
A self-taught piano prodigy has been invited to a prestigious London music school to develop his performing 11, has only been playing since the end of last year, but has already reached a high of Harvey, of Stoke Ferry, near Downham Market, Norfolk, playing have been posted online by his mother Jen and have gained thousands of Royal Academy of Music has invited him in for an induction day, to spend time with professionals to explore what he can do with his talent. Harvey said he started to play the piano because he found learning the music "satisfying".He has performed at the care home where his mother works and on public pianos at railway stations."It is really nice when you get applause from people. It makes you feel like your performance has been accepted," he said he had not inherited his ability from her, joking that while she could play "Chopsticks", she would not describe herself as musical. "He's taught himself off YouTube," she said."[He has] just decided 'Yes, that's what I want to play' and since then, he's on there for hours a day". Jen said she was very proud of Harvey and keen to explore what his musical talent might mean for his future. Previously he had been very interested in computers and design but she said his pivot to playing music was a surprise. Harvey has just started lessons at formal lessons at The Norfolk Academy of Music. His teacher Bekki Smith said Harvey was already playing at the top Grade Eight level. Ms Smith said: "My first reaction was 'Wow, we've got something special here' and yes, playing to that standard after only a few months is rather amazing. "He has brilliant dexterity for his age and his capability is amazing." Ms Smith said she would be working with Harvey on filling in some of the gaps in his knowledge that came from learning online. She said practice was key to progress like his. "Harvey does at least two hours of practice a day and is very keen to learn which makes a huge difference from a lot of pupils that 'don't have the time' or can only play for 10 minutes a day. "Sadly, a lot of pupils will find hours for social media but not for practice." Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Daily Mail
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Britain's Got Talent finalist raped two women, grabbed them by the neck and refused to wear a condom, court hears
A former Britain's Got Talent finalist raped two young women in three months while studying opera at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music, a court heard. Andrew Johnston, 30, allegedly gripped his victims' by the throat during sex and refused to wear a condom. Bearded Johnston, who was studying for a two-year diploma in opera, denies two counts of rape and one of sexual assault. The former choirboy was 13 when he finished third on the second series of the ITV talent show in 2008. Johnston received a £1m record deal with Syco Music, a label owned by Simon Cowell, and his album 'One Voice', released in September 2008, made it to number five in the UK Charts. Wearing a smart black suit he listened intently as Maryam Syed, prosecuting, said: 'In 2008, Mr Johnston competed as a singer in the television programme Britain's Got Talent, and he did quite well in that programme. 'At the time of the allegations Mr Johnston was a student at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London. 'Mr Johnston was competing a two year diploma in opera.' Describing the first alleged assault the prosecutor said: 'The defendant removed the condom he had been wearing and the complainant noticed the change in sensation. 'She repeatedly told Mr Johnston to stop having sex with her but he made no attempt to withdraw his penis. 'The complainant then described to police that Mr Johnston then, she says, placed one hand on her neck and the other was pinning her down. 'She repeatedly told Mr Johnston on multiple occasions to stop, she managed to free her hands and slam them onto her chest. 'She told police that she began panicking and he, Mr Johnston, was not listening to her. 'She then goes on to describe, as you will see that the defendant Mr Johnston became more forceful, slamming the headboard into the wall.' Ms Syed said the complainant 'had explained to Johnston from the she did not like certain things in sexual activity because of previous bad experiences and she specifically said things like hands around the throat'. Johnston 'groped' the woman's bottom at a bar in central London three months later, the court heard. The former choirboy was 13 when he finished third on the second series of the ITV talent show in 2008 'Whilst he was there he had groped her bottom, which we say is sexual touching, dragged her by the arm and had refused to leave. 'In order to help her move him she had walked him out of the bar onto the street. 'At that point, he continued touching her, he verbally abused her, he grabbed her shoulders and her forcibly kissed her on the lips.' Ms Syed said the singer raped the second complainant after taking her to a 'sex club' in central London. 'She explained that she had asked the defendant to wear a condom which she had provided and she said the vaginal intercourse took place immediately with almost no foreplay.' Ms Syed added: 'She described how she started to feel the defendant's hands around her neck, and no matter how many times she removed them, she said the defendant Mr Johnston kept on putting his hands back around her throat. 'She told police she made multiple attempts to remove his hands but he did not remove them. 'He then stopped and removed the condom.' Johnston continued having unprotected sex with the woman, it was said. Johnston, of Newtown Road, Carlisle, denies two charges of rape and sexual assault on a female. The trial continues.
The Herald Scotland
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Roll over Beethoven, we have our own deaf music genius Evelyn Glennie
More firsts: let's bang the drum for Dame Evelyn Glennie, our first deaf percussionist, though she prefers to be known as a musician with a hearing impairment. Oakly-doakly.. She was first to perform a percussion concerto at London's Royal Academy of Music, first to give a percussion recital and concerto performance at the Proms, and the first percussionist to be made a Dame Commander of the Controversial British Empire (DCCBE). READ MORE: Robert McNeil: I detest yon Romans but I dig excavating their wee fortlets RAB MCNEIL'S SCOTTISH ICONS: John Knox – the fiery preacher whose pal got burnt at the stake Rab McNeil: All this talk about celebs and their neuroses is getting on my nerves OFF THE WALL PRIOR to that, when she was just 27, she undertook the grave responsibility of being an Officer of Yon British Empire (OYBE). She was named Scotswoman of the Decade in 1990, and has more than 80 awards and 20-plus honorary doctorates to her name. Gonnae need a bigger mantelpiece, hen. She was the youngest person ever elected to the Percussive Arts Society's Hall of Fame. Evelyn Elizabeth Ann Glennie was also quite young when she was born on 19 July 1965 in Methlick, Aberdeenshire, the only daughter of her farming parents' three children. Mother was a church organist, father an accordionist in a Scottish country dance band. But music wasn't everything. Evelyn grew up weaning lambs and doing chores. While still just a wee lass, she was struck by a neurological disorder and, by the age of eight, had started to lose her hearing – just after she'd started to play the piano. From piano, she graduated to clarinet but, when she was 13, an audiologist said it would no longer be possible to play any music and suggested, furthermore, that she moved to a school for the deaf. However, deploying the 'utter stubbornness and single-mindedness' that she identifies as a North-East trait, she decided to remain at Ellon Academy, where peripatetic percussion teacher Ron Forbes made one of those interventions that change lives. Prior to meeting him, Evelyn had been getting 'very, very angry' about her situation. But, while she was trying to tune timpani, patient and sensitive Mr Forbes suggested she put her hands flat on the wall to feel the vibrations. 'I could feel the vibrations in my hands and lower parts of my legs,' Glennie has recalled, 'so I got the pitch that way.' High sounds are felt in the body's higher parts, low sounds in the lower, she explains. Using her body as a resonating chamber, and aided by perfect pitch, she often plays barefoot during performances and recordings, feeling the music, and hopefully not any drawing pins, through her soles. Hey, it's sole music! Apologies. When she was 16, Evelyn auditioned for and was accepted by both the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music. She chose the former, despite its reported initial reluctance to interview her, and moved to yonder London. While at the Academy, she won various prizes including the Queen's Commendation for general excellence, and was soon the subject of a BBC documentary, A Will To Win, followed by Yorkshire TV's Good Vibrations (also the title of her 1990 memoir). She was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland and the Cults Percussion Ensemble, formed in 1976 by the aforementioned Mr Forbes. After graduating in 1985, she began playing professionally. Now, she has dozens of recordings to her credit and has performed all over the world, at one point giving more than 100 concerts a year. In 2004, she was the subject of Touch the Sound, an 'arthouse' documentary by Thomas Riedelsheimer. Arthouse usually means nutty but Evelyn has described the film as an 'explanation of sound'. SWEET HARMONY IN it, Glennie collaborates with English experimental musician Fred Frith and others, performing 100ft apart in an abandoned German sugar factory. Frith said it 'was great visually, but limited in other ways'. In other words nutty. Fortunately, it also followed Evelyn travelling from New York to Japan with a suitcase full of drumsticks. As she told the Scotsman in 2009: 'My role on the planet is to bring the power of sound.' Not only does she tour yonder globe as a soloist with various orchestras and musicians, she gives talks, presents podcasts and conducts masterclasses. She also engages in motivational speaking. I quite fancied giving that a go myself. However, in the end, I couldn't be bothered. Dame Evelyn plays the Great Highland Bagpipes and has her own registered stage tartan known as 'The Rhythms of Evelyn Glennie'. She also has her own jewellery range, and has confessed openly to spending time metal detecting and poking around antiques fairs. She's a right collaborator, so to say, having worked with Björk, Steve Hackett, Bela Fleck, Bobby McFerrin, Fred Frith, Mark Knopfler, The King's Singers, Kodō, Danny Boyle (London 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony), the Royal Shakespeare Company (Troilus and Cressida), and experimental jazz – hmm, challenging – practitioners Trio HLK, to name but a few. (Image: Bjork) As well as a performer, she's also a composer, 'not with a capital C', she says, but writing write music for television, radio and other media. This has afforded her opportunities to deploy some of the more unusual instruments in her 2,000-strong collection. Fair to point out this includes a twig, a string and a hollow wooden cylinder. Dame Evelyn has commissioned a plethora of new percussion work and is a strong advocate of children's music education. Her advice to young percussionists? 'Do not get used to waiting for things to happen.' AYE POD IN 2021, she became Chancellor of Robert Gordon University and, in 2022, launched her own podcast, inviting punters from music, sport, television and academia to discuss their idea of listening and interpretation of sound. Talk about multitasking. She has said: 'As we live longer and (stay] healthier for longer, we need to keep ourselves busy.' Oh god, do we have to? Despite her global profile, and living latterly in Cambridgeshire, her roots lie here in Daftieland. Scotland, she believes, 'never ceased to amaze the world with its forward vision, bold action and great educational institutions'. I see. Is there another Scotland somewhere? With commendable accuracy, the New York Times has described Dame Evelyn Glennie as 'extraordinary'. The paper added: 'One has to pause in sheer wonder at what she has accomplished.' Yep. Pausing even as we speak.
Daily Mail
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Britain's Got Talent finalist Andrew Johnston is cleared of raping two women
A former Britain's Got Talent finalist has been cleared of raping two women. Andrew Johnston, 30, who shot to fame on the hit show as a choirboy in 2008, coming third in the final, had been accused of sexually assaulting two women. But today at Southwark Crown Court Mr Johnston, studying for a two year diploma in opera at the Royal Academy of Music at the time, was acquitted of two counts of rape. This is a breaking news story. More to follow.
Otago Daily Times
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Student's career as composer takes wing
Cameron Monteath, on piano, premieres Ballade for Cello and Piano at Hanover Hall yesterday. Friend Heleen du Plessis is the cellist. PHOTO: LINDA ROBERTSON Cameron Monteath enjoys playing with others. The University of Otago postgraduate music student premiered his latest work, Ballade for Cello and Piano, at Hanover Hall yesterday. He said the composition, which he described as ''dark, mostly humorous and jazz-inspired'', was always intended to feature friend Heleen du Plessis on cello and himself on piano. ''I enjoyed the process of imagining or trying to highlight our best qualities as players. ''I think when you write something that you know is going to be performed by a specific person or ensemble, then it's fun to imagine what that might sound like in the future when you're writing it.'' Monteath said he struggled with the composition of the piece at times, particularly the fact it featured three movements. All up, it took ''about six months'' to complete last year. But nothing prepared him for the actual performance of the work. ''One part of me is nervous, as I am for any performance - I wonder how it's going to be received. ''But also, there's a part of me that is excited to share my creative pursuits with people. I mean, I write with the audience in mind, for sure.'' Monteath has already earned much acclaim and won the 2022 New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Todd Corporation Young Composer Award. He has recently been accepted for a scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music in London, but said he was in the process of raising the funds to fly there and study. He was excited about the opportunity, and was looking forward to composing whatever came to mind next. ''I would say to always listen to music - listen to music that you enjoy, of course, but also music that you perhaps don't enjoy, and just see what you can find in it. ''Also, it's important to not let the fear of writing something bad get in the way of your workflow. ''If you just try to write something, eventually you'll find some great material that you can work with.''
