During Our Royal Albert Hall Walkabout & Reporting, Through Talking With Musicians Yvonne & Finn We Also Discovered ‘Hackney Music And Development Trust’ Which Helps Young Children Hone Their Musical Talent. We Also Met The New Royal Albert Hall CEO, James Ainscough, Who Supports Diversity & Inclusion And Protecting The Wellbeing & Mental Health of Musicians’
James Ainscough Has Been The New CEO At The Royal Albert Hall Since May This Year And He Told Us, When We Spoke To Him On The Night, That He’s Making Pro-Active Efforts To Make The Venue And Its Programming Much More Inclusive, Diverse And Appealing To Wider Audiences.
Before And Throughout Covid He Was Previously The CEO of Help Musicians UK Music Minds Matter Which Is An Independent Charity That Helps Professional Musicians Throughout Their Working Lives Right Through From Career Development To Harmonious Retirement. With New Opportunities And In Crisis. All Kinds of Musicians And All Kinds of Cultures, Genres, And Dispostions.
They Are Now In The Eighth Series of Their Podcast Started Mid-Covid Called “I Never Thought It Would Happen”. It’s Hosted By Rocker And Songwriter of Over Fifty Years, The Founder of Rock Band Squeeze, Chris Difford. The Group Has Since Disbanded Having Given The World A Number of Classics Over The Years, Including ‘Cool For Cats’. He’s Interviewed The Likes of Gabriel, Corrine Bailey Rae, Charleen Spiteri, Pauline Black, Joan Armatrading, Skin of Skunk Anansie (Who Was On Earlier This Month ~ From Ibiza).
Difford Is A Patron of Help Musicians UK. So Too Is Classical Musician Isata kanneh-Mason of The Musically Gifted Kanneh-Mason Family, Which Includes Sheku Kanneh- Mason Who Famously Played Cello At Meghan And Harry’s Wedding. @isatakannehmason @shekukannehmason And Also Cellist Abel Selaocoe @abelselaocoe
King Charles III Is Their Royal Patron. And Funnily Enough Karen Gibson MBE, Choir Conductor of The Kingdom Choir, Who Sang At The Royal Wedding, Was At The Black Panther In Concert Premiere. (She Kindly Agreed To An Interview In Future, So Watch This Space.) @mskarengibson
Ainscough Remains Very Passionate About The Wellbeing And Mental Health of Musicians And Told TheOrator.Press (TO.P) That He And The RAH Maintain A Close Relationship With The Charity. It Also Works Closely In Association With The 24/7 Wellbeing & Mental Health Hub ‘Music Minds Matter’. Related To That Hub There Is Another Podcast Called ‘Elevate Music’ Where Musicians Talk Wellbeing & Mental Health.
Website: www.musicmindsmatter.org.uk
Instagram: @musicmindsmatterofficial
Hashtag: #musicmindsmatter
World-Renowed Cellist Ayanna Witter-Johnson @ayannawj Was Supported By helpmusicians.org.uk On The Road To Success And Has Gone From Strength To Strength Ever Since.
The Charity Is On Record As Having Previously Reported That She Spoke To Them, Around That Time, In The Early Days of Her Career, On The BBC Music Platform ‘BBC Music Introducing…’ ‘@introducing_live‘ About Maintaining Balance As A Creative. She Revealed That She Uses Her Own Knowingly Paradoxical And Aptly Named Tactic of “Turning Down The Volumn’ On What Other People Think of You.” This, She Believes, Empowers You To Make Important Decisions That You Feel You Need To Make, Unhindered By Other People’s Opinions of You.
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(Photo No,4, Row 3: Musician Yvonne, Wearing White Scarf, Alongside Her Young Family Friend, Fellow Musician 9 Year Old Finn, In Green Sweater, Outside The RAH Saturday May 27 2023).
Yvonne Is A Childhood Friend of Carol, Finn’s Mum, And Was Attending The Live Screening Concert Featuring Chineke! Orchestra As A Birthday Surprise Courtesy of Carol And Her Husband.
The Late Mass Roy Is Yvonne’s Father Who Helped To Run The Salteron Music Club For Underprivileged Children. It Had An Orchestra That Helped Them Get Involved With Classical Music. This Is How She Came To Become A First Violin Player At The Age of 7.
Carol Spotted The Black Panther Event On Instagram As Well As Hearing About It From One of The Parents From Finn’s Orchestra.
Yvonne Put It Very Eloquently:
“The film was about positivity, Black role models and seeing Black people as heroes rather than always as villains. It was nice to see a Black community that was thriving, as we (Black people) came from Kingdoms and black history didn’t start with slavery.“
Yet Rather More Pessimistically She Also said,
“the film represented Blackness – whichever continent you’re on, it gave the feeling of what it is like to be Black and constantly under threat, whether that is from outside or within your own community from various factions”.
For Yvonne The Film Reflected A Strong Sense of The African Philosophy of ‘Ubuntu’ of The Central, Eastern, Southern, And South Eastern African People And Their Buntu Language, Found In Swahilli Language For Instance.
At Its Heart It Says “I Cannot Be Alright If You Are Not Alright.” “I Am Me Because You Are You.” “I Am Me Because We Are We.”
Yvonne Says The Model Where People Only Care About Themselves Only Brings Harm. And Carol Agrees, Saying being too parochial is not good, where you’re only focussing on yourself and are too inward looking’.
“This was an event that satisfied all the senses.
and how lovely to see such a diverse audience in attendance,
so exquisitely dressed!“
Professional Musician Yvonne, At The Royal Albert Hall European Premier of The ‘Black Panther’ ‘Films In Concert’ Series , May 27th 2023
Hackney Music Development Trust (HMDT)
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Along With Wellbeing Researcher, Expert And Advocate Simone Willis, Ayanna Shares Different Wellbeing Strategies In A Vintage Empowering Edition of ‘The Elevate Music Podcast’ In Association With ‘Music Minds Matter’ And Help Musicians UK.
With
Cellist Ayana Wittter–Johnson‘
And
Wellbeing Expert Dr. Simone Willis
Also The ‘I Never Thought It Would Happen’ Podcast Featuring Skin From @Skin_SkunkAnansie
(Photo No,4, Row 3: Young Musician In Green Sweater, With His Auntie Yvonne, Wearing A White Scarf, Also Herself A Musician): Nine Year Old Finn started playing the bassoon aged 5. He’s Currently Practicing For His Grade III Certificate. As An Associate of The Hackney Training Orchestra (Part of Hackney Music Service network), He Practices Both New & Established Compositions. Plus He’s A Member of The Hackney Music Development Trust (HMDT) Orchestra.
“I thought it was incredible! The live music was like it was in the film. Some parts were emotional, some – you couldn’t believe it was being played by the orchestra and not a recording.”
“It was about King T’Challa and about his courage and belief in protecting Wakanda, no matter what. It was diverse and Wakanda looked spectacular!”
Both Yvonne And Young Finn Thought The Orchestral Changes And Musical Flow Throughout The Film Were Seamless.
They also Discussed Whether It Was Surprising That Instead of Cinematic Stereotyping The Majority Good Guys Were The Black Guys And The Majority Bad Guys the White Guys. Finn Thought Yes & No. “Yes, because I was surprised as you don’t see white people as the villains that often (in films) and no, because Black people dominate in Wakanda.”
Of The Tech Element, Finn Said “The film made me think it was futuristic. It has the tools of the future that you would never think to create.”
On The Fight Between King T’Challa And His Cousin N’Jadaka (Whose Father, N’jobu, Killed His Uncle, King T’Challa’s Father, King T’Chaka, For Attempting To Save Zuri, Wakander’s Trusted Advisor And Shaman), Yvonne Asked Finn If He Felt Sorry For N’Jadaka (aka Both Eric Stevens And Killmonger):
“I felt sorry for him at first because he was left behind and his dad died. but no, he was horrible because you shouldn’t kill people for revenge!”
“You don’t fight death with death.“
“we need a different solution, if you know what I mean.”
For A Boy So Young Finn’s Perspective Was Impressively Thoughtful, Insightful And Mature. That He Enjoyed It So Much, Took It All And Was Just As Comfortable In The Royal Albert Hall As He Is In Hackney Says Alot About The Power of Inclusion And Its Ability To Foster Confidence And Versatility.
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wellbeing Expert Dr. Simone Willis Appeared in A Special Game-Changing Edition of The Musicians’ Podcast ‘Elevate Music’ Alongside Cellist Ayanna Witter-Johnson @ayannawj Linkedin
Author of ‘Performing arts and wellbeing: what impact does occupational stress have on classical musicians?’ ‘How musicians and athletes could learn from each other when it comes to coping with stress’.
Ainscough & The Royal Albert Hall Also Support The Work of Black Lives In Music (BLiM) Blim.Org.Uk Which Champions Racial Equality Within The Music Industry.
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