When talking about what I did musically at school, the word ‘artist’ never really came up. If anything I was a music ‘player’, a music ‘composer’, or a music ‘performer’. People sometimes referred to me as a ‘flautist’ if discussing me playing a specific instrument (others incorrectly referred to me as a ‘flutist’). I certainly never saw myself as an artist.
While doing the Arts Award, I was faced with a number of challenges. From a performance aspect, I wanted to put on a concert where a group of my friends and I would perform a recital at a local concert venue. In arranging that concert, I encountered a number of challenges as I hadn't realised exactly what went on behind the scenes. Organising the venue, performers, tickets, and rehearsals made my inbox an intimidating sight to behold, all while I was attempting to learn my own pieces for the concert. I even had a crash course in baking and flower arranging from some family friends in an attempt to make the venue look nice and welcoming – I can now make some mean pastries!
Then there was the work I did with Jimmy Power to create an original composition. The idea was to unify the flute with electronic accompaniment. It involved pulling in aspects of jazz, folk, electronica, and beatboxing. The piece was, I would like to think, a success. One defining moment in my musical life came when I performed the piece at a showcase directly before a rapper. When I went back after the show I'll always remember him complimenting me and saying that the performance was ‘really cool’ – a concept that I had never thought would be attributed to myself or my instrument.
Beyond the boost to my self esteem, there was something more to that comment that stuck with me – the idea that being put into the ‘classical’ flautist box was not quite sufficient anymore. This is something that should have occurred to me years prior. I had been playing other instruments and in different genres for years, but it wasn't until my collaboration with Power that made me realise I could go beyond that. I didn't see myself as a classical musician who was also a jazz musician, as much as simply a musician. Working with Jimmy proved to me that I could draw upon all my knowledge and all my experiences to innovate; to create a composition that was really unique.
Similarly, when I was organising the concert and collaborating with other young musicians I learned what it meant to lead a team, to organise rehearsals, and to be flexible as required. These are all skills I used as principal flute of the National Youth Wind Orchestra. Any orchestral member has to be good at collaborative work but the principal needs to coordinate and respond to a team.
My experience with Arts Award was vital in two distinct ways. In one respect, it helped me develop skills that I already knew I had and a few that I didn't (flower-arranging notwithstanding!). However, it was the way that it made me reevaluate what I do and how I do it that really stuck with me. I helped me unite what I had previously seen as disparate and separate areas of my musical life into one cohesive whole, with each element informing the others.
This is something I'm still trying to continue today at university. My plans for postgraduate study include research into the field of ludomusicology: analysing how video game music interacts with in-game elements.
If Arts Award taught me anything, it is that seeing any art form in isolation limits the creative options available. Through collaboration between creative media we can create works which have a greater value than the sum of their individual components. Gestalt artworks are everywhere: film, theatre, video games, and mixed media installations. Standalone art specialising in only one medium is also fantastic (I love a symphony as much as the next classical music nerd) but seeing all the possibilities that combining arts allows for grants us an entirely new palette for expression and creativity. Music is, after all, equally an art as much as drama, dance, photography, craft, and all other forms. In this context, their ability to collaborate makes sense. Even in one particular medium, such as music, it is possible to take inspiration from different styles and eras and philosophies within your own work as I discovered when writing my own piece.
I would encourage anyone whose students are taking or thinking of taking the Arts Award to engage them with as much art from as many different mediums as you can. Talk to your friends in other specialties: collaborate; discuss how different artworks interact; develop and grow your understanding of each others’ art form; and then apply what you learn to your own work.
