The 2019 ABRSM Teacher Conference, which took place last November in London, focused on the theme of leadership. In the first keynote address, ABRSM's chief examiner John Holmes outlined the four strands of leadership: having influence, taking responsibility, empowering others and inspiring people. These themes were intertwined throughout the day's diverse and inspiring programme, through 12 formal seminars and four informal sessions that covered motivation and progression, practice and goal setting, ensemble skills, early years musicianship, accompaniment, composition, theory, hearing health, music curriculum and the teaching musician.
This year's guest speaker was the double MOBO award-winning saxophonist, YolanDa Brown. There was much common ground to be found between Brown's four Cs of successful teaching – communication, composition, confidence and commitment – and Holmes's four strands of leadership. Delivering a keynote address that encouraged non-traditional teaching approaches, Brown's energy, enthusiasm and streak of rebellion were both engaging and empowering. The audience was left in no doubt that her experiences as learner and musician were both current and relevant. ‘You are the superheroes of music education!’ she announced to enthusiastic applause.
Brown is no stranger to working with young people; her CBeebies programme YolanDa's Band Jam introduces children to a kaleidoscope of musical genres, and she is committed to breaking down educational and financial barriers through her work with Youth Music and the London Music Fund. Although her own musical journey began with a traditional, exam-based approach to piano and violin lessons, Brown found her personal connection with music through improvisation on the tenor saxophone as a teenager. Subsequently, her unique musical style emerged, fusing reggae, jazz and soul.
I was reminded of the importance of Brown's personal connection with music during the following seminar, A Music Curriculum for All, as we were encouraged to bring the national curriculum to life through exploring new repertoire and making new musical connections, as well as developing instrumental skills through listening, improvising, transposing, notation, musicianship and interpretation. Later in the day, Mark Armstrong, jazz professor at the Royal College of Music, guided us on how to integrate creative and exciting composition into instrumental lessons. This was a well-timed reminder of the value of providing young musicians with an outlet for self-expression.
Throughout the day, Brown's keynote speech remained in the forefront of my mind. She encouraged us to reflect continually on the foundations of our love of music and on the fears we hold about teaching. She asked us to consider how we as musicians are fulfilled, advising us to commit to our own musical development and surround ourselves with teachers who will help us to be the best we can be. This message was later reinforced by Holmes, during a session entitled The Teaching Musician, inviting us to nurture both the inner teacher and the inner musician. By developing a teaching philosophy and identifying measures of success, his argument was that we can ensure our teaching is congruent with our vision.
As ABRSM celebrates its 130th anniversary year, chief executive Michael Elliott reflected on ABRSM's role as a leader in music education and assessment. He also announced a new online booking system to deliver better services for exams. From 2020 we will be able to choose practical exam dates from a list of options, and practical results, including examiners’ comments, will be available online more quickly, usually within one week of the exam.
The new venue, a conference centre that is part of the etc.venues chain, was well-chosen; it was accessible, light and spacious. The delicious hot lunch was elegantly served and cold refreshments were available throughout the day, from a breakfast buffet to afternoon tea! Exclusive offers were available from conference partners Allianz Musical Insurance and Casio Music UK, and ‘play-me pianos’ were dotted around the conference space. There were shopping and networking opportunities in the exhibitor zone, pop-up store and ABRSM village.
My only regret is that with four seminars running concurrently during each session, inevitably I missed more than I could possibly attend. If only I could develop the superpower to be in two places at the same time by next year!
Keep up to date with ABRSM's events at https://gb.abrsm.org/en/courses-and-events/
