Madeleine Randall (2015/16 Music Awardee) accepted into The Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Madeleine Randall (2015/16 Music Awardee) was the first of last year’s Awardees to travel to the UK on her Award and she has absolutely made the most of it. After auditioning at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music Maddi was offered a place from every single University she applied for.
“Subsequent to my trip I have received offers of place from all Universities that I applied for. I have now accepted an offer to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in their new postgraduate course Guildhall Masters: Orchestral Artistry in association with the London Symphony Orchestra.”
We have created a summary of Madeleine’s trip below from her report, but if you would like to read the whole thing Click Here.
Madeleine Randall Performing.
“It has long been a dream of mine to pursue my musical education in Europe, the birthplace of classical music. Receiving a BBM Youth Support Award for Music in 2015 enabled me to make this dream a reality and ended up being one of the most valuable experiences of my career so far.
After receiving my BBM support offer in October I was quick to make use of it flying out on the 7th of November. I needed to be in the United Kingdom between November and December to attend auditions at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music. My seven weeks in the UK seemed to fly by. Between auditions, audition preparation, lessons and concerts I packed as much as physically possible into my time overseas before returning home for Christmas.
On Thursday the 12th November I had my first audition of the trip at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland performing the first movements of the Mozart and Martinu oboe concertos. It was a highly positive experience and a great start to my trip as I was offered a position at the Conservatoire over the table.
After a rainy Scotland with its weather living up to my expectations, it was lovely to finally see the sun in Cardiff, Wales. I loved this city. Its architecture had such charm and felt really welcoming. Musically I spent most of my time in Cardiff practicing. My next two auditions at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama contained quite challenging orchestral excerpts.
My first audition in London was at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. This was a bit of a surreal experience for me. A few years into first learning the oboe I began learning Benjamin Britten’s Six Metamorphosis after Ovid for Solo Oboe. I would have been around fourteen or fifteen years old and only have been playing for two or three years.
A week after my Guildhall audition in preparation for my remaining auditions at the Royal College of Music and Royal Academy of Music I had a lesson with Melanie Ragge whom teaches at the Royal Academy. After studying medicine and maintaining contact with renowned Australian music physiotherapist Bronwen Ackermann, Melanie passed on some very insightful music health pedagogy. Posture and body position were discussed along with the short and long term effects of incorrect practice techniques. After implementing this advice I’m keen to pass on this information to my students. As young musicians they can establish proper, healthy practice habits early on preventing injury in the future.
My travel to the United Kingdom was immensely beneficial for my career and personal growth. The independence and self-reliability gained from organising and taking part in a journey of this nature was an invaluable experience. The cultural exposure and tutorship from various tutors as well as the challenge of multiple auditions pushed me to new limits
Subsequent to my trip I have received offers of place from all Universities that I applied for. I have now accepted an offer to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in their new postgraduate course Guildhall Masters: Orchestral Artistry in association with the London Symphony Orchestra.”