Category Archives: In the press

Dr Christopher Wiley writes for The Conversation UK

Dr Christopher Wiley has contributed an article to The Conversation UK, reflecting on aspects of Stephen Fry’s open letter on Russia’s controversial new anti-gay laws (which called for a ban on the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi) from his own perspective as musicologist, scholar, and teacher.

One claim that Fry made in his letter about the potential consequences of exploring Tchaikovsky’s sexuality and its relationship to his life and work under Russia’s controversial new legislation prompted Dr Wiley to reconsider elements of his own research on musical biography, not just on Tchaikovsky but also on Britten and Ethel Smyth.

Published on 12 August 2013 shortly after Fry’s letter went viral, Dr Wiley’s article, ‘Academics should stand with Fry against anti-gay Russia’, broke new ground for The Conversation UK for its content. It soon received thousands of views, helped in part by a mention by Fry himself on Twitter three days after it originally appeared.

The Conversation UK is an independent news and commentary website offering in-depth analysis, research, news, and ideas from academics and researchers, and has received over 300,000 visitors since its launch three months ago. Modelled on its successful Australian counterpart, its founding partners comprise 13 UK universities including City University London and the University of Surrey.

Since the article was originally published, The Guardian reported on 25 August 2013 that that a Russian biopic about Tchaikovsky toned down the composer’s sexuality for fear of facing repercussions under the new legislation.

Genevieve Arkle, Siân Dicker and Letitia Keys will give concert in Charroux, France with Ian Pace on July 20th

On July 20th, 2013 in Charroux, western France, at Château de Rochemeaux (through the kind generosity of veteran pianist Jorg Demus in providing the venue), three singers from City will give a concert of solo arias, duets, trios together with pianist and Lecturer in Music at City Ian Pace. The concert will feature music of Mozart, Rossini, Mendelssohn, Wagner-Liszt, Wagner-Busoni, Glinka-Balakirev, Chaikovsky, Léhar, Britten and Sullivan.

For further information, please see the following link:

http://poitoucharentes.angloinfo.com/whatson/featured/26189/arias-duets-and-songs-by-mozart-rossini-britten-and-other-composers-plus-transcriptions-from-wagner

Dr Christopher Wiley is awarded prestigious National Teaching Fellowship

Dr Christopher Wiley was among the 55 UK higher and further education staff awarded a 2013 National Teaching Fellowship, the Higher Education Academy announced earlier today.

Dr Wiley is Senior Lecturer in Music at City University London and Director of the BMus Music Programme.

The Fellows were chosen from nominations submitted by higher education institutions across England, Northern Ireland, and Wales. Submissions were assessed against three criteria: individual excellence, raising the profile of excellence, and developing excellence. Successful Fellows each receive an award of £10,000, which may be used for their professional development in teaching and learning or aspects of pedagogy.

The Centre for Music Studies’s Professor Steve Stanton received the same award in 2012. This is the only time in the history of the Scheme that two members of staff from the same department have been made National Teaching Fellows in consecutive years.

The new Fellows will officially receive their awards at a ceremony due to take place in London on Wednesday 9 October 2013.

 

Further information

Dr Wiley’s profile at the Higher Education Academy website: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/contacts/detail/ntfs/2013/Wiley_Christopher_profile_ntfs_2013

News item by City University London: http://www.city.ac.uk/news/2013/jun/two-city-staff-awarded-national-teaching-fellowships-for-2013

The Guardian article on the 2013 National Teaching Fellows: http://www.guardian.co.uk/higher-education-hea-partner-zone/national-teaching-fellows-2013-hea

 

Dr Christopher Wiley gives live interview for Monocle 24 radio show

Dr Christopher Wiley was interviewed live on global radio station Monocle 24, as part of the show ‘The Briefing’, Episode 422, broadcast on 14 June 2013.

‘The Briefing’ is intended to provide an analysis of the day’s major news stories, and is broadcast at 12noon London time on weekdays. It also functions as the station’s ‘drivetime show for the US East Coast’.

The subject of Dr Wiley’s interview was the recently filed lawsuit challenging the copyright to ‘Happy Birthday to You’. Dr Wiley was interviewed in his capacity as a music historian.

The interview may be heard at the following link: http://monocle.com/radio/shows/the-briefing/422/ (listen from 22.55-27.40 for Dr Wiley’s interview). The episode is also available for download in iTunes.

Ben Schoeman plays Villa-Lobos with the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic in South Africa

Ben Schoeman, a DMA student at City University London, performed with one of South Africa’s premier orchestras, the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra, in a concert on Thursday 14th March. The concert took place in the City Hall of Durban.

Schoeman performed the rarely-performed Bachianas Brasileiras No. 3 for piano and orchestra by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, under the baton of the conductor En Shao. Mr. Schoeman has also been invited to give a series of concerts in South Africa and Namibia during June and July 2013. During one of these concerts he will perform Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the KZNPO at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival.

 

For further information please visit: www.benschoeman.com

or http://www.kznpo.co.za/2

New volume on ‘Christian Congregational Music’ features former and current City PhD students

Soon to be published by Ashgate ‘Christian Congregational Music: Performance, Identity and Experience’, is co-edited by former PhD student Carolyn Landau. The volume explores the role of congregational music in Christian religious experience, examining how musicians and worshippers perform, identify with and experience belief through musical praxis. It features a chapter by current City doctoral student Mark Porter entitled ‘Moving between musical worlds: worship music, significance and ethics in the lives of contemporary worshippers.’ The volume is due to be published in July.

Further details can be found at ashgate.com.

 

Liam Cagney: Recent Publications

Second year PhD student Liam Cagney has had his work featured recently in a couple of publications.

A couple of months back Liam had an article published by Sinfini Classical. Entitled ‘When Techno Meets Classical’, the article uses the release of techno artist Max Richter’s Vivaldi Recomposed album on Deutsche Gramophone to explore other crossovers between these two very different musical genres. You can read the article (and listen to its clips) here: http://blog.sinfinimusic.com/classical-connections-3-when-techno-meets-classical/

The December issue of Opera Magazine featured a review by Liam of the American composer Robert Ashley’s opera Vidas Perfectas. A translation into Spanish of Ashley’s Perfect Lives, originally broadcast on Channel 4 in the early 1980s, Vidas Perfectas was performed recently at Hyde Park’s Serpentine Gallery.

And an extract from a short story by Liam was recently read out on national radio in Ireland. The story, entitled ‘The Party’, featured on 2 January on RTE Radio One’s flagship arts show Arena. You can listen to the extract at this link, starting around 37:10 in: http://tinyurl.com/af8jzpk

City University London’s BMus Music degree in double-page feature in Education magazine

Education Magazine, Vol. 25/4 The current issue (Vol.25, No.4) of Ireland’s Education magazine includes a major feature, ‘A unique music degree in London’, on City University London’s BMus Music course.

Describing the degree as ‘a very attractive package for those wishing to pursue a career in music or the self expression that music involves’, the double-page spread includes an interview with Dr Christopher Wiley, Undergraduate Programme Director; information about the course structure, admissions, performance possibilities, and employment prospects; and a profile of second-year BMus student Jane McConnell, who came to City from County Tyrone.

Education Magazine, Vol. 25/4

 

Speaking about applications for the degree, Dr Wiley is quoted as saying that ‘We are very averse to sending away interesting and well-qualified candidates. We like to engage with people as individuals not as statistics or a series of grades.’

The article, which appears on pages 16-17 of the magazine, may be viewed at the following link: http://issuu.com/educationmagazine/docs/education_magazine_25-4?mode=window&viewMode=doublePage

Centre staff and recent graduate featured in Independent article on music degrees and associated career opportunities

An article published today (22 November) in the Creative Arts supplement of The Independent newspaper features quotations from the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Dr Christopher Wiley as well as a profile of recent City BMus graduate, Dionysios Kyropoulos.

In the article ‘Notes on working in music’, by journalist David Crookes, Dionysios explains how his passion for classical singing and opera led him to the UK (from Greece) and to City University London, in order to benefit from solid academic foundations for his studies in tandem with high-quality singing training.

While at City, Dionysios recounts, he discovered his passion for research: ‘The discovery of the impact that academic work can have on performance, and, vice versa, how practical research through performance can assist its academic counterpart absolutely fascinates me. The course helped me make this discovery.’ 

Dr Chris Wiley tops a list of UK academics quoted in the article, who between them explain that a music degree can open up a wealth of career opportunities for the aspiring student. Chris notes that ‘There certainly is more to being a successful musician than simply playing an instrument’, before outlining some of the many career-enhancing benefits of studying music at university.

Click here to read the full article