Following our conversation with Andrew Gordon, our Pettman DARE Fellow from New Zealand, we caught up with our second Pettman DARE Fellow for 2022-23, UK-based Dan Coxon. We were keen to find out about the highlights of his year and how he had found the Pettman DARE programme, an innovative collaboration between the University of Leeds and Opera North, combining practice and theory for early-career music educators.
Dan is a graduate of the University of Durham, as well as a former member of Opera North’s Children’s Chorus and Youth Chorus.
“I was a member of both the Children’s and the Youth Chorus at Opera North, and I always thought that the opportunities I got through that were incredible. I went on to study music because of my involvement with Opera North: I got my introduction to the Company from my first singing tutor, then I went on to join the National Youth Choir, followed by studying at Durham… it was like a butterfly effect from that moment.
“The Education department here has developed the Opera North Instrumental Learning Pathway, meaning that there’s always the next stage to progress to for anyone who’s interested. I was lucky to have been involved with the newest component, the Young Musicians Studio, since it launched last November. It’s designed to provide young musicians from Year 5 up to Sixth Form with opportunities to progress their classical music-making past the level of our In Harmony programme.
Dan Coxon in the lead role of the ONYC's 2018 production of Pirates Revisited © Tom Arber
“I think my biggest highlight as Pettman DARE Fellow was the YMS’s first performance in March. We’d had just enough time to get to know the children we were working with by then; they’re very bubbly and they enjoy what they’re doing, which is really important; the staff are very nice and we all get along really well. You could sense that things became a bit stressful as the performance approached, but then everyone was sitting down, it was all running to plan… and I just had a moment of pride, watching it unfold in front of me.
“They’d made the step from the day-to-day lessons to the big performance in the Howard Assembly Room, which is a really impressive space. Perhaps not all of them had been 100% convinced about being involved in an orchestral environment before. They may have done some solo performances, but had a lot less experience of ensemble work. You could really see the pride in their faces at what they had done, and you could tell they were very happy. They were all running off afterwards, smiling and laughing – it was lovely to see!
“I like the ethos we’ve got in the YMS: leaving room both for tutors to shape things and for students to have their say, collaborating with each other to find things that they’re comfortable performing in. Rather than being proscriptive, there’s a lot of space for the tutors and the students to figure each other out, discover where their skill levels are and what would be best for progress in those areas. It’s a bit more liberated than when I was taking my first few steps in music!
Participants at Opera North's Young Musicians Studio © Tom Arber
“It’s been really interesting to work between the two different worlds of Opera North and the University of Leeds. That combination was definitely something that attracted me to the Fellowship, because I think it’s so important to have an understanding of the work from both perspectives.
“The day-to-day work with Opera North is very practical, very conversational. And then there’s the academic side, where you’re getting these new ideas and seeing what other people are doing in the field. In a module on audience engagement and impact, we heard from project managers and freelance artists about how they put on performances, engage different audiences and evaluate their impact. It was very interesting to be opened up to those conversations and see how that could translate to our work in the Education department and the delivery of the Young Musicians Studio. The two worlds really come together in the reporting: setting your own objectives and evidencing how you’re working towards them, and then evaluating the results.
The brass players at the Young Musicians Studio © Tom Arber
“I’m just preparing for the Young Musicians Studio’s second real performance this year, our summer showcase, back in the Howard Assembly Room. The centrepiece is a big ensemble, the famous Largo from Dvorak’s Ninth Symphony, arranged in tiers for players up to Grade 5, so that musicians at all different stages can play it together. We also have a very rhythmic piece by Florence Price called Juba Dance, and then we have a big improvisation piece, with players allocated different parts – melody, texture and so on – according to their skills. It’ll be a great way to finish the year – and my Fellowship.”
Pettman DARE Fellowships are held in partnership with the University of Leeds and offer a unique collaborative programme linking research and practice for music educators at the outset of their career. They are made possible thanks to the generous donations of Mrs Maureen Pettman and the late Professor Barrie Pettman through the Opera North Future Fund.
Opera North Young Musicians Studio is grateful for the support given by the Keith Howard Foundation and The Liz & Terry Bramall Foundation, as well as the generous grant from the Leverhulme Trust for Arts Scholarships. Anyone interested in joining is encouraged to register an interest.
