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Capt TP Griffin RM | Director of Music

Band of HM Royal Marines Scotland

As lockdown was announced, I was in my second
term at the Royal Northern College of Music
studying for a Masters in Conducting.

After the initial shock of forcibly becoming
a hermit, the RNCM was quick to readjust
and seminars continued online. It was difficult
for us conducting students as we suddenly
found ourselves having to create our own
music to direct; our untrained voices! Our
tutors winced often but eventually got
accustomed to our dulcet tones and we
continued to develop our conducting skills.

Zoom (a platform that has become the norm for
so many musicians) lessons and presentations
ensued and we were privileged to receive
tuition from maestri who we wouldn’t
normally have the chance to work with often Tom Griffin
(because they’d be busy!) such as Sir Mark Elder,
Edward Gardner and Marin Alsop, to name The Summer School was founded in 1952 as the
but a few. Another welcome opportunity Canford Summer School of Music, a name it
came in August as the annual Wind Band retained for the next 52 years before locating
Conducting course, normally held at the to the medieval market town of Sherborne,
Sherborne Summer School of Music, went Dorset. It boasts a plethora of programs of
virtual. which the best is arguably the Wind Band
Conducting course overseen by Mark Heron of
the RNCM (I may be bias but let’s gloss over
that). I can honestly say that if you’re an
aspiring conductor, at any level, this course is
for you. Whilst you develop your skills amongst
like-minded individuals, you’re able to
network with the other participants who are
from a varied range of backgrounds; foreign
domestic, civilian / military, professional /
amateur.

Despite the pandemic restrictions, this year
was to be just as informative and useful as
ever. The course was presented via Zoom
over 3 days in early August. The participants
numbered 28 of which 12 were from foreign
climes including the USA, Australia, Netherlands,
Denmark, Portugal, Italy, Costa Rica and
Malaysia; not uncommon for this course. Of
the UK members, 10 were from the Armed
Forces, of which I was one.

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