Documenting the Britten Sinfonia’s collaboration with NHS Foundation Arts Residency at Addenbrooke’s Hospital for the Thoroughly Good Classical Music Podcast
Musicians playing at the hospital bedside isn’t in itself noteworthy (forgive the pun), but understanding the challenges making that work is. In this way, if a story pitch reveals an underlying assumption, then there’s scope to explore what that assumption is and counter it. That’s one of the reasons why working with Britten Sinfonia to document their partnership with the NHS Foundation Trust Arts Residency at Addenbrookes was so immediately a tempting proposition.
From the beginning there were many reasons why this podcast episode needed to be different from the usual one-to-one conversation format Thoroughly Good has utilised in the past. First, this was a commissioned feature on the part of Britten Sinfonia, a chance to tell their story that combined journalistic storytelling and their storytelling. It was also a creative partnership that afforded Thoroughly Good editorial freedom. And whilst the privacy needs imposed by capturing the experience in a care setting informed the format, there was also an opportunity to reflect the observer’s experience going into a hospital setting in order to give a sense of what it might feel like for musicians themselves.
The result was a 23 minute episode that harks back to radio packages and documentaries. Evocative, multi-layered material that not only gives a sense of place, but also of the lives of those who occupy these urgent, sometimes frightening spaces dedicated to recovery. What we hear isn’t simply the discipline and learnings of introducing co-creating musical experiences for patients and carers, but the intricate interdependencies that bring this vital services to those in need and, importantly, what role music can play in supporting recovery.
There were in the two days spent on-site at Addenbrookes capturing ambience and interviews, profoundly touching moments of humanity amid the bleeps of machines and the squeaks of shoes on polished floors. The juxtaposition of otherwise ubiquitous instruments in a clinical setting both jarred, whilst the sound in the dead acoustic reassured. This was human contact made through sound. First principles. Emotion laid bare.
Such story demands a different approach to capturing material. One cannot just rock up with a microphone. One has to stand to one side. There’s a constant feeling of being in the way (even though the staff were incredibly welcoming, accommodating, and appreciative). There’s an increased need to be observant of details. You need to travel light, and necessarily wear loose clothing. Even a short time spent in these environments can stir so much emotion as to make the walk to the car park afterwards feel like a marathon.
But the rewards are considerable. One’s presence in these environments is in itself a mirror of what the musicians themselves are doing in the moment. This isn’t music delivered to an expectant audience. This is a response to the environment in which musicians find themselves in the moment. Similarly, interviews are conducted in response to the ambience of rehearsals, ward visits and public performances. The responses captured are then themselves a manifestation of the moment itself. The resulting mix feels tender in its vulnerability, honest, authentic, not least because we hear the variety of energy different individuals bring to bring this to life.
Perhaps most potent of all was what was revealed in conversation around the interviews, in particular the sense that Britten Sinfonia’s work, and specifically that of the specialists working on the collaboration like Sam Glazer (who features) is knowledge shared from elsewhere in the industry. In this case, Wigmore Hall’s Music for Life. This isn’t an endeavour mounted in isolation, but the culmination of shared knowledge from across the classical music industry and across the country. Such detail is lost in the reporting of the industry, yet it is in these spaces where the impact is most keenly felt. If you’re looking for evidence of relevance, then going back to first principles is the place to start. This transcends the never-ending conversations about building new audiences by simply restating: music connects people; let’s do more of it.
I’m hugely grateful to Britten Sinfonia’s Chris Bell and Faye Milbourn, and Akua Obeng-Frimpong at NHS Foundation Trust Arts Residence, for trusting me to tell this story. Projects like this demonstrate what’s possible where artistic leaders think expansively and invest in quality storytelling as part of the work, not just after it. It’s the kind of collaboration Thoroughly Good is actively looking to do more of in the future too: helping organisations share their offstage story in way that’s authentic, resonant and widely understood. All very Thoroughly Good.
