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I arrived at Dartington (my father, also my A-level teacher had the great insight to encourage me to study there) in September 1982, a naive , conventionally trained violinist and left Dartington in 1985 with much more than a degree in music.I constantly draw on my experiences there , from the first time I heard Phillip Glass, and" Black Angels" by George Crumb, to the Aesthetics and Criticism classes taught by Max Paddison, to practising my violin in a practice room next to a sitar player, hearing Gamelan, or the music-theatre performance project in my first week there of " The Wasteland "
I was taught to question, to receive, to be open and to aim for excellence whether it was in practical music-making, or academic analysis of Schonberg's Pierrot Lunaire.
It is a rare thing to have the time as an artist to be able allowed and encouraged to develop in an environment which was secluded enough for deep reflection, with innovative and excellent teachers, but aware enough to be outward looking, to question the function of the arts in society. I am now a silent film accompanist, and without the musical/ theatrical/academic education I had at Dartington I would have never found my niche as an artist in the 21st century.
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