Q&A with VOCES8’s Paul Smith

by Francesca Howard

In anticipation of their ‘Dunelm Lux Aeterna’ concert at Durham Cathedral tomorrow evening (Thursday 7th February) alongside local Durham schools, I spoke to Paul Smith, one of the founders of VOCES8, about the benefits of music in education. The VOCES8 group, some of whom are Durham University alumni, are one of the most sought after a capella groups in the UK. They have toured all over the world and have taken part in exciting collaborations, with repertoire ranging from early Renaissance through to their own contemporary arrangements. Paul’s educational outreach programs reach approximately 40,000 students per year.

Tell us a little bit about the VCM foundation, the VOCES8 Method and where it all started.

My brother, Barnaby and I founded VOCES8 in 2005, and a year later we set up the VCM Foundation. Since then, it’s been quite an adventure, with around 120 concerts a year all over the world, and a foundation that now works with about 40,000 students a year, has a centre of excellence for choral music in London and a second ensemble (Apollo5 – who were part of the Durham Vocal Festival in 2018).

I wrote the VOCES8 Method in 2013, and really, the idea for the Method was to provide an answer to some of the problems I perceive us to be facing in music education in the UK and further afield. Simply put, the VOCES8 Method is designed to be able to be used by anyone, regardless of their previous musical experience, and it’s designed to stimulate music making in a way which has a positive impact on other aspects of our learning – specifically linking with numeracy, literacy and linguistics. It’s based on research gathered from across the world exploring this sort of transfer of learning. Critically, it’s about having fun and making music!

Why is outreach work so important to you? 

I suppose a large part of it comes from the family I grew up in. I knew I was immensely fortunate to be getting the best possible education, and looking around, visiting prisons and hospitals because of the work my parents did, I felt that I should be doing something to make a difference. I’m a great believer in finding something to bring to the world that you are passionate about, and that you can use to make a positive difference in some way, however small.  That I now have a life in which I make music and share music with thousands of people of all ages and backgrounds every day makes me happy, and I believe the work we do as a foundation has made a very real impact to the lives of thousands of people since we began working. The drive to do more comes from a feeling that as much as we are doing, the situation in our world is getting worse rather than better.

What has it been like to work with local schools in Durham? 

I’ve loved being involved in this project in Durham and working with five schools from the area. My work with them began last summer with creative workshops to start the composition process, and it will finish on stage in Durham Cathedral in just a few days. There has been a real desire to learn, create and perform from the students. ‘Dunelm Lux Aeterna’ has some epic themes around life and the universe, but there are also personal stories and fragments woven in which real help remind us that we are all individuals with the same daily fears to overcome.

The work, spanning seven movements, is created for the professional vocal ensemble VOCES8, to perform alongside a massed choir with organ, piano, tubular bells, timpani, guitar and electric bass. The seven movements chart a journey from darkness to light, telling stories which echo across all humanity, exploring the universe we inhabit, whilst maintaining moments of intimacy and introspection.

You’re working with hundreds of children and teenagers, many of whom will come to you with no formal musical tuition – how do you engage with and inspire these students?

One of the things I believe about music is that it has the potential to create a level playing field. Last week I ran sessions as part of the MMus course we deliver at Cambridge University (sorry to mention a rival!), and I worked with primary and secondary school children in Durham. The week before, I worked with 1500 six to eight-year-olds in Clermont Ferrand, and at the weekend I led my ‘Singing Brussels’ programme with 500 adults of all ability levels in Brussels. The reason I mention this? Because in each of these sessions there were elements that were the same. The challenge we have as leaders is to find a way to connect with the people in the room. That’s in part what we start with in the VOCES8 Method, and it grows from there. Choice of repertoire, styles of learning, an inclusive approach to music making, the pace at which we work – these all matter. But when we sing in a choir, we are different, yet the same. We all have an individual voice, but when we give that voice to the whole, we commit ourselves to a bigger community. That commitment is how we aim to bring people together and inspire them.

Is the premiere of the commissioned piece, ‘Dunelm Lux Aeterna’, the product of a collaboration with local students, based on the VOCES8 method?  

‘Dunelm Lux Aeterna’ is something that has gained far more definition in a particular direction than the VOCES8 Method, but some of the moments in the music have structural elements which could be seen in the VOCES8 Method. We think always about layer building and the use of a riff or ostinato when we make music, and that’s certainly evident in this composition at times. The task for this commission though, was to create a response to the ‘Lux Aeterna’ written by Morten Lauridsen (VOCES8 will sing his setting of O Nata Lux in the first half of the concert by way of comparison), so I’ve tried to write something that will be a real challenge for the students harmonically, but which will be achievable. The rehearsals have been going well, and the students seem to have embraced the challenge, so I’m excited about the final performance.

In the past you have emphasised the importance of the relationship between music and education more generally. In what ways can bringing music into schools benefit the learning of students? 

I love your questions – but we could talk all day about each one! A school that has music as a central part of the community, both formal and informal, will achieve more. I love the argument that we should only do music for music’s sake. Music in and of itself has intrinsic value, but with the current state of music in schools, I think it’s important to stress the added value that it has on other aspects of the curriculum and of school life. We need to persuade senior management teams that music is good for everything. There’s a long way to go on that particular discussion I think.

What kinds of developments have you seen in the schools you’ve worked with and how do the VCM Foundation teaching resources benefit learning experiences?

Over the last decade we’ve worked in thousands of schools and every school is different, and I’m humbled to say that we could share positive stories from all sorts of people all over the world about the impact our work has had, from trainee teachers in rural parts of the UK to students who are now studying at conservatoires around the world, to the first classical music experience for students in inner-city London. Our focus at the moment is currently centred on more resources and teacher training, alongside our continuing projects with students, which we create with the intention of building a sustainable legacy for ongoing music making. We are releasing free online videos this year on YouTube, and on the Tido App we’ve created. We are constantly trying to think about the ways we can reach further and provide more long term sustainable learning opportunities for those that need them.

Music education, instrument tuition and extra-curricular music activities are extremely undervalued and under-funded in many comprehensive schools across the UK. Do you think that the work you’re doing with VOCES8 is able to change attitudes towards music-making in schools? 

We hope so. My personal view would be that the divide is not clearly between Independent and State Schools, but rather less defined than that. It all depends on the teachers, the culture at the school and the support for music. We believe that the work we do changes attitudes and shows schools how easily they can set up a programme of music that will be fun, positive and beneficial for students and teachers alike. We also run Young Leaders programmes, training teenagers to lead workshops themselves, and we then take them into local primary schools to share their skills. The impact of that programme has been incredible to see.

At Durham University, we’re very fortunate to have such a wealth of musical opportunities, including several auditioned college chapel choirs and university level choirs. Many of the students involved have grown up singing within the English choral tradition, which is a rare privilege. While singing in choirs can be an extremely accessible form of music-making for all, it is simultaneously one of the most exclusive, and can often seem quite alienating and intimidating.

That’s true – you have wonderful opportunities here at Durham (and some of the founder members of VOCES8 had studied at Durham!). All of us have the capability to make anything we do accessible or exclusive, and for me, that depends mostly on the culture we create. Finding the right balance is important. Singing Bach, Tallis or Howells, for example, doesn’t come easily to many people, so if people decide they want to learn to do that, we need to explore what path we need to follow to make that possible.

You have previously described the VOCES8 Method as a ‘gateway to music’, encouraging students to follow their musical interests. Considering the financial costs needed to become a classical musician, can the VOCES8 Method really open doors for less-privileged students who are inquisitive about choral singing? 

I think it can. I also believe that there are ways to become a choral singer without excessive financial costs. I used to climb mountains a lot when I was a child (I still do when I can!), and I remember that on the tough days, the task would always be to count 100 steps at a time. Breaking down a big goal into small, achievable steps is a great way to get people moving in the right direction. The VOCES8 Method is just that… it’s a gateway to Tallis, Howells, Bach… and many other things besides. The path isn’t short and you can’t always see the summit, but a few steps at a time will get us there in the end.

Your outreach work is truly inspiring, and your work has positively impacted the learning experience of tens-of-thousands of students. What would you hope the students and teachers involved to take away from the experience of performing ‘Dunelm Lux Aeterna’ in Durham Cathedral?

Thanks for your kind words and questions. I hope that the world premiere we give together of ‘Dunelm Lux Aeterna’, that we have created together, will be a life long memory for the students. Many of them have never sung on stage before, and some haven’t even been inside Durham Cathedral, so I believe the experience will stay with them. ‘Dunelm Lux Aeterna’ isn’t a piece that is easy to perform, so I hope the students and teachers will cherish the achievement, the opportunity to sing alongside professional singers from VOCES8, and the chance to fill an ancient building with glorious harmonies and the soaring sounds of our massed choir. In every concert we ever give, we want audience and performers alike to connect emotionally with the music on as deep a level as possible. Let’s hope we achieve that together on 7^th February.

Paul, thank you.

You can catch the performance of ‘Dunelm Lux Aeterna’ tomorrow (Thursday 7 February) at 7:00 PM, Durham Cathedral.

Tickets available here.

Photo by Thorsten Krienke via Flickr creative commons