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The following article appeared in glossy magazine
SOMERSET LIFE
A Lovely
Bottom
Harry Mottram interviews
Sien and Nicholas Vallis-Davies
Sien has a lovely bottom. Before I go any further I must explain. It would seem inappropriate to discuss a female’s derriere in this magazine: I am talking about a musical note - bottom B.
‘When I recorded Brahms 2 with the London Philharmonic, Sir Simon Rattle complimented me on having the softest bottom B in the business!.’ said Sien Vallis-Davies. ‘He is a bundle of energy. I’m not surprised the Berlin Philharmonic snapped him up. He is so enthusiastic.’
Former international soloists, Sien and her husband, the flautist Nicholas Vallis-Davies are based in a village just outside Glastonbury, sharing their home with Wolfi the fox terrier. They are known to Somerset classical music lovers through their solo concerts in Bath, Bristol and Wells, performances as principals with the LPO and London Symphony Orchestra, and their numerous appearances on radio and television as presenters and producers of classical music programmes
Now the couple have settled in Somerset for good, working as consultation tutors and recording media CDs in their studio under the name Formedia. There they compose and record music for use on TV and radio for commercials, trailers, programmes...and slow motion film footage of large men rolling around in mud.
‘We’ve recorded lots of different types of music, generally featuring flute and oboe, onto CDs’ explained Sien, ‘and then TV and film companies use the tracks to accompany all kinds of scenes. The CDs are circulated to the TV and film production companies by our publishers EMI and Cavendish, the producers then choose to use certain tracks and we receive generous worldwide royalties via the PRS - but we never know which are going to be popular each year’
The CDs it must be said are not bland hotel reception music. As you would expect from solo recitalists and musicians who have worked alongside Nigel Kennedy and Pavarotti, the work is at the higher end of the musical scale. But the work is unashamedly accessible in its style, and obviously ideal for commercial companies to use. Their music has been used worldwide, and credits include Newsnight, BMW commercials, BBC2 wildlife programmes as well as short films in Australia and Hong Kong.
Aside from this venture, the duo run a Saturday performance school called Open Academy, working as flute and oboe tutors to music students from across the UK, passing on their skills to their charges in their studio. It is a world of concerto, diploma and audition preparation, and breathing, tone and projection techniques. Some are professional musicians needing to improve or develop their ability, some are amateurs looking for inspiration, some are students and teenagers, and some are a little older...including one lady of 72.
‘We have a strong belief in the positive side of learning, which involves a highly motivated style of teaching’ said Nicholas, ‘we try to get as far away as possible from a critical angle, and build up the person’s confidence and follow a pattern of success.’
‘From being a soloist, one had to dig down deep sometimes to find those resources, and to project one’s personality, you have to play to the audience, communicate with the audience. So we pass on that experience.
Confidence is the key. Putting up with the put-downs from friends and family when you try something new or a difficult new skill can deter all but the most dogged from learning.
I have one lady who is in her 70s, and she has just achieved a distinction in Grade eight, which is really fantastic,‘ said Sien, ’she has about four daughters and several grandchildren and they have said why are you doing that? But it has given her great confidence because she is having a great time learning’.
In younger days Sien was principal oboe with the National Youth Orchestra. The stint clearly boosted her confidence and when she arrived as a scholarship student at the Royal College of Music she took one look at Nicholas and sat down next to him.
‘I thought - who is that?! I had to sit next to him on the piano stool and he moved away. I thought he doesn’t think much of me and nearly gave up.’ said Sien.
‘Yes, I was quite shy in those days’ said Nicholas, ‘All my friends said we’ll give you two weeks and no more. That was many years ago.’
Nicholas originally came from London before taking up his scholarship at RCM, and sitting on that fateful piano stool. After graduation the couple kept in contact by telephone calls, often from different corners of the world, as their respective careers blossomed.
They performed concertos for the English Chamber Orchestra, London Virtuosi and many other world renowned ensembles, under the batons of Sir Roger Norrington and Sir Charles Mackerras and recorded chamber music with Tamas Vasary and Vladimir Ashkenazy for the BBC, and EMI and ASV labels. Also in demand for session work, their delicate tones can be heard in films like The Mission, and their undoubted good looks used to be seen on Top Of The Pops, Wogan and Parkinson to name but a few.
So who said that music is a career with no prospects? If pursued properly it can be just as lucrative as law or as satisfying as working in medicine. And the decline in state music education in Somerset is something which Nicholas feels very concerned about.
‘I have really strong feelings about this; I think there is nothing more important than art in society. It teaches young people something about what can be achieved and what can be aspired to, the greatness of the human spirit. It’s appalling to deny children musical education. There is a worrying trend now to see music as something that can support another subject such as maths rather than seeing it as art is its own right. By exploring music and art we learn about ourselves and other cultures, and also our potential as human beings’.
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