Interview (The Guardian)
‘The field of classical music is definitely not woke’: El Clarke on the responsibilities of music society president and experiences as a non-binary conductor in the world of classical music
After an Easter hiatus, El Clarke looks forward to performing Holst’s Planets Suite in full and shares what they have learnt from their second year conducting Leeds University’s Symphony Orchestra.
Sipping an iced chai latte in the afternoon sunshine at Leeds’ Hyde Park Book Club, MA Musicology student, president of Leeds University Union Music Society (LUUMS) and conductor of the society’s Symphony Orchestra, El Clarke, reflects on their leadership experiences, sharing challenges of navigating the world of classical music as someone who identifies as non-binary and discusses the role of music as a passion and a profession.
After being at the forefront of LUUMS’ spring concert series and the highly anticipated LUUMS 100th anniversary concert, El has had some well deserved rest over the Easter break. Despite the concert season having come to a close, there is still work to be done behind the scenes, returning borrowed scores and writing reviews. These are just a couple of the numerous roles El Clarke plays behind the scenes as LUUMS president and Symphony Orchestra conductor. While fulfilling all of these responsibilities, El is simultaneously completing a Masters degree in Musicology at Leeds University. They note the potential challenges of leading a team of students but speak with gratuity for them, “I do think it presents challenges, but also I like it so much because they’re all my friends, or they become my friends through working together if we’re not friends at the start.”
Growing up in a small village near Essex, El had limited access to classical music opportunities during their youth, feeling that due its proximity to London, Essex was overshadowed in a sense. Since moving to Leeds, El has found solace in ensemble performance as a percussionist in several of the groups LUUMS has to offer. Despite training for 15 years as a classical pianist, El dropped piano when they came to university. “It’s the ensemble music that I like,” they say. “It’s about playing with people rather than what I’m actually playing”.
Making music with such a friendly community of people has allowed them to excel and try new things. El recalls their introduction to conducting, which was “Over a pint. Genuinely”. Their first experience on the podium was co-conducting LUUMS’ Sinfonia Orchestra alongside fellow student Liv, “I really enjoyed it and became really good friends with Liv as well. She’s still one of my best friends” El says. Now in their second year conducting the Symphony Orchestra, El feels confident in their ability.
When preparing for Symphony Orchestra’s upcoming projects, El draws inspiration from conductors that are close to home for the composers of the pieces in question. Finding Russian conductors’ interpretations useful for their prior research of Glière’s 2nd symphony and Ippolitov-Ivanov’s Caucasian Sketches. However, El finds conducting in a male dominated field challenging, explaining that non-binary representation is “a lot more common in pop” among other genres. “I don’t really have a favourite conductor,” they say, “I don’t see a lot of representation of people like me, so I don’t have one that would be my favourite because none of them are like me”. Instead, El is inspired by pianist Yuja Wang “I think she’s incredible because it’s more about her show of personality in the music and in her dress sense as well”.
Identity and music is a passionate subject for El, with music and Gaelic identity being the subject of the dissertation they are currently working on, looking specifically at more modern punk scenes. Aside from classical music, El Clarke’s musical world spans many genres. They describe music as being split into two factions in their head, “work music” and “music for relaxation”. Where “on one hand, music is the subject I study, it’s the thing that connects me to people in terms of working on music” and on the other, “non-classical stuff” which they can switch off to. This involves mostly pop and indie folk/rock, with Hozier being a recent favourite for El.
Reflecting on stand out moments from performances, El looks back on Symphony Orchestra’s March performance at St George’s Church in Leeds City Centre, where their score fell off the conductor stand during the performance of Holst’s Jupiter. “It was a lovely character building moment” they say, although the moment “felt like years” there is always something to be learnt from these experiences. El looks forward to performing the Planets Suite in full in LUUMS’ upcoming summer concert series. Looking back on their year as LUUMS president and Symphony Orchestra conductor, El gives some words of wisdom on leadership and aspirations for future students interested in these roles. “Don’t try to do everything. It won’t work. Don’t do everything. Delegate, delegate, delegate. That’s probably my advice. But also make a difference if you can, because we have so many opportunities in LUUMS and there’s so many things that I still wish I could have done and changes that I could have made”.
El plans on staying in Leeds beyond their masters degree, having found a love for the variety and community that the Leeds music scene has to offer during their time at Leeds University.
Album Review (Pitchfork)
THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE
RAYE
The London singer-songwriter’s second studio album is a theatrical display of heartbroken optimism. In her own words, the work is a “musical hug and an orchestral kiss”, telling urban love stories and cautionary tales about failed romances.
The term hopeless romantic has never felt so apt. Swiping through endless Hinge profiles and forever fleeing the godforsaken situationship, 21st century lovers are entangled in a painstaking game, constantly worsened by a neverending stream of dismal news provided by the 24/7 internet access we’ve granted ourselves. Finding love and hope in such a world is not a simple endeavour. RAYE’s latest album provides something that feels real in the midst of turmoil and uncertainty. Although she has yet to find it herself, romance is not dead in the eyes of RAYE.
Since breaking from Polydor Records in 2021, 28 year old Rachel Agatha Keen has since made her mark as an independent artist, leaning into something more expansive and personal. Following the release of critically acclaimed debut studio album My 21st Century Blues in 2023, RAYE made history by winning six Brit Awards in a single evening following the album’s release. While revealing the same candour as her debut album, THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE is an ambitious step up for RAYE.
With a total of 17 tracks spanning 73 minutes, the album is grand in duration and demeanor. Showcasing a journey through seasons, RAYE’s Intro places us in rainy, Autumnal Paris, drifting into a melancholy Winter with the suitably named ‘Winter Woman’, featuring a rather on the nose sample of Vivaldi’s Winter. The second half of the album imparts a more positive angle, as Spring and Summer look towards ‘Happier Times Ahead’ as RAYE remains optimistic in her search for love in ‘WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!’. Gospel choirs bring vibrance and features from RAYE’s own grandad and sister grace the latter half of the album with a warm familiarity. Orchestral writing is woven into the album, sweeping strings and golden brass create timbres rarely found in the charts. The “analogue feeling” that Keen yearns for is radiated in her choice of instrumentation, whether string section, orchestra or big band. While vocal comparisons to Amy Winehouse feel inevitable, RAYE demonstrates a more theatrical style accompanied by the grandeur of her orchestration. The album’s ambition teeters on the edge of being ostentatious but remains compelling, even at its most indulgent. In keeping with the theatrical nature of the album, final track Fin rounds off the work like the credits of a film and grants RAYE the opportunity to personally thank those who allowed her vision to come alive.
RAYE’s honest storytelling of the trials and tribulations of modern dating and her journey towards hope and optimism through sweeping orchestral arrangements and ravishing jazz vocals creates a perfect juxtaposition of new and old. THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE pioneers a new outlook for RAYE and 21st century lovers alike, the hopeful romantic.
News Piece (The Sun)
CANCELLED AGAIN Blonde pop princess in trouble after culturally insensitive outburst
Fans are still upset following Twitter apology from Espresso singer.
The 26 year old pop star is back in hot water, following her reaction to a fan’s high-pitched vocal call during one of the quieter moments of her Coachella set. When the singer heard the sound she paused her set to respond to what she described as ‘yodeling’.
Despite the pop star pulling visible faces of disgust, her fan responsible for said ‘yodeling’ noise passionately explained that the call was part of her culture. This vocal cry is a North African and Middle Eastern tradition called Zaghrouta, a high-pitched trilling sound typically made as a celebratory sound by women . Sabrina responded by saying “I don’t like that”, resuming her set shortly after this interaction.
Since the performance she has been met with upset from fans on social media, with one fan on TikTok stating “I love her but honestly that was really really rude of her, look at her expressions of disgust”. User @notpopbase on platform X went as far as to say that Sabrina’s response to the call was “insensitive and islamophobic”. Sabrina posted a lacklustre apology in response, claiming “I didn’t see this person with my eyes and couldn’t hear clearly”, going on to say that she “welcomes all cheers and yodels from here on out”.
For many this apology was not good enough, being labelled dismissive by fans, with one TikTok user commenting “she apologized bc she saw people were flaming her on the internet btw she doesn’t give a f”.
Despite many being upset with Sabrina, some listeners and non-listeners alike are defending her reaction, pointing out that the cry came during a quiet moment of her set, questioning “is it culturally insensitive to expect people to be mostly quiet for a quiet piano piece?”
Although Sabrina may have apologised for the offense her response caused, as the singer said herself, she definitely “could have handled it better”. It remains to be seen whether the backlash will impact the singer’s upcoming performances.
Opinion Piece (The Guardian)
Sabrina Carpenter’s ongoing battle. Cancel culture’s problem with female pop stars
A fleeting on stage interaction spirals into a moral reckoning, the media’s unforgiving treatment of women on stage is a tale as old as time.
The latest outrage cycle facing Sabrina Carpenter is nothing new. A misjudged remark blown out of proportion, a viral video, rush of condemnation and inevitable demand for an apology. Sabrina’s confusion at a fan’s traditional celebratory call has awoken the media and spurred backlash due to supposed cultural insensitivity. This pattern is a systemic challenge for female pop stars.
Carpenter has been criticised for her reaction to a fan’s zaghrouta call during her Coachella set, mistaking the cry for “yodeling” and calling it “weird”. The tradition of North African and Middle Eastern origin is a high-pitched celebratory vocal cry. Despite Sabrina issuing an apology via X, explaining her reaction as confusion rather than malice, the internet is still dissatisfied. Sabrina Carpenter is no stranger to controversy. Whether being labelled insensitive over song lyrics, called inappropriate for music video ‘Feather’ or degrading for her choice of album art, it seems the media always finds something to complain about.
Such instances of the media attempting to ‘cancel’ pop stars like Sabrina reflect a wider issue. Female presenting pop artists suffer far more media criticism than their male counterparts. The tabloids’ depressing history of tearing women down has migrated online. We are witnessing a digital rebrand of 2000s misogyny directed towards the female pop star. The legacy of that era still hangs overhead, with Britney Spears’ arc serving as a warning to all who follow, symbolising the era’s exploitation. While today’s media presents itself as more socially aware, online media platforms have created an echo chamber of negativity and a platform for women’s persecution.
In contrast, male pop stars are given greater leniency. Following Justin Bieber’s erratic Coachella performance, criticism was damped with sympathetic headlines like “Justin Bieber’s Coachella Sets Were About Healing His Inner Child (And Ours)”. Female pop stars are scarcely granted this liberty. As Lady Gaga points out in a 2009 interview, “if I was a guy and I was sitting here with a cigarette in my hands grabbing my crotch talking about how I make music because I like fast cars and f**king girls, you’d call me a rock star”.
This disparity reveals an imbalance. Female pop stars are put on a pedestal, expected to act as cultural role models while simultaneously pushing the boundaries of their creativity. Until this standard shifts, the cycle will continue, subjecting women to disproportionate rituals of judgement rather than genuine critique.
