CHRIST’S HOSPITAL EXCHANGE VISIT

by Monica Leiher, October 2004

This past October 2004, 21 students and six staff (myself included) from Christ's Hospital School boarded a plane to visit the Mathieson Music School and take part in their Tenth Anniversary celebrations.

There is nothing too extraordinary in music departments undertaking international tours, nothing unusual about a school setting up concerts and inviting others to celebrate important rites of passage. But the Mathieson Music School is exceptional for several reasons: upon graduation, MMS students have earning power twice or three times that of the average school leaver in their home country, solely on the strength of playing an orchestral instrument. This statistic is all the more impressive when you consider that the intake of this particular school is based entirely on need, either because they are orphans or come from destitute, illiterate and often emotionally disturbed backgrounds, and that the students pay nothing at all for their board and tuition. For these children, education is a means of escape from a cycle of poverty and deprivation; music is making a tangible difference in their lives.

The Mathieson Music School is situated on the outskirts of Calcutta, India, one of the most over-populated, polluted, poverty-stricken cities on the planet. The MMS is an oasis of calm and cleanliness, and offers the fantastic opportunity of a free education, room and board, and the real possibility of employment to children who would otherwise be facing the awful spectre of destitution in Calcutta. With the education they receive, MMS graduates can find work in the burgeoning Bollywood industry or in the restaurants and party circuits that are clamouring for Indians who can play western classical music.

The MMS was on a fund-raising tour of the UK in 1996 when it first made contact with Christ's Hospital School in Horsham, West Sussex. Since then, CH's music department has been involved with the MMS, either by sending ex-pupils during their gap years as teachers (although it goes without saying that the MMS has excellent teachers of their own, not least their classical Indian dance teacher!) or by raising funds through its choral society. The previous director of music, Peter Allwood, spent part of his sabbatical leave there.

CH's most recent trip to the MMS was its most ambitious to date. The sheer number of people we brought necessitated the building of a second storey on the top of one of their existing buildings, to be used as the girls' dormitory! We brought woodwind and brass quintets, and a full percussion section, which are all quite new to the MMS, as well as the usual strings and singers. We held a press conference at the British Council and had our picture, alongside MMS pupils, in many of the major local broadsheets. By doing so, we helped to forge stronger links between the MMS and other organizations that would be able to help, financially and politically, to keep the MMS running securely and predictably, to ensure the smooth, unbroken education of the children who attend. We played a concert at the Kala Mandir, Calcutta's major concert venue, which was, according to the reviews in those same broadsheets, a huge success. The reception thrown for us at the Bengal Club afterwards was a sumptuous and glitzy event.

It would be easy to catalogue our itinerary, but much more difficult to sufficiently describe what our group took away. CH Director of Music, Bruce Grindlay says, "This was a rare opportunity to see a culture so different to our own. Once we got used to the shock of dealing with the sights and sounds and smells of Calcutta, we were able to appreciate the obstacles that people overcome to get everything done. They're more self-reliant than we are, they have a better sense of community and family. We could also learn a lot musically; they build on an innate musicality that children share and much is learned by ear. It was very liberating." At the school we were made to feel so welcome, we were fed like kings (the CH kids wanted to bring the cook home, please), and bottled water was almost limitless.

Part of our intention was to rehearse with the MMS children (who, this year, are a relatively 'new crop' between the ages of six and 13) and inspire their music-making, show them what was possible by the age of 15 or 16. "It was marvelous", says Anup Biswas, "this was the first time for many of our pupils to have the experience of an orchestra from the UK, from Europe. To see these instruments played so well by other children, especially, was inspirational. It is possible to 'catch the moon'!"

So it was a good experience for the MMS, but we weren't prepared for the incredible impact they would have on us, as musicians and as people.

There's a buzz you get from sharing something with someone, especially when it really does make their lives better. It's the best part about teaching music. At the Mathieson Music School, there is much yet to be done, and so much more to gain in the doing. Surely, this is what music is all about.