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Charlotte Leeke - Howell's Llandaff 1988 - 1995
Life as a Musician
The music business is highly competitive, hard working, unpredictable and pressurised but what I personally consider to be one of the most rewarding careers around. Musicians today have to be extremely flexible and prepared to use all the skills they have and more: I am constantly adding to my skills on a day to day basis and have listed many of the qualities and skills I use:
- Performer
- Musician
- Historian/researcher (writing programme notes)
- Administrator
- Accountant (as a freelance musician I have to do all my own accounts, invoicing and tax.)
- Artistic Director
- Teacher
- Leadership
- Ability to follow a leader (even if you do not necessarily agree)
- Team work
- Management skills (time, finance)
- Marketing
- Public Relations (you have to be able to sell yourself and recognise the market you are tapping into)
- Organisation
- Communication (essential)
- Flexibility
- Diversity
- Motivation
- Commitment
- Confidence
- Reliability
- Positive
- Ambitious
- Creative
- Sensitive
- Imaginative
- Competitive with yourself but NOT in a negative way with your colleagues.
My musical training began with piano lessons, playing the Cornet and Tenor Horn and singing in school and the local church choir. I changed to the French Horn at Howell’s School Llandaff. Here I did all the relevant ABRSM, GCSE and A-level Music exams and performed as much as I could through personal practice, school orchestras, brass and wind chamber ensembles and singing. Outside school I played in the county windbands, horn clubs and orchestras and progressed to the National Youth Orchestra of Wales. University was next and then music college in London.
Throughout my time as an undergraduate and postgraduate, I performed in as many groups as I could: symphony and chamber orchestras, contemporary music group, wind, brass and horn ensembles and as a soloist, exposing me to as many different styles of playing as possible. In addition to this, I was doing on average four hours practise a day. Hard work but well worth it!
I accepted all outside concerts, paid and unpaid, to make as many contacts I could and see as much repertoire as I could.
Since leaving college I have continued to build up my contacts playing with chamber ensembles, orchestras and opera companies all over Britain and doing auditions. Like many young professionals, I have played as a member of the Britten-Pears Symphony Orchestra, British Youth Opera and London Philharmonic Youth Orchestra – these orchestras have helped bridge the gap between leaving college and entering the music profession through working with top conductors (Tadaaki Otaka, Paul Daniel and David Angus) and performers (Roger Vignoles), exposing me to varying repertoire, intensive rehearsal schedules, touring, performing in major concert halls and building up contacts with my contemporaries (the very people you spend most of your career playing with).
Like many of my contemporary performers, I am a founder member of a wind ensemble, which in my case is an all Welsh wind chamber ensemble called Celtaidd. Running the ensemble is hard work but also very rewarding. The administration involves writing to directors of music festivals, societies and agencies for concerts, to music services and schools for education workshops and also to managers of department stores, businesses and hotels for work doing background music, marketing and promoting the group, managing the finances and organising music and rehearsals. Entering competitions provides a platform and exposure to new people, which is also useful to do as a soloist.
One of the most important aspects of my daily work is being able to work alongside different performers of all ages and styles without being threateningly competitive to colleagues. The music industry is highly competitive: the number of graduates leaving a music college far exceeds the number of jobs available. While it is important to be ambitious, positive and always striving to do your best, it is vital that these essential qualities in being a musician do not become aggressive and competitive in a negative sense. Always aim to support your colleagues: some will not do the same back but it is by far the best way to work! Socialising between the rehearsal and concert and after the concert is a good way of not only winding down but of getting to know your colleagues better and making new contacts. The more relaxed you feel with people socially, the more relaxed you will feel working alongside them.
Freelancing can be very tiring at times. I find it a necessity to exercise (yoga everyday, jogging every other day), eat and sleep well. When you are doing everything for yourself, you need to make sure that you manage your time to include plenty of relaxation too. Socialising with those outside music is a good idea.
Finally, how often do you hear the words ‘don’t go into performing, there’s no money in it’? True, performing may not be as financially rewarding as the average 9 – 5 office job and many musicians combine performing with another job, most commonly teaching. However, as a musician you would be doing something you love, make new friends frequently and visit many different places in Britain and abroad.
A few golden rules:
- Never be late – always allow time when travelling for any possible delays and aim to be arrive at the venue 15 to 30 minutes before starting playing. This will give you time to set up, warm up, look at the music, meet any new colleagues and assess the acoustic. Always be ready to play before the conductor arrives in the Hall.
- If someone phones to book you for a rehearsal/ concert and leaves a message, ALWAYS phone them back as soon as you can. Even if you cannot do the date, phone them back to let them know: they are far more likely to remember you for next time. If you phone through to an answer phone, leave a message and say you’ll try phoning back again later – make sure you do!
- If you accept the engagement, remember to ask for written confirmation of the address (including street name and post code), fee, concert dress, if you need your own stand, repertoire to be played (including part) and any other information you may need to know for the day. It is wise to prepare the music before day if you have time: ask the fixer if they can send you a copy of the music – if that isn’t possible look in your excerpt books or find a score in a music library and listen to the piece.
- Always stick to your first booking. Sometimes it is disappointing to have to turn work down but you will appear busy to the fixer and someone worth approaching next time. Better this way than to earn a reputation for double booking and letting people down at the last minute.
- Always dress smart /casual. Concert dress should be appropriate and smart.
- Build up the widest circle of contacts possible, and remember, EVERYONE is a potential contact even if they are not musicians!
- Smile and say hello!
BIOGRAPHY
Charlotte Leeke began playing the Horn at the age of 11 with Bill Davis and later Angus West. Following graduation from the University of Wales Cardiff, Charlotte studied Horn with
Jeff Bryant, Roger Montgomery, Michael Murray and Stephen Stirling at Trinity College of Music. Here she achieved her PGDip. with Distinction and MMus. Prizes awarded to Charlotte include the Dunwell and TCM Trust Scholarships, the A.B.Dally for the ‘Outstanding Instrumentalist’,
Paul Francis, Cardiff County and Vale of Glamorgan Youth Orchestra Conductor Laureate Award and an Award for Advanced Study in Music from the Arts Council of Wales.
Charlotte performs with many orchestras and chamber ensembles, appearing at festivals and music societies throughout Britain: St. Endellion (under Richard Hickox), Chichester, the Gower, Criccieth, Tenby and Sounds New in Canterbury are to name a few. She is a founder member of Celtaidd Wind Chamber Ensemble and is Principal Horn of the Bergamo Ensemble. Charlotte has performed in operas and shows including Der Fledermaus, The Pirates of Penzance and
The Mikado with the Carl Rosa Opera Company, Into the Woods and Curlew River in Japan and Suffolk. She has performed regularly with the London Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, is the former principal of British Youth Opera and former co-principal of the Britten-Pears Symphony Orchestra and National Youth Orchestra of Wales.
Since September 2002, Charlotte has been represented by Galeri Performance Agency. She made her concerto debut in 1997 performing Concerto No.1 in E flat by Richard Strauss in the City Hall, Cardiff. Since then, Charlotte has performed numerous concertos including the British premiere of Einleitung und Romanze by Albert Dietrich, Schumann’s Konzertstück in St. John’s, Smith Square and Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with the Wallace Ensemble. Television appearances and recordings include the song These Days, The Mikado with Carl Rosa Opera, HTV and S4C.
Charlotte Leeke: Teacher of Brass for the Brent and Barnet Music Services, London. Weekly brass workshops in schools in Brent. Former member of staff and Horn Tutor of the Cardiff County and Vale of Glamorgan Youth Orchestra and High School’s Windband.
I would be more than happy to give advice to any young musician should they want it. If you would like any further information, feel free to contact me via the Minerva Network Development Office.
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