Caroline
Dearnley
Principal
players
Miranda Dale
Julian Tear
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Meet Caroline Dearnley
Principal Cello
What do you enjoy about
playing with Britten Sinfonia?
Britten Sinfonia feels like my
musical ‘home’. I have been with the band from its earliest days and feel
lucky to make music with such lovely friends and wonderful musicians.
We have the most exciting and diverse repertoire thrown at us so there’s
no chance of feeling too ‘safe’. I think we all love being faced with
fresh challenges.
One project, Art of Fugue (with
Joanna MacGregor, Andy Sheppard and the amazing Shri Sriram on tabla,
bass and flute), was a particular challenge as we were asked to improvise
– the mere thought brings most string players out in a stress-related
rash! The transformation of the hilarity and embarrassment of the first
rehearsals through the series of nine concerts was incredible. We were
in awe of Shri and Andy for their magical solo improvisations – musical
journeys through rhythmic and harmonic sound worlds and back again – while
they were in awe of us for the relatively straightforward task of reading
the music in front of us!
When did you start playing
the cello?
I started playing the cello aged
four – although I don’t believe I had any say in the matter. I was taught
at first by a violin teacher and helped by my Mum (a piano teacher), and
my early memories are of confrontation, frustration and sore fingers.
It got better though, and I finally got my first serious cello teacher,
Antonia Butler, when I started at the Royal College of Music junior department,
aged nine. Antonia was a wonderful teacher, guide and support for the
next eight years (reducing me to tears on a regular basis) and inspiring
me with her enthusiasm and fiery personality.
Do you make a living playing
music?
Chamber music is a great love
of mine. My piano tri, the Joachim Trio, has been together for 20 years!
I enjoy the intimacy of small ensembles with different combinations of
instruments. I find it fascinating performing works that I know well with
different musicians. The resulting performance will be totally unique,
depending on the chemistry and interaction between the players, highlighting
new aspects of the same piece. The best combinations, I find, are ones
where you don’t have to talk too much!
What has been the most
memorable experience in your career so far?
One of the most enjoyable musical
experiences was a two week tour of Japan (fresh out of music college)
with the RPO Pops Orchestra and Henry Mancini (film music composer, legend
and the most charismatic ’70 something’ I’ve ever met, playing film favourites
such as the themes from Peter Gunn, Moon River, Pink Panther, Cinema Paradiso
etc. Heavenly tunes with a master of the genre.
…and the funniest?
There are, of course, many hilarious
moments when things go wrong in concerts, especially as most audiences
view ‘classical’ concerts as fairly serious events. Contemporary music
concerts in small groups with select audiences tend to provide the setting
for much mirth. One such occasion was a Purcell Room concert when the
players had second instruments to play. Mine was a pebble which, on first
impact, broke in half and clattered to the stage.
A recent Britten Sinfonia concert
included a piece by Piers Hellawell which ended with the four cellists
(specially selected) being required to shout and grunt Viking war cries
while our colleagues looked on sympathetically. That went down well at
the Chelsea Festival!
Do you have time for anything
else?
It’s a real treat having a proper
round-the-table roast dinner with my family. Being married to another
busy freelance musician we don’t get regular Sundays off together, so
whenever possible we make a big fuss of having a ‘celebration supper’
(as my girls, 8 and 5, call it). I enjoy playing tennis although I will
only play in good weather and when my cello-playing won’t suffer too badly
from having a stiff arm!
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