Rachel Cooper on the return of the Benedetti Foundation's Global Sessions

The Benedetti Foundation’s virtual sessions return this month with Global Violin Sessions: A Cultural Exchange Part 2. Running across three weeks (18 April – 8 May), the sessions combine instrumental teaching with cultural exchange, following the evolution of a tune as guest artists from across the world make it their own. Session participants will record themselves playing the compositions for a virtual final performance released on 22 May. 

After being played by founder and artistic director Nicola Benedetti, this year’s tune will be passed to guests Aly Bain, Phil Cunningham and Jenna Reid representing Scotland, the Ayoub Sisters representing Egypt, and Timothy Chooi and Laure Chan representing the concept of East Meets West.©The Shannons Photography

Could you give a little bit of background on your career to date?

I've been teaching for about 15 years, having started teaching when I came to London to do my masters to earn some money alongside my studies. I was studying violin playing and pedagogy when I realized I just didn't really know how to teach violin, so I took Suzuki teacher training for about three and a half years.

What were your thoughts and expectations going into the Benedetti Foundation?

I've been part of the Foundation since its inception, and I remember the meeting in May 2019 where all the teachers were brought together with the foundation team. Nicky, amazingly, said to everyone ‘what do you think this should be?’ She wanted to know what teachers working in schools and organisations thought children needed from music education. The foundation has given teachers a serious voice and Nicky has made the point that we should be respecting the pedagogues who are working with the next generation of musicians. It's been truly transformative in the way that society views music and instrumental teachers.

The Global Sessions aim to show people’s capability of ‘holding duality in their minds and hearts’ which is obviously hugely needed in today’s divided world. How have you noticed the impact of that concept on your students?

What's so unique about the Global Sessions is that they have given a voice to other composers and musicians from around the world. Innately, humans are different, and the Global Sessions give us the opportunity to play with and celebrate those differences.

We also often assume that children will like, or dislike certain things and so we impose upon them a form or a structure for what we think that they should be playing or doing. That approach causes us to miss critical opportunities for them to connect with what they’re learning. What I’ve found with my students is that when they are exposed to things that they don't know yet, you can see them become engaged.

I've had some students with Global Sessions who will say ‘I loved this tune from America, or wherever we've been going, and I kept playing it at home after the session.’ It’s really interesting to see a child who perhaps hasn't been engaged find or connect to something that makes sense to them, that makes their heart feel alive and makes them want to participate.

Is there anything that you do differently to prepare for each Global Session in comparison to your teaching at Guildhall?

That's a really interesting question because it makes me reflect on what is important. What really matters is music-making and being able to play the instrument. Technical foundations for me are absolutely paramount in setting my musicians up, but, of course, as you go around the world and see how the violin is played, it isn't approached in that uptight way. When it comes to the Global Sessions, I definitely have to take a step back to ensure that I am not making the students uptight or unable to experiment with the instrument. You do need a certain set of skills in order to play and make a nice sound, but I don't insist on certain things because I want the children just to explore and experiment.

Are there any elements of the Global Sessions which you feel could or should be transferred to individual practice, smaller organisations or schools?

Absolutely, the music education system and music projects are doing an amazing job of that, but I think the biggest thing is that we allow children to have some freedom within a decent framework. I always talk about teaching as the laboratory because I never want my children to scared of making mistakes - they’re a powerful part of the learning process.

The format of the Global Sessions helps strikes a balance between creativity and its practical foundations. On the Saturday of each weekend, we meet the composers and musicians with a Q&A and a little online concert where they talk about their traditions. Then on the Sunday we have focus sessions with myself, Alex Laing (Intermediate tutor) and Andrea Gajic (Advanced & Students/Adults tutor) where we teach the students the practical skills they will need.

Do you have a favourite anecdote about the impact of the Global Sessions on your beginner students?

We spend a lot of time criticising online learning, but one of its advantages is that it can free the student from feeling overly observed. One of my students was finding violin playing challenging and they probably had a lot going on outside of the lesson which was massively over-stimulating the brain, but in this environment they became very motivated to improvise and compose things themselves – they’ve found the thing that connects them to the music and makes them want to do it.

The sessions have given the students another way to express themselves and receive different input. I love when my students get input from other teachers because it gives them more ‘ammunition for expression’ and my students can really benefit.

Have you seen your students’ playing change after their exposure to musical styles from other cultures?

My students have massively improved when they do these projects because they go into an explorative mode, and they end up doing things that are much more advanced because they don’t assume it’s too hard. In the process of experimenting with new techniques, students will realise ‘I need a soft arm. I need a soft wrist. I need some soft fingers.’ Amazingly, after all those lessons where you've been going on and on about these techniques, suddenly they're doing it because they're having fun.

Once you take them out of a context where they relate learning something technical to being difficult, they become more free and they've come on a lot in the process.

Where do you hope to see the Global Sessions, and the Benedetti Foundation as a whole in five years’ time?

I would love to see the foundation develop its existing programmes, especially our Bridge the Gap programme, which we trialled with the Royal Welsh College of Music last year. This programme is a series of talks, focused on bridging the gap between Conservatory learning and teaching as a respected career. It presents the teaching profession as something that is worth spending time investigating and doing well and so I think it would be really powerful to have more education to equip students for this profession before they leave university.

It would be great to see the foundation go more worldwide and do some more in-person projects as well as online.

I would also love to see the foundation continue supporting music education and I’d like to let music teachers know that we're here, we're supporting what you're doing and we're just here to offer another voice for your students.

The Global Violin Sessions are open to everyone, any level, any age and from anywhere in the world. Participants can sign up here to join, with applications for the first weekend (23-4 April) at the end of the day today (21 April 2022). However, registration will remain open throughout the sessions and so participants can join at any time.

You can find our more about Rachel Cooper at her website.