Award-winning classical saxophonist and current Bradford Cathedral what’s-on cover star, Rob Burton won the Woodwind Category Final and was a Grand Finalist in BBC Young Musician 2018. Rob currently studies on a full scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music with Huw Wiggin and previously at the Junior Guildhall School of Music, where he was a Sax.co.uk Scholarship holder. We caught up with him ahead of his February Coffee Concert here at Bradford Cathedral as he waited for some emergency repairs to his saxophone, to talk about his musical background, what to expect from him at his concert, and what it was like to play on national television.Could you give background to you as a musician?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I got into music because my friends started recorder lessons at primary school. Even though I wasn’t signed up for these recorder lessons I thought that it sounded awesome and that I really wanted to do that as well. My parents went out and bought me a recorder and I started taking the lessons. I think because I enjoyed it so much I really got the hang of it a lot quicker than a lot of my friends. I guess I naturally progressed onto the saxophone after playing the recorder for four-or-five years.</span>The reason I chose the saxophone was because my parents absolutely adored the instrument. They actually made a CD for me of all their favourite pop saxophone solos, so it had songs on it like Baker Street and those kind of tunes. I used to listen to that when I was eight-or-nine and I fell in love with the saxophone and couldn’t wait to start playing it.Could you tell us a little about the pieces you’re going to play?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I’ll be playing a complete mixture of kind-of classical saxophone repertoire. I say kind-of classical because you shouldn’t expect pieces from composers like Mozart or Beethoven. They’ll be quite a lot of crossovers. I’ll be playing some pieces by Piazzolla which is kind-of classical music, but tango-inspired, and other work that has Spanish or jazz influences, as well as some Fauré. It’ll be a complete mixture: it’ll be a programme that showcases the saxophone in many different lights.</span>You were a grand finalist in the BBC Young Musician 2018. What was it like to get that far?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">It was absolutely amazing, and very surreal. I entered the competition thinking I’d never even get past the first round and so, as I progressed through the rounds, it got weirder every time! Ending up on television, playing in front of so many people watching at home and performing with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra was an incredible experience, but a weird one. It went so quickly; it was phenomenal.</span>Did you find it nerve-racking?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I think because the competition took place over several months, it was like a whirlwind of emotions. I had to do lots of practice and meet so many amazing people, and really pushing myself hard, I don’t think I got too nervous. I was propelled by the whole experience!</span>You did some work with the young musicians of the Jersey Symphony Orchestra last year; do you enjoy inspiring other musicians?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">Yes, definitely. I’ve done a few masterclass workshops recently, and done presentations to primary schools. I even went back to my old school. Doing things like getting young people interested in music and introducing playing an instrument to them is very rewarding for me, as it feels like I’m making an impact. Also, it’s lovely to see how much they all enjoy it.</span>What’s been your favourite place to play?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">That’s a very difficult question! I do really love playing music by Piazzolla. It’s has the classical side of music that I enjoy but it’s got this freedom, from the tango influences. His writing is either beautifully lyrical, or really raw and has a typical tango ‘drive’ -which is great fun to play!</span>You also play as part of a trio and quartet; does this help keep things fresh and interesting for you?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">Yes, it does. Collaborating with other musicians is probably one of my favourite things. Whether that’s with a pianist or a trio or quarter, everyone brings so many ideas to the table; it’s not just always what I’m thinking all the time. I find it extremely inspiring to be with such amazing musicians like my peers at the Royal Academy of Music. And it gives me lots of notes to learn!</span>You are also a keen pencil artist – how did that come about?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">From the down time I do get (as I have a very busy schedule of practicing and concerts) I do enjoy doing art. I take on quite a few drawing commissions, usually animals or portraits, so that gives me something to do when I’m not practicing! I absolutely love doing it, and it gives me the chance to relax a bit, and take a break from music.</span>What else do you have lined up for 2020?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I’ve got lots of concerts lined-up. I’m playing all around the UK, then in Switzerland, Italy, in the Cayman Islands, and I’ve got lots of studying planned all over Europe. My dream is to just keep doing what I’m doing, and working with lots of young musicians and getting them involved with music. And to keep enjoying it!</span>Finally, have you had a place you’ve particularly enjoyed performing?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I think performing at Buckingham Palace was one of my favourite experiences! The audience was made up of some amazing international musicians who were so great to meet.</span>Join us on Tuesday 11th February from 11am for our Coffee Concert with Rob Burton. Entry is free and refreshments are available from 10:30am.
"How comfortable are you in sharing your faith with others? And introducing them to Jesus? How comfortable are you in doing that?"Listen back to Canon Paul's sermon from this Sunday at https://bradfordcathedral.org/worship/listen-back/
Secret transactions with God in prayer have life-changing consequences. Within worship and prayer, sorrow can be turned to joy, worry to peace. Alison Thistlethwaite’s paintings aim to capture some of this process in paint. Her paintings are not just depictions, or recollections, of encounters with God through the Spirit. They are themselves painted in encounter with God, much like the prayers of any one of us, but in physical form.Alison comes from both an art and music background. Her art training specialised in colour, and her music training (for voice and music therapy) had a strong emphasis on improvisation. Sung worship is also very important to her. With abstract paintings these different streams combine. She hopes that these paintings for Lent, Easter and Pentecost will encourage personal encounters with Christ.Ali Thistlethwaite lives in Gloucestershire and this is her second exhibition at the cathedral. We spoke with Ali to find out more about her as an artist, what the exhibition means to her, and what she hopes people will discover as they explore it.How did you get into your art?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I have always been surrounded by artistic people. I began painting when I was very young, watching my grandfather illustrating children’s storybooks. Later on, I really enjoyed art at school and decided I’d like to go to art school, and I went to St. Albans to do a foundation course.</span>We had a teacher there who taught absolutely brilliantly about colour and that really inspired me with the relationships of one colour to another. I did that course just for a year before going to work in London, doing all sorts of different jobs. Whilst there I was given singing lessons by someone who was one of the top people, and I enjoyed it so much that I ended up doing a music degree at what was called Cambridge Tech in those days. When I got there, the course was brilliant, and we had a teacher doing art history there as part of our course, which was a surprise. As time went by I realised I was missing art, although I still loved music. It’s all been a combination of art and music.After a while I decided I’d do music therapy, and went to the Guildhall School of Music to get trained. Part of the training was in improvisation, which I really took to. Imagination and spontaneity became a big part of me. I had various jobs in music therapy, but then after three years I was exhausted and longing to do art again.Art began to re-establish itself at a rather special event. Whilst in London I went to the doctor for some reason and I asked him whether you can get miserable if you’re in the wrong job, and he handed me a verse of scripture from Philippians, which said:Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.It’s such a lovely verse. I went back to my digs and I picked a flower from my landlady’s garden and painted it. As I did, I had a powerful experience of God’s presence and peace with me. Fairly soon I resigned from my job and went to back to Cambridge, and painted, and painted, and painted. With a part time music therapy job I was able to do lots of watercolour, painting flowers, and landscapes in the hills around where I was living.I soon met David, now my husband, and it was so great to meet another artistic person in church, and that’s how it all began.Has being immersed in art and music helped you as a person?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">It has helped. Initially because of music. When I became a Christian in 1976 it changed my life massively. Of course, suddenly there were all these Christian worship songs that I hadn’t sung, as I’d come from a fairly anti-Christian background. These helped enormously in the way I am as a person. Probably the three things that really helped were the Bible, praise songs and then making paintings –which are worship paintings in a way, as I often sing while I’m painting. I certainly start off with a song when in the art studio anyway! All three things strongly connect with me and are special. Also I find the physical work of painting, the need to make pictorial choices, and the opportunity to rectify things that I'm not happy with, are all very good for me and restoring.</span>You did an exhibition previously with us in late 2012 – what was that about?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">That exhibition was A New Name. The title was taken from the Bible – from Isaiah – where we’re given a new name. I've learnt a lot of my identity from reading Isaiah; I’ve always loved that book so much.</span>The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow. You will be a crown of splendour in the LORD's hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate.I had a background that saw a lot of name-calling, and not of the helpful kind. So to be able to paint about getting a new name from God was very releasing. Incidentally, the very hospitable welcome I received from Bradford Cathedral felt like being given a new name.What’s the story behind ‘Encounters with Jesus’?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">Every painting I’ve done is something to do with my walk with God. Encounters with Jesus is how I’ve encountered him, either through the Bible or in other ways, and the ways other people encounter him; alongside the stories in the Bible and how the people there have encountered him. It’s kind of personal, but it's also about how God's word speaks to us.</span>The aspect of moving forward has always been something important and so I guess walking with Jesus, and encounters with Jesus, spark my imagination of events and places as I read. I picture myself in some of the Bible stories with Jesus speaking to me.That can all go into a painting, and I start off the process, which then develops in unexpected ways.What is the exhibition made up of?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">Most of the paintings are acrylic on canvas (some are oils), and as I have a large studio, some can be quite big. I paint in an 'abstract expressionist' style. This is not because I particularly like Jackson Pollock etc. It's more because this language is really good for conveying the kind of heaven-to- earth spiritual interactions that we cannot easily put into words or images. All the same, I am happy to use words, specifically in the picture labels, which my husband writes from my notes as a 'way in' to the paintings.</span>Did you find creating them a spiritual experience?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">It was. It always has been. It takes me a while to do the paintings. Some of them have actually taken years to paint. It can be a struggle to find 'what the painting is really trying to say'. I often go back to them, then at some point I will suddenly feel a sense of peace and will sense that it’s finished.</span>What do you hope people will get out of seeing your exhibition?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I hope people will be really cheered up if they need to be cheered up! Looking at paintings is such a personal thing but I hope one or two or more of the paintings will speak to them in a way that they can respond to. I’d love to hear that people have felt really encouraged and are inspired to move forward in different ways.</span>What is your process in creating these pieces?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">Every morning I read the Bible, so sometimes what is coming from the Bible really impacts me, and there’s something there that resonates inside me. This makes me think ‘that’s what I want to paint about’. The subject of the painting then develops as it grows.</span>At other times I go for an early walk in the countryside. We live on a hill. The sun might be shining and certain colours will be looking stunning, and that can make me want to do a painting with those sort of colours. I will try them out and see if they are what I need. Or there may be dramatic clouds in a sunrise, giving me the desire for a big picture.The paintings usually start with rather thin layers of colour, gradually building up to thicker gestures, until each colour is seen against the one behind.Finally do you have any other projects in the pipeline?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I’ve been working towards this exhibition for quite a long time, all the way through 2019-20. I have kind of persisted with it day to day. The paintings I’m bringing up are mostly new but I am bringing a few earlier ones. I’m also in the middle of organising an exhibition at Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, which will probably be in August.</span>Ali Thistlethwaite’s exhibition Encounters with Jesus runs from Wednesday 26th February through to the 12th June at Bradford Cathedral. There will be the chance to hear from Ali and meet her at the Ash Wednesday service on Wednesday 26th February at 7pm.
Serenity: Poetry, Song and Music is an open mic event and an opportunity for anyone who would like to perform poetry, music, song, movement or anything else in the magnificent space of Bradford Cathedral. We spoke to one of the organisers, Mussarat Rahman, about the Artspace event, how it came about, and how you can both be part of the audience and take part!How did the idea for Serenity: Poetry, Song and Music come about?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I am quite a spiritual person and people don’t often get to see that side of me. I’m an actual trained healer, trained in various healing modalities. I use many therapeutic techniques and styles within my community work and most of my projects are deigned to have healing and therapeutic benefits. I’ve been exploring different modalities and religions for a while now; I am very open to the mysticism of spirit. I’ve translated my experiences into Art, Poetry and finding silence within spaces.</span> I am from a south Asian background and was brought up a Muslim. I believe in the oneness of spirit. I feel like there’s one God, a spiritual consciousness, a universal energy that flows through the universe, but we all call it a different name. People will approach the consciousnessfrom various angles, looking for something.What is the idea behind Serenity?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">The idea was born from the concept of bringing diverse communities together to explore religion and faith but in a beautiful space such as the cathedral.</span>Different communities and different people have different views and some people feel uncomfortable in unfamiliar surroundings. I thought that by having such an event that we can help dispel these myths. The Cathedral is such a great space and is used for so many community events. Serenity is all about reaching out to people who have a strained relationship with spirituality and how they perceive it and feeling comfortable in religious buildings. It’s aimed at anybody, whether they’re religious or non-religious. Some people don’t have a relationship with God or like spiritual buildings or don’t see the use and value of such spaces. The aim is to bring people together, to explore different venues, and show people what different places are like.And people can take part in the event?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">We’ve already got about twenty poets, musicians and artists booked on! We have let people know the content of the event: it’s about faith and spirituality, exploring the cathedral and about spirituality, whether you are or aren’t. People are interested in exploring different communities and religions, so it’s giving them a chance to experience it no matter what your background is.</span>What would you say to encourage someone to sign up if they’ve never done this sort of open mic event before?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">It’s about exploring faith, and coming to enjoy the beautiful space of the cathedral, with like-minded folk. And if you just want to watch, come along to listen to what people have to say, and check out the vibes!</span>And will you be performing yourself?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I will. Both myself and Sharena will be performing!</span>Finally, will there be a follow-up to this event?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">We’re looking at doing some more collaborations and events, which won’t be just about poetry but combining other things from the creative arts sector. Keep an eye out for those, as they’re coming up!</span>Serenity: Poetry, Song and Music takes place from 7pm on Wednesday 29th January at Bradford Cathedral. You can book a slot of up to 8-10 minutes by contacting Mussarat Rahman or Sharena Lee Satti. <span style="font-size: 1rem;">Refreshments will be served during an interval break at 8pm.</span>
