Elman Poole Music Fellowship
12 July 2009
The Elman Poole Music Fellowship is an annual award for an up and coming New Zealand instrumentalist selected by the Southern Sinfonia in Dunedin, New Zealand, to play with the renowned London orchestra, the Southbank Sinfonia.
The picture shows: violinist Charmian Keay, the 2008 Elman Poole Music Fellow.
Background to the award
Dr Elman Poole is an Otago Medical graduate who has spent most of his life working in Neurology in Oxford where is now retired. He comes from Invercargill where his grandfather, an early settler from England, established - after many hardships - a very successful family timber/furniture business --George Poole & Sons. His father Philip was both a skilled craftsman and a fine violinist, contributing much to the musical life of the city over many years.
Dr Poole wishes to help talented young New Zealand musicians to gain experience abroad and contribute to the development of music in New Zealand .
The Award
An award, value £11,000, to be made to an up and coming New Zealand instrumentalist from Southland or Otago to spend a period from January to September gaining professional performance experience by working and playing with the South Bank Sinfonia in London. Of the £10,000 provided by Mr Elman Poole, and paid in a lump sum to the NZ-UK Link Foundation:
- £1,000 will go to the South Bank Sinfonia towards central costs,
- £7,000 will be paid through the South Bank Sinfonia as a standard Bursary to be disbursed to the awardee in monthly instalments.
- £2,000 will be paid through the Link Foundation at the beginning of the period to assist settling in and
- £1,000 will be provided by the Link Foundation in New Zealand before the Award starts to help with travel expenses.
This will be conducted in 2007 and 2008 as an initial trial. While there is no obligation, the assumption is that if this two year experiment is successful, it may be continued.
Selection
Is made jointly by the South Bank Sinfonia which defines the area of player expertise demanded and by Southern Sinfonia, which defines the person of excellence able to benefit by the award. The Southern Sinfonia is free to select candidates who come from outside Southland and Otago if they feel the area of expertise demanded by the South Bank Sinfonia cannot be met locally.
Regulations and notes:
1. The candidate must recognise that whereas the grant covers much of their needs, the South Bank Sinfonia only requires work on a limited number of days a week. The candidate is expected to get other work as well.
2. The person selected must be of New Zealand nationality.
3. They must be under the age of 30 and at a stage in their career when they would benefit from UK professional experience.
4. The person selected must obtain a visa to work in Britain, which will cover time with the South Bank Sinfonia and other incidental work if needed.
5. While there is no insistence that the candidate must return the moment their time with the South Bank Sinfonia finishes, it is assumed that they will return to New Zealand within a year of their scholarship ending. It is hoped that the returning player will be employed by the Southern Sinfonia if possible.
6. The South Bank Sinfonia will use their circle of Friends to assist with finding accommodation in London and making professional contacts.
7. During their time in Britain, the successful candidate is expected to call on Dr Poole in Oxford at least once.
The 2009 Elman Poole Music Fellow is Charmian Keay. Previous Music Fellows were Anastasiya Filoppochkina (2008) and the first Elman Poole Music Fellow was Leah Johnston who was selected in 2007.
Contacts
- Simon Over, Director South Bank Sinfonia, simon@southbanksinfonia.co.uk
- Philippa Harris, General Manager, Southern Sinfonia, philippa@southernsinfonia.org
- Elman Poole, Green College Oxford, elmanwnz@aol.com
- Francis King, Executive Officer, NZ-UK Link Foundation, link@talktalk.net.
Files
- Elman Poole Music Fellow 2008 - Anastasiya Filippochkina
- Download: Anastasiya_Filippochkina__2008__1.pdf (27.47 KB)