Patrick Allen (music educator)

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Patrick Allen
Born (1955-10-17) 17 October 1955 (age 68)
Pen name Patrick Allen
Occupation Teacher and author
Language English
Nationality British
Education University of Leeds, University of Sussex, University of Strasbourg, SOAS
Period 1987-present
Genre Music Education
Notable works Singing Matters
Notable awards Times Educational Supplement Schoolbook Award, The Guardian Award for Secondary Teacher of the Year, NUT/MfY Teacher Award
Website
www.musicskool.com

Patrick Allen (born 17 October 1955) is the English author of Singing Matters (Heinemann publishers), which won the Times Educational Supplement Schoolbook Award in 1999.[1] He also won The Guardian Award for Teacher of the Year in a Secondary School in 2004[2][3] and the NUT Teacher Award for "inspirational leadership of a music group" at the 2015 National Festival of Music for Youth.[4][5] Until July 2015, he worked as an Advanced Skills Teacher , based at Ifield Community College in Crawley, England where he was also Head of Music and Chair of Arts.[6] He was awarded Advanced Skills Teacher status in 2001.[7] Allen is a UK judge for the Teaching Awards,[8] a music education consultant and a PhD research student at SOAS[9]

Early career

Patrick Allen studied French, Music and English at three Universities (Leeds, Sussex and Strasbourg), and he began his career as a teacher of English and Drama. He switched to music teaching following MA studies at Sussex University.[10] His practical, hands-on approach to music proved popular with students and word of his success with classes and performing ensembles led to approaches from publishers in the 1990s.

Publications

Singing Matters (Heinemann 1997) was widely acclaimed in the educational and academic press and remains a very popular text and teaching tool with music educators in the United Kingdom and beyond.[11][12] Allen's subsequent Heinemann publications, Developing Singing Matters (1999) and Composing Matters (2002) are also widely used in schools and provide a practical and inclusive repertoire of activities for secondary pupils.[13][14] Allen also contributes to educational journals, and was a co-author of Music Suite, an interactive CD-ROM published by On-Line Classics (2004).[15]

Outreach work

His work as an Advanced Skills Teacher and his consultancy work have seen him provide support and training since 1998 for local education authorities and universities across the United Kingdom the National Association of Music Educators, The Scottish Association for Music Education, The Halle Orchestra, the Department for Education and Skills and a range of private training providers.[16]

Ifield Community College Choir

Patrick Allen has been the director and conductor of this youth choir based at Ifield Community College since 1987.[17] As well as being seven times regional winners and national finalists in the National Festival of Music for Youth,[18] the choir was one of two choirs selected by the BBC in 2011 to represent the UK in the international Let the Peoples Sing choral festival.[19] The choir has performed five times on BBC Radio 3. In 2011 it was the subject of a feature on BBC Radio 3 Music Matters,[20] focusing on the integration of the school's Chagossian drummers, and later in the year performed in a broadcast gala concert from the BBC MediaCityUK in Salford Quays.[21] In 2012 the choir performed live on BBC Radio 3 from The Roundhouse in London.[22] As well as receiving widespread praise for its musical achievements the choir has also been praised for its inclusive approach, multicultural repertoire[23] and for "raising the aspirations" of its members.[24] The choir was the subject of a film by SVC Television, directed by Andrew Vere in 1996[25] and has performed at world class venues such as The Royal Festival Hall, St Mark's Basilica in Venice and Barcelona Cathedral. The choir perform on Rihanna's single Towards the Sun (released March 2015), co-written and produced by former choir member, Tiago Carvalho.[26][27] The song, featuring the choir and Patrick Allen as Choir Master, also appears in the DreamWorks Animation production Home: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, curated by Rihanna.[28]

Chagossian Drummers

Patrick Allen is responsible for the formation and development of a drumming group at Ifield Community College consisting entirely of boys from the displaced Chagossian community, who had been arriving in Crawley from Mauritius since 2004.[29] The special musical culture and relationship between the performers led to immediate national interest, and integration with the choir. A first performance at the Royal College of Music for the National Association of Music Educators,[30] was followed by a performance at the Royal Geographical Society at the Chagos Regagne Conference[31][32] and two performances with the BBC Singers in Crawley and at Maida Vale Studios, entitled Rhythms of the World.[33] In May 2011 they, and the choir, were the subject of a feature in The Times.[34][35] The drummers performed with the college choir on BBC Radio 3 and were interviewed for BBC Radio in 2011.[36] Their journey and experience in Crawley is described in a blog,[37] and in a number of articles.[38] They have also come to the attention of academic researchers, including a conference at King's College London in March 2012.[39] The group have also had coverage in the Mauritian press [40] and won awards in the Crawley community.[41][42]

Books

Title Publisher
Singing Matters ISBN 978-0435810153 Heinemann 1997 Oxford
Developing Singing Matters ISBN 978-0435810184 Heinemann 1999 Oxford
Composing Matters Pupil Book ISBN 978-0435811822 Heinemann 2002 Oxford
Composing Matters CD/CD-ROM ISBN 978-0435811808 Heinemann 2002 Oxford
Composing Matters Teacher Resource Pack ISBN 978-0435811815 Heinemann 2002 Oxford
Europe: World of Music ISBN 978-0431117768 Heinemann Library 2008 Chicago

Published Articles

Main Publication Chapter
NAME Magazine (National Association of Music Educators) No.2 1999 Singing Really Matters![43]
Bluebirds and Crows (NAME) ISBN 0 9505789-3-2 Finding the Perfect Song -a look at classroom repertoire.[44]
NAME Magazine (National Association of Music Educators) No.12 2004 Are Public Examinations Damaging Music Education?[43]
NAME Magazine (National Association of Music Educators) No.29 2007 Motivating Students to Sing[43]
SecEd Magazine 14 October 2010 What I have learned from the Chagossians[45]
Sussex Life Magazine December 2011 Singing the World.[46]
Constructing Critical Consciousness ed. Lea. Peter Lang (New York) 2012 Working with Chagossian Teenagers in Crawley, England[47]

References

  1. ↑ Times Educational Supplement 12 March 1999. "The Freedom of Music" https://www.tes.com/news/tes-archive/tes-publication/freedom-musicschoolbook-award-musictes-competitionwar-amp/
  2. ↑ The Pearson Teaching Awards. Winners 2004, http://www.teachingawards.com/winners/2004/South%20East%20of%20England/14868
  3. ↑ The Guardian 29 June 2004 "Calm in the Face of a Storm" http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2004/jun/29/schools.teachingawards2004
  4. ↑ Crawley Observer September 2015 http://www.crawleyobserver.co.uk/news/local/award-for-crawley-teacher-who-brought-music-to-a-generation-of-schoolchildren-1-6969794
  5. ↑ Music for Youth Awards 2015 http://www.mfy.org.uk/awardscertificates2015
  6. ↑ Crawley News July 2015 http://www.crawleynews.co.uk/Music-teacher-formed-award-winning-choir-drumming/story-26899948-detail/story.html
  7. ↑ http://musicskool.com/#/ast-ofsted/4543370930
  8. ↑ Teaching Awards Website http://www.pearsonteachingawards.com/teaching-awards-judges/
  9. ↑ http://soas.academia.edu/PatrickAllen
  10. ↑ Times Educational Supplement 12 March 1999 "The Freedom of Music" http://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/The-freedom-of-music-Schoolbook-award-for-music-TES-competition-War-and-amp-Music-Interview-Patrick-Allen-Kaye-Umansky-313278/
  11. ↑ British Journal of Music Education Vol. 15 issue 2. Review of "Singing Matters" Peggie http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=6329136
  12. ↑ Times Educational Supplement "Practically Perfect Pitch" Tom Deveson 14 November 1997 http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=73584
  13. ↑ British Journal of Music Education Volume 17 Issue 1 Review of "Developing Singing Matters" http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=34705
  14. ↑ British Journal of Music Education Vol 21 Issue 1 Review of "Composing Matters" Berkley http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=211127
  15. ↑ Musicskool website http://musicskool.com/#/other-pubs/4543275281
  16. ↑ http://musicskool.com/#/outreach/4543221202
  17. ↑ http://www.ifieldchoir.com/#/history-of-the-choir/4542867542
  18. ↑ http://ifieldchoir.com/about-us/4542754662
  19. ↑ BBC Radio 3 "Let the Peoples Sing" 30 October 2011 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b016kdc8
  20. ↑ BBC Radio "Music Matters" 18 June 2011 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011y7jx
  21. ↑ BBC Radio 3 "The Choir" 30 October 2011 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b016kdc8
  22. ↑ BBC Radio 3 "Voices Now" Sunday 4 March 2012 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01cvmhz
  23. ↑ Ifield Community College Choir http://www.ifieldchoir.com/
  24. ↑ Times Educational Supplement 16 May 1997 "In Tune with the Real World" Gerald Haigh. http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=47957
  25. ↑ British Film Institute Film & TV Database "Ifield Community College Choir" 1996 http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/563154
  26. ↑ https://instagram.com/p/zX5tOGQjPk/?modal=true
  27. ↑ http://www.crawleyobserver.co.uk/news/local/crawley-school-choir-featured-on-rihanna-s-new-single-1-6601949
  28. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/album/home-original-motion-picture-soundtrack-mw0002826781/credits
  29. ↑ Ifield Community College Chagossian Musicians: Beginnings: May 2009
  30. ↑ Ifield Community College Chagossian Musicians: Performing at the Royal College of Music: July 2009
  31. ↑ UK Chagos Support Association http://www.chagossupport.org.uk/background/news-archive/may-2011-update
  32. ↑ Ifield Community College Choir http://www.ifieldchoir.com/#/chagos-regagne/4552747394
  33. ↑ BBC Radio Saturday 18 June 2011 http://www.bbc.co.uk/orchestras/events/765
  34. ↑ The Times 18 May 2011. "Crawley's Chagossian Teenage Choir" "Crawley's Link to a Lost Culture". http://www.timesplus.co.uk/tto/news/?login=false&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thetimes.co.uk%2Ftto%2Flife%2Farticle3022735.ece
  35. ↑ The Times 18 May 2011 "Crawley's Chagossian Teenage Choir" scanned Ifield Community College Choir website http://www.ifieldchoir.com/#/the-times/4551659372
  36. ↑ BBC Radio Music Matters 18 June 2011 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011y7jx
  37. ↑ Ifield Community College Chagossian Musicians
  38. ↑ Sec Ed Magazine http://www.sec-ed.co.uk/cgi-bin/go.pl/article/article.html?uid=79027;section=Features%22;type_uid=2
  39. ↑ King's College, London "Multiculturalism and Music in Britain" Friday 16 March 2012 "Teaching Chagossian Teenagers in Crawley" Patrick Allen http://www.mauritiustimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3957:conversation-with-patrick-allen&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=50
  40. ↑ Mauritius Times Dec 11 2015 http://www.mauritiustimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3957:conversation-with-patrick-allen&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=50
  41. ↑ UK Chagos Support Association http://www.chagossupport.org.uk/young-chagossian-drummers-win-music-award-1840
  42. ↑ Joe Tiatous, Ronny Lafleur, Jason Alexis, Atkinson Sobha, Thierry Ally, Emmanuel Ally, Stebane Constant, Andy Simonet, Patrick Bundhoo, Daryll Amedee at Crawley Youth Awards http://www.ifieldchoir.com/#/crawley-youth-awards/4557168146
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 43.2 National Association of Music Educators http://www.name.org.uk/publications/category/magazine
  44. ↑ National Association of Music Educators http://www.name.org.uk/publications/item/bluebirds-and-crows-developing-singing-culture
  45. ↑ SecEd Magazine 14 October 2010 "What I have Learned from the Chagossians" Patrick Allen. http://www.sec-ed.co.uk/cgi-bin/go.pl/article/article.html?uid=79027;section=Features%22;type_uid=2
  46. ↑ Sussex Life December 2012 "Singing the World" Patrick Allen http://sussex.greatbritishlife.co.uk/article/ifield-community-college-choir-the-bbc-to-represent-the-nation-let-the-peoples-sing-gala-concert-37511/
  47. ↑ Peter Lang Publishers Spring Catalogue 2012 http://www.peterlang.com/catpdf/2012_PeterLang_SpringCatalog.pdf

External links

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