When Delight Kwan joined a five-day summer course to learn the violin in Scotland in 2019, she realised how much she loved the music of Scotland, as well as the Scottish accent, and decided that Aberdeen was where she wanted to pursue her studies. As she graduates this week with a Bachelor of Music degree, she tells us how the support of Margaret Carlaw and Professor Derek Ogston has helped her during her time here.
“While I have been studying Music at Aberdeen, I have been able to attend two extra courses thanks to the support of a Carlaw Ogston Conducting Bursary and a Carlaw Music Education Bursary.
“This year I was able to learn choral conducting techniques at a course in Bromsgrove run by an organisation called Sing for Pleasure. I was able to gain basic knowledge of pitch patterning, which is an approach to direct a singer’s pitch when they learn a new song. I also learnt the technique of finding the first note to demonstrate the singing of the song to the singers. This was extremely helpful as it not only helped my conducting, but also my singing skills. Very importantly, I learnt to give the singers praise where appropriate. The course gave me a practical approach to conducting in front of singers which I found very suitable and interactive. I enjoyed it a lot and learnt a lot from it.
“The previous year I was able to attend a course for conductors and vocal leaders at Glasgow University. I was able to gain an excellent basic knowledge on how to conduct and it allowed me to gain confidence conducting in front of a choir and to maintain good posture and eye contact with professional singers through the practical approach of learning.
“During my time at the University, I have enjoyed playing violin and piano in the University of Aberdeen Symphony Orchestra. It was an honour to receive an A for my final piano recital and I am graduating with an upper second-class honours in BMus! All of this would be impossible without the help of my piano teachers, Blair Cargill and Joseph Long. Also, a big thank you to Guera Crockett and Aden Mazur as they have helped me improve my violin skills and prepare for violin exams over these years.
“The main challenge I faced was learning the local Scottish accent since English is not my first language. I have learnt this by talking with people and getting better at listening and understanding my professors. My classmates have been very helpful and sometimes they would explain things to me or lend me some of their notes to revise. However, I have learnt new phrases such as ‘fit like’ and ‘cheerio’.
“If I had any advice to give to future students it would be to always remember your goal, your passion, and never give up. Your personal tutor and the student support services are always willing to help when you need it. Work hard, then work harder and continue to work even harder and then you will succeed.
“I have no firm plans for my future but I am considering either working full-time teaching music therapy or part-time teaching piano and part-time working as a music therapist. I have a great passion for music and I want to share this passion with people with different needs and help them reach their goal. I also want to have a positive impact on different people, helping them to explore their creativity, self-expression, and hand-coordination skills etc through playing instruments and/or singing. As well as this, I would like to continue learning conducting more in future as I wish to conduct in a choir or ensemble or orchestra. I find conducting fascinating as I can work with players and explore different pieces with them.
“Whatever I do, my future pursuits of becoming a conductor would not be possible without this generous funding. It greatly reduced my financial burden when paying for travel and accommodation. I hope in return I will be able to contribute to society with my conducting knowledge and leadership in the future. Thank you very much.”
