Marlborough College music scholars and percussionists were treated to a hugely entertaining and informative lecture recital by Colin McCann. Colin is a member of their visiting music teacher team but is also a busy and sought-after percussionist in the West End.
Interspersed amongst witty anecdotes, he treated the captivated audience to extracts from Wicked, Les Miserables and Top Hat, displaying a quite extraordinary ability to multi-task and characterise the scores. What came over most of all was his enthusiasm for the genre as well as the job. However, he was very firm with his advice to young ‘wannabes'! Technique is the essential ingredient – practise until you can rely on it completely. Sit in on the masters and learn how it should sound and make sure you have completely mastered the simple things before moving on to the more complex ideas.
