Martin Slidel: Music Performance

In recent years, I have refocused on composition. I enjoy writing for all instruments, exploring the possibilities of different combinations. I welcome opportunities to develop new works for performance. I have produced original soundtracks and AV installations, as well as concerts and events combining music and poetry. This blog entry is a start at cobbling together recollections.

I continue to compose for its own sake, that is, sustaining momentum as a priority. Most pieces are available as digital audio, partly because my resources are very limited. I use formal notation, working with Noteflight. However, I also feel that these digital realisations have legitimacy as pieces of music in their own right. Of course, it would be lovely to hear more of them played on real instruments.

My work is individual, playful and off-kilter. Supportive feedback from a wide audience encourages me. I relish collaborating with musicians to realise my compositions. However, if it’s not “the done thing”, may I confess I’m less concerned with performance requirements at the outset... That does NOT mean I’m less concerned or committed to meeting them!! Music is as music does. Elgar said similar, in more eloquent tones. 

SCHOOL DAZE

I learnt violin and recorder as a child, with my first solo performance (squeak!) for the school’s 1977 Jubilee concert. In 1979, I began studying electronic organ and made my first public concert appearance that year, at a Yamaha promotional event supporting the jazz organist Steve Lowdell.

1979

Yamaha Organ Promotion

Supporting jazz organist Steve Lowdell 

The Thorngate Halls • Portsmouth

• Bali Ha’i (Rogers & Hammerstein)
• Climb Ev’ry Mountain (Rogers & Hammerstein)
• Younger Than Springtime (Rogers & Hammerstein)

1980–1984

Petersfield Area Schools’ String Orchestra

Various performances and venues

In 1980, I was a founder member of Petersfield Area Schools’ String Orchestra and Violin Quartet, known everywhere as PASSO. I designed its logo which is still in use today. It looks like a 14 year old's work!! We rehearsed at a local primary school, I forget which. Both ensembles won respective classes at Portsmouth Music Festival in 1984, receiving a Certificate of Distinction (quartet) and the Olive Lewis Cup (orchestra). 

I have mislaid programme details but recall string orchestra arrangements such as Afton Water by John Rutter. The orchestra also performed at Petersfield Music Festival. An additional project was recording a soundtrack by a local composer for the Butterflies AV installation at Queen Elizabeth Country Park, c1983. I've failed to locate any details of this in retrospect.

1982–1986

Classical Organ studies 

Hampshire and Sussex 

By 1983, I was studying classical organ under Alan Bartlett of Petersfield. My teenage years included nights spent alone at Catherington Church, practising on its then uniquely cranky organ. I made regular appearances at recitals and soirées across Hampshire and Sussex. Among my favourite pieces were Bach’s Prelude to the Church Cantata (God’s Time is the Best) and Krieger’s Fantasia in D, plus his Suite which concluded in the Minuet (A Minor). 

1986

Music for the Young at Heart — Patronal Festival

St Margaret’s • Fernhurst, Sussex

• Cavatina (Myers)
• Rêverie (Debussy)

My tutor was a retired engineer and former cinema organist. I also played at seasonal concerts in village halls and on the light-music circuit as a member of Haslemere Organ Society. My most frequent (and positive) feedback was always my “lightness of touch”. Alan discouraged me from “wasting time” on formal grades. These days, my arthritic hands can cope with Grade VI piano. I was better on organ in my teens, and I estimate I would have attained Grade VII.

Though we had an enjoyable and supportive relationship, Alan also discouraged composition which, alas, was influential at that age. It affected my choices for years. Though I dislike Sondheim, on one count he is correct: Children will listen.

SOUTH DOWNS

And on to VIth Form College. A lovely spot in Hampshire, near Havant, and happy memories, though my musical life was dissipating outside my control. However, in 1986, I was Portsmouth Area Winner for Yamaha Organ Festival. This followed a bizarre medley (NOT my idea!!)... Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No.2... Followed by the albeit very lovely theme toon Only Love (a contemporaneous hit for Nana Mouskouri). Goulash? The event was actually titled Electone Festival, after the brand of clunky music-making machines, but I’ve used “organ” in this account for clarity. Artistic licence again straying.

1987

Yamaha Organ Festival: Centenary — Regional Final

The Victoria Rooms • Bristol

• Arrival of the Queen of Sheba (Handel)
• The Girl with the Flaxen Hair (Debussy)
• Gymnopédie No. 1 (Satie)

By the time I started at South Downs College, funding for tuition had ceased. And after VIth form, I entered full-time employment, working for a high-street bank and a jeweller, though returning my attention to visual art. I attended adult education classes with the support of my tutor, the installation artist Frank Jennings.

INFERNAL STUDENT

Eventually landing on art studies at Portsmouth College of Art, in the early 1990s, I briefly resumed playing organ for church services and continued to tutor private music students.

1994

Gala Reunion Concert

Horndean Community School • Hampshire

• Pomp and Circumstance, No. 2 (Elgar)
• Symphony No. 40, first movement (Mozart)

To commemorate the opening of the new Concert Hall, I joined a school reunion orchestra which performed these two pieces — badly!! The event was bookended by pub visits... 

And maybe not long after the pub... I enrolled on Music with Visual Practice at Brighton. My tutor was the composer Billy Cowie. Alongside piano composition, performed in workshop by Billy and me, my output became increasingly contemporary and exploratory. Influential at that time, for example, were Laurie Anderson, Maya Deren, and a particular recollection of a live performance of Rebecca Saunders’ The Underside Of Green. I also workshopped proposals for modern dance (with Liz Aggiss) and for interactive composition, in part influenced by John Cage, and including Underarm Chiming Shirt. Dare me to blog that. 

1996–1998

Community Concerts

Various locations • Brighton 

As a tutor of keyboard instruments, I organised seasonal concerts for my students at residential care homes. I continued to play and perform at university, supporting undergraduate productions. This included improvisations on my own themes. Contemporary composers such as Stephen Oliver had been influential since my teens. At one stage I was body-painted as a piano and photographed in the local press. Again, not my idea!! Though the photo is lost, I already regret having mentioned it. I also worked as accompanist at St Michael’s Dance Studio, for eurythmy classes and performances. 

1996

Transmutations — International Festival of Live Art

The Sallis Benney Theatre • Brighton

• Popheart (Collective) — live art performance
• Repossession (Slidel) — slide show

My slideshow Repossession was selected for this performance platform and featured my composition Lure, later scored for flute, piano and snare drum. I was not, however, asked to contribute to the soundtrack for the mime performance Popheart, recorded by other members of the group. It was rubbish anyway. I decline to mention my costume at this juncture (not a piano). 

1997

Sensing

The Dance Studio • Brighton School Of Art

• Carillon (Slidel) 
• Morning (Slidel)
• Sensing (Slidel)
• Peel (Slidel)

Sensing comprised four studio-based pieces written as the soundtrack for my AV installation, which opened the Degree Shows. My piano pieces at Brighton were influenced by Bartók’s For Children and Martinů’s Puppets — including the score for the central track, Sensing. The carillon piece was played between the other three presentations while I changed the slide carousel. It became Carillon, No. 1 after I later wrote two more. It’s now on my Compositions List — there’s more on my Music Archive page, if you want to be bored further. You or me.

I also presented slideshows at the AV Room at Brighton School of Art (see Music Archive) and researched the history of light-projected image in performance. I felt that, in my late twenties, I’d come closest to what I wanted to achieve creatively. Or to who I was — or am. Though as ever for creatives, the question is sustainability: how you sustain the work alongside the practical and economic demands of life.

EDIFFICATION

1998–1999

Teacher training... 

Various locations • Oxford

Though already a music teacher, I went on to formal teacher training in Secondary Music at Brookes. I also researched cross-curricular links between music and other subject areas. I was involved in a variety of performances, including a production of Sherlock Holmes at Kidlington Comprehensive, composed by my tutor Nigel Timms. At the Students’ Union, I rehearsed my peers in an arrangement of Deeper Well (Lanois). I also participated in performance workshops by Lin Marsh and by WNO for their production of Peter Grimes. 

Secondary music teaching per se was not for me. I returned to Brighton before relocating to London to work in a record store on the King’s Road. In 2000, I took up a new position as Transmission Librarian at MTV. At this time, I contracted salmonella and reactive arthritis, the latter, unusually, lasting for more than three years, and affecting my already rusting keyboard skills. In 2001, I gained a bursary to retrain for the primary sector. Also unusually: I went directly into my first teaching post as Music Leader.

2001–2003

Education Leadership

Various locations • Southwark

In my first role as Music Leader, I was a founder member of the school’s Cultural Committee, organising social and performance events for families. My first classroom assembly for Year One featured energised performances of Big Yellow Taxi (Mitchell) and Starman (Bowie). 

2003–2004

SEN Provision

Various locations • Islington 

I then worked as Music Leader across three sites of an SEN institution, supporting schools’ performance collectives, and coordinating dance workshops.

2004

Performance Workshops

The Jubilee Library • Brighton

I co-taught combined arts workshops with Yassin Zelestine across two days at this lovely and modern venue, culminating in a closing performance featuring percussion and handmade masks.

Vega – Victor Vasarely

KEEPING ON. . . 

2006

Yesterday

AV installation • Trinity Buoy Wharf

This AV installation combined music with my visual technique of newspaper weaves. Its soundtrack was my composition Carillon, No. 1, remixed by Emily Madill and played on a four-day loop. Similar work in paper weaving, installed at The Paper Factory that year, was inspired by Marguerite Patten (and may be viewed on her Wikipedia page). Trinity Buoy Wharf is an intriguing locale in London’s docklands which boasts the installation-composition Longplayer by Jem Finer.

2010

Thames Water Festival

The Scoop • London

I rehearsed and oversaw a schools’ contribution to the Thames Festival, which opened with Jonathan Dove’s River Songs, performed by a choir of 1,000 children. Dove spoke about his work afterwards.

2010

Christmas Concert

St Paul’s Church • Hammersmith

I organised, led and conducted a Christmas concert at St Paul’s Church. I again and quite joyfully joined the school orchestra on violin. I accompanied the choir for The Rhythm Of Life (Coleman) in its piano-duet arrangement, performed alongside Gareth Knox. 

2011

Fiddler on the Roof

POSK • Hammersmith 

I rehearsed the choral sections for a junior production of Fiddler on the Roof (Bock) at this wonderful venue in Hammersmith which, with its welcoming cafe, gallery and jazz basement, became a comforting hangout.

2010–2014

Voices On The Hill Choir 

WAC Arts College • Camden 

I sang with this community choir, based in Belsize Park, which recorded an EP, You’ve Got a Friend (King), and performed at numerous events across London. 

It was through the choir that I met the late actor and artist Margaret Nolan. Only afterwards did I realise she was the model in Robert Brownjohn’s Goldfinger titles, which I had loved as a boy. Brownjohn’s use of projected imagery had influenced my own work with slideshows and projected images as an undergraduate at Brighton, more than fifteen years earlier. During the following years, I became involved in supporting some of Maggie’s artistic efforts. I then worked as a sessional tutor at the rehearsal venue, WAC Arts College, supporting post-16 autistic students with songwriting, recording, and scripting internet broadcasts for Wonder Web Radio.

2012

Gamelan Improvisation

The Oubliette Arthouse • London

A gamelan improvisation performed with Yassin and other friends at the arts event held at the old Limelight Club. Thankfully, no recording survives!  

2012–2016

Playerist Live 

The Poetry Society • London

I produced, promoted and hosted my own Playerist Live events combining poetry readings and music at the Poetry Society in Covent Garden. The events supported my poetry magazine, Playerist. During the 2010s, I was active in London’s spoken word scene. I am pleased to say (or write) that several of my works found their way into print and performance, through myself and others. Margaret Nolan made a surprise appearance reciting her memoir (which I documented and edited) of her time working with Spike Milligan (Room at the Top, Playerist #3).

Through Playerist Live, I supported musicians by providing a platform for performance and promotion. I also contributed to the What’s On London website and other publications, and collaborated with Alexander McLean on filmed performances for Rockyoumentally. Such were the minor successes with the project. It was very pleasing, personally, that I was able to publish literary contributions by my own musical heroes, including Catherine Howe, Christine Collister, and Barb Jungr. The four promotional films by Alexander McLean are documented on the Playerist Wikipedia page. 

2015

Dial Up — open mic performance 

The Seven Dials Club • London

• The Time (Slidel)
• Smile (Chaplin)

I sang two pieces (with improvised piano accompaniment by a choir colleague) at this central London venue, where I had first launched my poetry magazine before transferring it to the nearby Poetry Society. I went on to record a demo of Smile produced by my long-standing friend and collaborator of that period, Skopje. This featured on my defunct Del Rio Jazz project (see Music Archive). 

2016

Arts Education 

Primary sector • London

One of many art and music projects over the years, this incorporated visual displays and video at a primary school in Chelsea. I also authored a scheme of work focused on designing and making unique instruments, collaborating with actor and maker Denis Quilligan on workshops for junior pupils. This tied into previous concepts from my teacher training days, making steel pans from biscuit tins. Huntley and Palmers, anyone? 

2016–17 

Leaf — picture book 

Primary sector • London

Between 2016 and 2017, I workshopped a concept for my picture book and song, Leaf, with Early Years and infant students in Barnet, Brent, and Walthamstow. The children recited the lyrics as a poem, alongside their own versions of illustrations depicting the life cycle of a leaf. A PDF for submission purposes is available on request.

The Leaf Playlist on YouTube includes: 

• Leaf 
• Leaf (alternative mix)
• Leaf (instrumental)
• Leaf (presentation)

2017

First Thursdays 

The Candid Arts Trust • London

I produced, coordinated and promoted one season of open-mic events incorporating music and poetry. Single-handedly. And that was more than OK with me. But I did not continue… I wanted Friday not Thursday to optimise audience levels. And following the venue’s 50% share of the door takings, my outgoings were barely covered.

2019

TV pilot launch 

Xon Productions • London

A contemporary reworking of my composition Albino, retitled Da Beano, featured in the credits of this TV pilot.

2020–2021

Schools Music 

Greater London & Hertfordshire 

During the 2020 lockdown, I worked with the children of keyworkers. After contracting Long Covid in 2021, I returned to a part-time teaching role. Alongside classroom teaching, I delivered music activities and developed interactive experiences for infants. I oversaw performances across age groups, such as a spirited rendition of the traditional piece Portsmouth with drums and glocks.

I rehearsed choral contributions for end-of-year festivals. These included the songbook standards What a Wonderful World (Thiele/Weiss) and High Hopes (Heusen), both sung by infant choirs and very pleasingly so. 

2024

SoundShapes 

The Netherlands Tour 

A live performance of my composition London Bone for trombone, piano and percussion. I was involved remotely in discussions about the score and its performance requirements. I very much enjoyed this process. Had I known the dates, I would have attended in person too. There was talk of video footage which, alas, never surfaced either.

2024

Mirror — London Fragments exhibition

artFix • Greenwich

An original soundtrack, Mirror, for a slideshow featuring flute, percussion and piano, was presented at the launch of this photography exhibition. I also wrote and delivered a speech rhapsodising my interpretation and secondary relationship to the work of Hungarian photographer Piroska Markus. Although her photographs depict London, Hungary has also been a part of my own history. I spent three weeks touring there in the early 1990s, performing in homes with pianos, and returning to Budapest in my early thirties.

POST. . . SCRIPTED

Amidst these spoils of war and the stresses of teaching in the UK, there are many happy memories. In 2024, I spent four days in hospital, after which I reduced my teaching timetable and began considering a move out of London. I left teaching in 2025. Tales of woe? Yes and no. In 2026, after nearly three decades in London, I relocated to Reading in Berkshire. What next? Not much, for now — though to reach a point in life where you no longer care feels surprisingly good.

Music Compositions • Music Archive

© Martin Slidel 2026 — Image and text