High Barnet Festival: A new chamber music platform

As I call a remarkably upbeat Joshua Ballance on a Monday morning, it is astonishing that he doesn't appear to have an ounce of stress. He informs me nonchalantly that after launching this year's High Barnet Chamber Music Festival on Friday, he will be submitting his doctorate dissertation (to Oxford) that afternoon. Ballance appears to thrive on being busy and working on his passions.

Coming together

When discussing how the High Barnet Chamber Music Festival came about, it swiftly becomes apparent that this was Ballance's (rather ambitious) lockdown project. Alongside completing his doctorate, this became a focus in the calmer months of isolation – when most of us were picking up knitting or binge-watching new TV series.

He humbly claims that without this impetus and that of fellow music graduates losing out on the first professional gigs of their careers, he might not have started the project in the first place. ‘It really came about from a desire to provide work to people my age. The pool of concerts was tiny after the pandemic, meaning that all the major venues were booking the top artists in the world rather than those at the start of their careers.’

True to his name, Ballance can see both sides of the coin here, not begrudging those who were able to retain work during this time. Rather than stewing about the state of the country throughout the pandemic, Ballance organised a series of three concerts in the summer once the rules and regulations allowed him.

Designing the event

Of course, this is easier said than done as the conductor and scholar tells me. ‘In the first year I had endless meetings after meetings with one of the venues, where I was constantly told that it was too ambitious and we wouldn't have the money to pay them. Of course, if a 23-year-old comes in and says that they want to book your church, you are going to be sceptical that they can sell the tickets! The nice thing is that now we are in our third year, there is total trust between us, and we continue to work together to make something worthwhile.’

The festival was designed with three central aims:

• To provide opportunities for early-career artists.
• To provide people in the local area and North London with high-quality music without having to venture into the city.
• To push both audiences and artists into exploring unknown and, perhaps, unjustly neglected repertoire.

‘We are lucky to have the opportunity to try new things here. It is my hope that if we can gently prod people into choosing repertoire that might be outside the remit of what they usually do; it can impact further than the limits of the physical concerts we put on’, says Ballance.

And he is right! At the time of speaking with him, a couple of concerts have already been held for the 2023 Festival – one featuring ‘possibly the best piano performance [Ballance had] ever experienced’. When asked about a highlight of the festival so far, he tells me that George Xiaoyuan Fu's piano recital was so powerful that Ballance almost cried through it and has been raving about it to anyone who will listen.

Trials and tribulations of the industry

The interest in helping others enter the music industry comes from Ballance's experiences as a recent graduate from university. He has seen that experiences and career paths are often built on luck, as well as a strong drive and determination to put yourself in places that will get you noticed as a musician. ‘It seems to me that being a decent player is necessary, but in no way sufficient to guarantee a successful career in music’, says Ballance, citing the many skills needed to thrive in a difficult climate. ‘It is tough for almost every working musician; but it can be extremely hard for recent graduates making the leap from conservatoires to the music industry.’

Like many music graduates, Ballance knows his classical music inside out; but it is skills in social media, managing people and building a professional network that Ballance has had to master since leaving his course. Conservatoires in particular, he suggests, could prepare students more for the working world. With funding dwindling and professional opportunities being slashed in the arts, the last thing the thinning talent pipeline needs is students who are not adaptable.

Student Ambassador Scheme

One of the things Ballance is proudest of, and rightly so, is the Student Ambassador Scheme that runs alongside the festival. Each year, a Sixth Form student is given the opportunity to shadow Ballance at various points across the year in the preparation and execution of the now six-concert event. Desperate not to mimic the sometimes drab work experience given to 15-year-olds, Ballance places real value in this position. Last year, the student ambassador wrote the first draft of the festival's (successful) Arts Council England grant application; interviewed artists in advance of the concerts for website and social media content; stood as a page-turner during performances; and acted as an event-manager on the day of concerts. ‘To see our previous student ambassador, Lucy, go on to university and be able to run a concert series after seeing all the elements of this process is so exciting’, says Ballance. ‘I would have killed for that opportunity at that age!’ he grins.

Looking ahead

Our discussion turns to the future of the music industry, and it becomes apparent that Ballance is as positive as he is level-headed about the current state of affairs. He cites various politicians and finds it troubling that we have a lack of cultural appreciation for the benefits the arts provide – a common statement from educators and musicians alike. Having said that, Ballance assures me that it will be onwards and upwards for this project, claiming that the limits to the festival and events like it are endless.

There are plans to implement a concert for Early Years pupils in future iterations of the festival. Ballance explains that demand is there and that children and their parents will be invited to concert rehearsals, which are less formal and can accommodate noisy audience members!

I feel a melancholic mix of excitement and frustration after speaking with Ballance. On the one hand, this is an amazing project, bringing together ensembles of all sorts with the local community and fostering brilliant chances for young people to kick-start their musical careers. On the other hand, it is apparent that this project is exciting because it is rare, and Ballance brings to our attention the struggles that early-career musicians face – now more than ever. The industry has and will always be a difficult one to thrive in, but by banding together and fostering connections maybe we can make it slightly easier for generations that follow us. Plus, here we have proof that the process can be fun.

Applications for the Student Ambassador Scheme 2024 open in late August/early September 2023. This is a remote position, but applicants will be required to attend North London concerts in person during the festival period. hbcmf.co.uk