Enriching lives through music
The Music Mind Spirit Trust is a charitable organisation that brings together inspirational Musicians, Medics and Scientists dedicated to sharing and researching the gift of music.
MMST would like to express our heartfelt thanks to the late Dr Peter Fenwick MB BChir (cantab) DTM FRC psych, for his 20 years of friendship and invaluable guidance as a valued Trustee of the Music Mind Spirit Trust. We will be presenting a special musical event to pay tribute to Peter on Monday 5th May at Colet House in London, featuring MMST’s British Opera Academy and Young Artist Musical Ambassadors (YAMA). (Please see the bottom of this page for further info about Peter’s incredible life.)
RECENT APPOINTMENTS:
MMST is delighted to announce Trustee Martin Redfern as its newly appointed Chair, following the retirement of Prof Paul Grob following his 20 years of outstanding service. MMST welcomes Prof Anthony Pinching, Prof Mark Ross Clark and Ms Neena Vivash to its eminent Board of Trustees:
Prof Anthony Pinching’s ground-breaking medical work, particularly in Clinical Immunology at St Mary's, St Bartholomew's and Peninsula Medical School (Associate Dean for Cornwall), and his invaluable contribution to medical ethics and humanities (drama, poetry and music), have brought a significant and important dimension into the lives and training of today’s medics. He is the Director of Pinner Music Festival and Music in Pinner Series, and Chairman of Ludlow Song (for Ludlow English Song Weekend). Prof Pinching is known for his moving narrations and performances of his poetry, song cycles, anthems, carols and libretti, including the libretto for Martin Bussey’s solo cantata, ‘A Brother Abroad’ (2021), the recording of which has recently been released by Resonus Classics.
Professor Mark Ross Clark is an award-winning international stage director who has delivered numerous lecture courses encompassing music, theatre and the visual arts for over 30 years. Known for his interesting, insightful and humorous take on the arts in his lectures, he’s also a noted author in the field with four published books about opera, operetta and musicals. Dr. Clark is known for his engaging pre-performance talks, or “informances,” as he calls them. He began his career as a singer performing a wide variety of styles, ranging from singing with Ethel Merman in the Hollywood Bowl, recording with the Carpenters, and performing solos with major orchestras and opera houses in the US and Germany.
A former CEO of Bellis-Jones, Hill Group, Neena Vivash’s impressive working experience extends across a number of industries including NHS healthcare, technology, financial services as a CGMA accountant, utilities and higher education.
UPCOMING LIVE EVENTS TO CELEBRATE MMST’s 20th-ANNIVERSARY:
Weds 5, 12, 19 & 26 March, ‘Music Moves!’ interactive and engaging community music sessions with Prof Mark Ross Clark at Rudgwick Memorial Hall in West Sussex at 11 am
Sat 29 March, ‘Singergetics’ Music & Movement Experience with Prof Mark Ross Clark at Colet House from 11-12.30
Mon 5th May, A Special Musical Tribute to Dr Peter Fenwick at Colet House, nr Barons Court tube, London with MMST’s British Opera Academy and Young Artist Musical Ambassadors (YAMA)
RECENT LIVE EVENTS INCLUDE:
Tues 18 & Thurs 20 Feb, ‘Music Moves!’ sessions at The Milk Churn in West Sussex at 9 am
‘Soundscapes’ with Prof Anthony Pinching (narrator), Viv MacLean (piano) and Fenella Humphreys (violin), 26 January at 3 pm: Following the success of the Music in Pinner Series concert (see below), MMST was thrilled that there was another opportunity to hear these 3 extraordinary performers at Dr Hugh Mather’s wonderful concert series at St Mary’s, Perivale. This exquisite programme, conceived by Tony Pinching and Viv MacLean as a tribute to Prof Paul Robertson, can be viewed on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfHCJ383CN0
‘The Faces of Passion’ - British Opera Academy, SUNDAY 1 December at Colet House, London: Hosted by Mark Ross Clark and special guest-International Opera Star Allan Glassman, this concert featured talented international singers from top conservatories in the UK, including The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal College of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music, with Craig J White on piano.
Music in Pinner Series, Sept 2024, ‘Soundscapes’: MMST would like to thank Prof Anthony Pinching (narrator), Viv MacLean (piano), Fenella Humphreys (violin) for their generosity in presenting this remarkable evening of beautiful music and sensitively interwoven words, which raised vital funds for MMST to launch our 20th Anniversary Year. musicinpinner.org.uk
Spokane Symphony, Sept & May 2024: Furthering MMST’s TransAtlantic Dialogue work with Music Director James Lowe and his excellent orchestra, Dr Chika Robertson and Prof Mark Ross Clark (with MMST Trustee Prof Nigel Osborne) continue to develop this special partnership for the Spokane CONNECT Dementia Programme.
British Opera Academy UK, June 2024: This immersive 2-week musical experience provided advanced singers from across the world with a personalised programme of masterclasses (including Jennifer France), workshops and concerts in London and Surrey.
TransAtlantic Dialogue Conference, European Cultural Parliament (directed by MMST Trustee Ambassador Karl-Erik Norrman) in Luxembourg, May 2024: Dr Lyudmila Nurse, Dr Chika Robertson and MMST YAMA’s Creative Leader Elizabeth Nurse addressed how Soft Power can be utilised creatively in their ‘Musical Steps’ Workshop. Also presenting at the Conference was Prof Mark Ross Clark, Artistic Director of MMST’s British Opera Academy.
Royal Academy of Music Presentation: Dr Chika Robertson and Dr Lyudmila Nurse – ‘Musical Steps: Reinvigorating Latent Musicianship Across the Generations’ (29 Sept 2023): This live and virtual event in RAM’s beautiful Angela Burgess Recital Hall featured MMST’s talented Young Artist Musical Ambassadors from the Primary Academy, Junior Academy and Royal Academy of Music.
The Scientific and Medical Network’s Golden Jubilee Day: MMST’s Young Artist Musical Ambassadors Sapphie Johnson, Elizabeth Kirov and Joe Steele performed violin solos at the SMN’s glorious 50th Anniversary celebration in London.
The successful launch of the British Opera* Academy (BOA) — Music Mind Spirit Trust included memorable concerts in London and Surrey by talented singers from across the world in June 2023, as well as superbly presented Masterclasses by Jamie Barton, Jennifer France, Duncan Rock, Allan Glassman, Mark Ross Clark, Dominic Alldis and Caroline Dowdle. BOA serves as the professional vocal training and performance arm for MMST’s Young Artist Musical Ambassadors (YAMA) Programme to bring high-quality, accessible performances to diverse communities.
Music and Medicine: current practice, future possibilities: UCL embodied psychotherapies series at Queen Square, Institute of Neurology. On 10 March, Calista Kazuko Georget, Dr Chika Robertson and Prof Nigel Osborne presented an interactive creative workshop, “Reinvigorating Musical Memories through Sustainable Eco-MAPs (Musically Attuned Performances)” at this fascinating international conference, brilliantly organised by Dr Christos Sideros of UCL and the RSM.
Invited back following their popular debut in May, MMST Young Artist Musical Ambassadors Tilly Goodwin, Alistair Sutherland, James Schouten and Elizabeth Hayley brought the new year in with style (and a standing ovation!) at their ‘BEST OF BROADWAY: HOLIDAY SPECIAL’ show in Surrey.*
The very exciting music and ecology production of GREEN MAN HO! was successfully launched at London’s historic Colet House in June. In partnership with the award-winning composer Paul Pritchard, director Mark Ross Clark and Chika Robertson, this multi-media performance featured musicians from the Royal Academy of Music, Junior Academy, Primary Academy and the Blaze Ensemble.
Inspired by ‘Green Man Ho!’, THE GREEN MAN INITIATIVE will raise ecological awareness through this important new educational music project, which will be led by MMST’s Young Artist Musical Ambassadors in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Music and Study Society, Colet House in London.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS:
Nurse, L. and Robertson, C. (2022) Hearing and Feeling the Music in Every Step: Musical Walks and Biographical Experience of Lockdown. Irish Journal of Sociology. https://doi.org/10.1177/07916035221136818
The Art of Communication in the Socially Distanced Environment, an essay by Dr Lyudmila Nurse & Dr Chika Robertson, pp 137-141. Click here to download the TAD Liber Memorialis ebook , Liber Memorialis: Reimagining the Tower of Babel, TransAtlantic Dialogue Conference, University of Luxembourg 2021. https://heyzine.com/flip-book/4048e84b62.html
Dr Lyudmila Nurse, PhD, Research Fellow at the Department of Education, University of Oxford, is a member of the MMST Cultural, Scientific and Medical Advisory Board. Dr Chika Robertson is co-founder and CEO of the Music Mind Spirit Trust.
IN LOVING MEMORY:
MMST would like to express our heartfelt thanks to the late DR PETER FENWICK MB BChir (cantab) DTM FRC psych, for his 20 years of friendship and invaluable guidance as a valued Trustee of the Music Mind Spirit Trust. We will be presenting a special musical event to pay tribute to Peter on Monday 5th May at Colet House in London, featuring MMST’s British Opera Academy and Young Artist Musical Ambassadors (YAMA).
Peter was consultant neuropsychiatrist and neuropsychologist at the Maudsley Hospital in London, the largest psychiatric teaching hospital in Britain (where he initially specialized in epilepsy), as well as at leading centres including the John Radcliffe Hospital, Broadmoor and Riken Neurosciences Institute in Japan. Prof Fenwick was Chair of the Study Society at Colet House, the Scientific and Medical Network, and a distinguished international authority in numerous fields, including sleepwalking, dreams, NDE and meditation, with one of his first research subjects being George Harrison of the Beatles. He co-authored several authoritative books with his wonderful wife, Elizabeth, who has also been an invaluable source of wisdom and joy to MMST meetings and events since the Trust’s inception.
The pandemic allowed us all time to self-reflect, discover and appreciate our own inner gifts. We at the Music Mind Spirit Trust would like to help others by sharing how the power of music can connect us all and contribute positively to our lives, relationships and wellbeing.