In this post, we meet Clare O’ Connell who directs the Berkhamsted-based concert series, Behind the Mirror. Over the past ten years, Behind the Mirror has enabled local audiences to discover a new generation of brilliant musicians and composers, with a focus on classical chamber music.
Clare tells us the back-story of the project – from a creative outlet when her children were small to the ambitious programme it is today; the importance of making the arts local and accessible (did you know under 18s go free?); and the two concerts – Eulogy and Revelation – that will be held at Berkhamsted Town Hall in February and March 2024.
Your name and role:
Clare O’Connell, Founder and Artistic Director of Behind the Mirror
Can you tell us about Behind the Mirror, and what led you to start this project?
Behind the Mirror is an artist led concert series devoted to bringing the best of classical chamber music to Berkhamsted, working to promote wider awareness of a new generation of brilliant musicians and composers, arranging and commissioning new works and presenting them in a new light with storytelling and creative programming.
It started out as a creative outlet for me when my children were small – I had a desire to bring all the interesting work I was doing as a professional musician elsewhere to my home town so that they and their friends could experience it.
It has slowly developed over the past ten years into something much more adventurous and experimental, involving some of the best musicians in the country.
I treat it as a sort of seedbed for new music and new collaborations – each year sees the creating of at least eight unique programmes and two new commissions from leading young British composers.
I have steadily built up a loyal following through word of mouth mainly, which has enabled the series, which relies on ticket sales alone, to flourish.
As audiences, we have grown used to having to travel to cities to experience the arts. Why was it important to you to hold your concerts locally?
I think it’s really important to make music and art as accessible as possible to everyone, and that includes making it available locally. Local means that people don’t have to pay for an expensive train ticket into London as well as buying their tickets and that they can walk down the road to see world class music performed on their doorstep.
I’ve made a point of keeping the concerts in venues on the High Street so that it’s easy for those who don’t drive to attend.
I feel that Behind the Mirror brings social benefits to Berkhamsted as well as cultural. It brings the people of Berkhamsted together from different communities creating a sense of shared interests and culture, and it raises the town’s profile and presents a positive image to the world of what is happening locally.
I felt so proud when an Octogenarian once wrote to me after a concert that as well as enjoying the music he had made a new friend!
“I feel that Behind the Mirror brings social benefits to Berkhamsted as well as cultural. It brings the people of Berkhamsted together from different communities creating a sense of shared interests and culture, and it raises the town’s profile and presents a positive image to the world of what is happening locally.
I felt so proud when an Octogenarian once wrote to me after a concert that as well as enjoying the music he had made a new friend!”
You have two concerts coming up in February & March at Berkhamsted Town Hall. What can audiences look forward to at these events?
I’m really excited about the concerts we have coming up – the repertoire is particularly beautiful and also champions the music of two young British composers I really admire, and the performers I have booked are the most amazing musicians.
The first is an evening of some of the most personal and intimate music ever written for string quartet by Edmund Finnis and Nick Martin. Edmund Finnis’ second string quartet is a focused and fragile investigation of sound, revealing soft bare music slowly shifting, finding form, then melting away and will be followed by Nick Martin’s work of shimmering beauty, Queers Tears, which was original written for the Nordic String Quartet.
Paired with these two works is Mendelssohn’s most emotionally charged composition: his final string quartet, written as a homage to his sister who died earlier in the year that he wrote it.
I will be joined by Jonathan Morton, Clio Gould and Oliver Wilson – all musicians working at the very highest level of classical music in this country. Jonathan Morton is the Artistic Director of Scottish Ensemble and Leader of London Sinfonietta, Clio Gould was the first female Concertmaster of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and is a professor at the Royal Academy of Music, and Oliver Wilson has appeared as principal viola with many ensembles including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.
The second concert is a new programme of music especially arranged for cello and accordion which I will be playing with superstar Serbian accordionist Miloš Milivojević.
Interspersing some of Piazzolla’s most famous and moving compositions with preludes, chorales and other works by the great JS Bach, this programme bridges the space between the classical atmosphere of JS Bach’s Leipzig and the passionate Tango Nuevo of Astor Piazzolla’s Buenos Aires, exploring the parallels between two composers with very different aesthetic approaches, but with a shared, deep-rooted sense of humanity and universality expressed through their music.
Milos is an extraordinary musician – it’s always such a privilege to play with him!
At The Event Hub, we are all about celebrating the people and places of Berkhamsted. What do you love about performing in the venues and to the audiences of this town?
I take great pride in contributing to the cultural life of Berkhamsted.
There is something really special about providing thought-provoking experiences to the people of my local community and also in supporting the venues which host the concerts. St Peter’s Church was good to us during the pandemic by making itself available for socially-distanced concerts at a reduced rate, and it is a beautiful space to play, and I love the Old Town Hall – the acoustic is really good and the people who run it are so welcoming and helpful.
I’m incredibly grateful that these spaces exist – our town is sadly lacking in community spaces entirely devoted to art and culture – these two venues are vital to the cultural life of our community and they need to be recognised and supported as such.
I’m also grateful for the warm and loyal audience I have built up here. Many people have been coming regularly to the concerts since the very beginning, sending lovely messages of support when they’ve particularly enjoyed something and bringing their friends along too. I couldn’t do this without them and I make a point of telling them regularly that they have contributed to the existence of this series as much as I have by simply coming along and sharing many beautiful experiences with my colleagues and I.
Finally, how can the community support Behind the Mirror and keep the arts alive in the local area?
The best way that the community can support Behind the Mirror is to come to the concerts!
Every penny spent on tickets is ploughed into the series, paying for venue hire, commissioning new music and, most importantly, paying the rehearsal, performance fees and travel expenses of my very esteemed colleagues.
Donations are also welcome – I have a Friends Scheme which is listed on the website, and I am always looking for patrons to support the concerts. In return, they get to build up a more personal bond with the series. I offer seat reservations, free tickets, regular updates, invitations to listen to rehearsals, and – hopefully – the joy of knowing that they are helping this series – their series – to keep going and confidently plan for the future.
Venue hire, marketing etc are all significant costs and it is vital that the fees I pay the musicians who travel to play reflect their worth, otherwise they simply won’t come!
Other ways people can help is to spread the word, bring friends along, bring people who might not usually choose to come to a classical concert, and bring their children! Tickets for under 18 years olds are free on a point of principal!
“The best way that the community can support Behind the Mirror is to come to the concerts! …Bring friends along, bring people who might not usually choose to come to a classical concert, and bring their children!”
Behind the Mirror will present two concerts at Berkhamsted Town Hall this spring:
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For more information about Behind the Mirror visit www.behindthemirror.org
Find out about more music events taking place in Berkhamsted & HP4 at The Event Hub Dacorum
