Post by Dave on Nov 29, 2007 20:43:11 GMT
Hello everyone,
Remember Classical Star? It seems like it was broadcast an age ago but until now, we haven't seen a single in-depth article about the winner Sophie Cashell!
But now, at last, we have one... a long and interesting article from the Independent Ireland so now, finally, we know quite a lot more about Sophie... and not before time! 
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Cheers, Dave
Remember Classical Star? It seems like it was broadcast an age ago but until now, we haven't seen a single in-depth article about the winner Sophie Cashell!
But now, at last, we have one... a long and interesting article from the Independent Ireland so now, finally, we know quite a lot more about Sophie... and not before time! 
'I wasn't interested in a classical Pop Idol'
In tune: Sophie is looking forward to making a career
out of her passion for music
By John Meagher
Wednesday November 28 2007
Shayne Ward. Girls Aloud. Sophie Cashell. All three have emerged victorious from UK reality television series, but there the similarity ends. While Ward and Girls Aloud have become chart staples thanks to a high profile pop career, Sophie Cashell -- a 19-year-old Dubliner -- is set for a very different route.
The winner of Classical Star -- the BBC2 series to find the finest young classical trained musician living in Britain -- is more interested in playing Wigmore Hall than achieving the celebrity and fortune that so many fame-hungry young wannabes seem to crave.
"Classical musicians tend not to have the same sort of lifestyles as pop stars and that suits me fine," she says, taking a break between lectures at the Royal College of Music, London. "For me, playing somewhere like Wigmore Hall, which I've done already, is a dream come true. Being able to play music for a living is what I want -- not everyone is able to make their passion their career and I hope it will work out for me when I finish this course. Winning the TV show will probably help as well."
Sophie's prize was a four-album recording contract with Universal Classics. "It's great security to have something like that -- and I will be able to release albums long before I thought I would."
The Balbriggan teenager thought hard before applying for Classical Star. She needed to ensure that it wasn't of the ilk of other programmes that cross the line between audition shows and reality TV.
"I wanted to make sure it wasn't a classical version of Pop Idol," she says. "I googled the people involved in it and it seemed very reputable. I didn't want to be involved in some embarrassing reality television show." She's not exactly a fan of Simon Cowell and friends. "That sort of show has no appeal for me at all."
Unlike the sort of hopefuls who turn up at Pop Idol and You're A Star, the contestants on Classical Star had clearly spent a great deal of time honing their skills. "I had a normal childhood -- I loved reading and playing football with my brothers, but I did spend an awful lot of time studying. There are no shortcuts for the piano."
Compared to shows such as Pop Idol and Fame Academy, Classical Star pulled in a small audience. Just over a million people tuned into the series, perhaps a reflection on classical music's narrower reach than pop and the lack of clueless wannabes that make such shows so watchable in their early stages.
"It was a show that was very much about the music, not something where people were being put forward to make fun of," she says. "Hopefully, it might have appealed to people who wouldn't have considered listening to classical music before that."
Sophie grew up with music - her earliest memories revolve around the sound of string instruments in her house. Although her teacher parents have never played an instrument -- "but they really love music," she insists -- her siblings did and into that environment young Sophie was always going to follow suit.
Two of her siblings share her musical pedigree. Anna, 26, is a violinist and Ben, 22, a cellist and both are based in the UK. Another brother, Hugh, also plays music, but has focused instead on engineering.
She started off with the violin, but found she preferred piano. "I was very accident-prone as a child and the violin was easy to damage, the piano not quite so. From the age of six she attended the country's premier institute for talented young musicians, the Royal Irish Academy of Music.
Her former piano teacher, Audrey Chisholm, remembers her fondly. "She worked very hard. The piano is an instrument you have to put a lot of time into and Sophie certainly did a huge amount of practice. She was a very spirited child.
"She started studying the piano at an early age and it helped her become the pianist she is today. Getting an early start is very advantageous. It's been wonderful for her that she was able to attend somewhere as prestigious as Menuhin. It allows talented musicians the opportunity to go to school in an environment where music is the priority. It would be marvellous if such a school existed in this country."
At 13, and after just a year in secondary school in Balbriggan, Sophie was admitted to the prestigious Yehudi Menuhin boarding school in London. An elite music-oriented academy, which was also attended by Anna and Ben, it was founded in 1963 by the acclaimed American violinist and conductor, Yehudi Menuhin. Fees can be as much as €50,000 per annum, although when a means test is applied, the cost can be a fraction of that.
'I felt it was an adventure to go there," she says. "I didn't feel lonely. There were a lot of other people who were living a long way from home so that helped me settle. And it's incredible to go to a school where music is to the fore."
It's also a school where elite tuition helps pave the way for entry to the celebrated Royal College of Music in London, where she is studying at present. A number of her classmates also appeared on Classical Star.
She says she enjoys all types of music, including rock. "I love Bell X1 and Josh Ritter. I'm going to see Josh in concert in a few days and I can't wait for that. Some think that classical musicians are either not interested in rock music or look down on it but as far as me and my friends are concerned that's not the case at all. If music is good, it doesn't matter what genre it is."
- John Meagher
In tune: Sophie is looking forward to making a career
out of her passion for music
By John Meagher
Wednesday November 28 2007
Shayne Ward. Girls Aloud. Sophie Cashell. All three have emerged victorious from UK reality television series, but there the similarity ends. While Ward and Girls Aloud have become chart staples thanks to a high profile pop career, Sophie Cashell -- a 19-year-old Dubliner -- is set for a very different route.
The winner of Classical Star -- the BBC2 series to find the finest young classical trained musician living in Britain -- is more interested in playing Wigmore Hall than achieving the celebrity and fortune that so many fame-hungry young wannabes seem to crave.
"Classical musicians tend not to have the same sort of lifestyles as pop stars and that suits me fine," she says, taking a break between lectures at the Royal College of Music, London. "For me, playing somewhere like Wigmore Hall, which I've done already, is a dream come true. Being able to play music for a living is what I want -- not everyone is able to make their passion their career and I hope it will work out for me when I finish this course. Winning the TV show will probably help as well."
Sophie's prize was a four-album recording contract with Universal Classics. "It's great security to have something like that -- and I will be able to release albums long before I thought I would."
The Balbriggan teenager thought hard before applying for Classical Star. She needed to ensure that it wasn't of the ilk of other programmes that cross the line between audition shows and reality TV.
"I wanted to make sure it wasn't a classical version of Pop Idol," she says. "I googled the people involved in it and it seemed very reputable. I didn't want to be involved in some embarrassing reality television show." She's not exactly a fan of Simon Cowell and friends. "That sort of show has no appeal for me at all."
Unlike the sort of hopefuls who turn up at Pop Idol and You're A Star, the contestants on Classical Star had clearly spent a great deal of time honing their skills. "I had a normal childhood -- I loved reading and playing football with my brothers, but I did spend an awful lot of time studying. There are no shortcuts for the piano."
Compared to shows such as Pop Idol and Fame Academy, Classical Star pulled in a small audience. Just over a million people tuned into the series, perhaps a reflection on classical music's narrower reach than pop and the lack of clueless wannabes that make such shows so watchable in their early stages.
"It was a show that was very much about the music, not something where people were being put forward to make fun of," she says. "Hopefully, it might have appealed to people who wouldn't have considered listening to classical music before that."
Sophie grew up with music - her earliest memories revolve around the sound of string instruments in her house. Although her teacher parents have never played an instrument -- "but they really love music," she insists -- her siblings did and into that environment young Sophie was always going to follow suit.
Two of her siblings share her musical pedigree. Anna, 26, is a violinist and Ben, 22, a cellist and both are based in the UK. Another brother, Hugh, also plays music, but has focused instead on engineering.
She started off with the violin, but found she preferred piano. "I was very accident-prone as a child and the violin was easy to damage, the piano not quite so. From the age of six she attended the country's premier institute for talented young musicians, the Royal Irish Academy of Music.
Her former piano teacher, Audrey Chisholm, remembers her fondly. "She worked very hard. The piano is an instrument you have to put a lot of time into and Sophie certainly did a huge amount of practice. She was a very spirited child.
"She started studying the piano at an early age and it helped her become the pianist she is today. Getting an early start is very advantageous. It's been wonderful for her that she was able to attend somewhere as prestigious as Menuhin. It allows talented musicians the opportunity to go to school in an environment where music is the priority. It would be marvellous if such a school existed in this country."
At 13, and after just a year in secondary school in Balbriggan, Sophie was admitted to the prestigious Yehudi Menuhin boarding school in London. An elite music-oriented academy, which was also attended by Anna and Ben, it was founded in 1963 by the acclaimed American violinist and conductor, Yehudi Menuhin. Fees can be as much as €50,000 per annum, although when a means test is applied, the cost can be a fraction of that.
'I felt it was an adventure to go there," she says. "I didn't feel lonely. There were a lot of other people who were living a long way from home so that helped me settle. And it's incredible to go to a school where music is to the fore."
It's also a school where elite tuition helps pave the way for entry to the celebrated Royal College of Music in London, where she is studying at present. A number of her classmates also appeared on Classical Star.
She says she enjoys all types of music, including rock. "I love Bell X1 and Josh Ritter. I'm going to see Josh in concert in a few days and I can't wait for that. Some think that classical musicians are either not interested in rock music or look down on it but as far as me and my friends are concerned that's not the case at all. If music is good, it doesn't matter what genre it is."
- John Meagher
Cheers, Dave
