Hugh Latta

On the first anniversary of my trip to India to work at The Mathieson Music School in Kolkata, I would like to share recent news from the school and reflect on my experiences with the wonderful people I met there.

I hope the following pictures and diary extracts give you a flavour of this vibrant musical community. I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who have supported me.

Mathieson Music School

A day before I left for India I was incredibly pleased to receive ten pBuzz instruments generously donated by the Warwick Music Group. A thoughtful neighbour, Naomi Giaretta, suggested these plastic instruments would be perfect to introduce the children to playing the trombone. As the pictures show she was absolutely right.

With my bags bulging with instruments I set off for Kolkata at the end of February 2020. As it turned out I was incredibly fortunate to be able to travel to India (and get back again), given that the world was on the brink of the Corona Virus Pandemic and just days after my return both the UK and India went into Lockdown.

A Bag full of Brass

First Impressions of India

My experience in India will stay with me for the rest of my life. Kolkata was alive with sound, from the tinny speaker in our ‘disco bus’, to the rusty megaphones blaring music in the streets and the echoing prayers from the temples. Life in India seems to be lived with what feels like festival energy, full of colour, music and vibrancy.

Welcome to The Mathieson Music School

My first glimpse of the school was of its large rusty blue gates, which lead inside, to a sanctuary of learning for around 50 children aged 5-19. The school’s mission is to give a happy, healthy childhood to some of India’s poorest children. The school provides housing, food, medical care, a full British-style education, and a comprehensive Eastern/Western musical education free to needy boys and girls in Kolkata.

We were greeted with a welcoming ceremony during which we were given floral wreaths, an almond paste blessing on our foreheads and the children sung a set of traditional Bengali songs accompanied by a string duet.

After this we had a tour around the school and were introduced to the students all but one of whom, a girl called Brishpoti (meaning Thursday), were boys. Tragically the other girls who had previously attended the school had to leave due to a new government law stating that girls and boys have to live in a separate complexes.

Building for the Girls

After their lessons the boys play hide and seek amongst the new buildings, climbing up the newly pinned walls. Everyone hopes that the school will be able to have its girls back soon. Meanwhile Brishpoti is holding the fort.

The girls can’t return to school and their precious education until a separate boarding house has been constructed for them. The Mathieson Trust has worked hard to raise the funds and the school is now an active building site. It was amazing to see builders recycling old rubble and transforming it into new hand-made terracotta ‘India’ bricks.

Throughout our two week stay we helped to teach English to

the kids and took part in the school’s other core lessons:

maths, sciences and Bengali, as well as a daily tabla

(traditional Indian drum) lesson which was taught by a former

student, called Madhu. It was incredible to see Madhu in

action, especially to see how fast he could move his hands

between the drums whilst keeping in time.

School Life

Music is woven into daily life and learning at the

school, pupils play a range of primarily string

instruments from violins to cellos, all to an

impressive standard. The children love to play and

every afternoon myself and the other Strode

College music students joined in with their

orchestra rehearsals.

Music at The Mathieson

The real highlight of my experience at The Mathieson was the opportunity to introduce the boys to brass. Everyday, after formal lessons and orchestra, we got together for a jam on the trombones and the P-buzz training instruments. I was surprised and impressed at how quickly they learnt. I demonstrated how to position their lips on the mouthpiece and how to channel their air at different speeds to change note, as well as the correct way to hold the instrument.

During the first session they were all able to get a note out of the P-buzz and the trombone which, for some beginners, can take months. The boys natural progression was incredible, they quickly learnt to produce a varying series of notes and started to create their own unique tunes. It was great to see them experimenting and it was very noisy! After the session the younger kids chased each other around, blasting out loud notes, making each other jump; it was a lot of fun!

Brass Lessons

The lightweight pBuzz, easy to transport and easy to play, proved to be a big hit! The p-Buzz enables beginners to learn essential breathing and ‘buzzing’ techniques before tackling an unwieldy and expensive trombone.

It was great to have a lot of instruments so everyone could have a go. Strode College also took a trombone to India for the school to keep, so the children have the chance to progress onto a brass instrument. It’s with huge thanks to the Warwick Music Group who donated ten pBuzz and to the previous owner of the trombone, that The Mathieson School now has a budding new brass department.

Fun with the pBuzz

Sustainable GardenI loved our day trip to a beautiful, lush local plant nursery where we bought edible plants for the school which will enable them to be more self sufficient in food. I purchased three varieties of mango tree, a gooseberry bush, a lemon tree, a coconut palm, a banana palm and a couple of coriander plants. This came to a grand total of just 500 rupees (£5).

Between us we chose over 100 different plants which were loaded onto brightly coloured trucks and delivered to The Mathieson School where they were planted the next day. It was great to see the lushness the growing garden brought to the school grounds.

The last day was very emotional as we had all developed a special connection with the kids and it was incredibly sad knowing we would have to leave them, especially since we live many thousands of miles apart.

Farewell Concert

The concert took place in one of the girls’ new dorm buildings that was still under construction and the sound really filled the sparse, open space.

This emotion, however, was thrown into our music. We arrived for our last night celebrations dressed in traditional Indian clothing that we had bought at the local market. Chris and I wore blue silk kurta shirts, with white dhoti pants that were really cool and comfortable.

The Mathieson and S t r o d e C o l l e g e students performed s o n g s a n d instrumental pieces, followed by Anup Biswas on the cello p lay ing a set o f ancient, traditional Dhrupad songs.

Since our visit The Mathieson Music School has sadly faced serious new challenges. On 19th May 2020 Cyclone Amphan, the first super cyclone to form in the Bay of Bengal since 1999, hit Bangladesh and the Sundarban, before carving north and devastating much of Kolkata.

Cyclone Amphan

The Mathieson Music School was dealt a hard blow, with damage to the boys dorm, the kitchen, the offices, fishponds and newly planted gardens. Despite 39 degree celsius heat and 100% humidity Dipak and the rest of the staff worked hard to clean up debris and to dry food, mattresses, bedding, furniture, books and music.

Winds gusted up to 115mph, 2.5 million p e o p l e w e r e e v a c u a t e d i n Bangladesh and tens o f t h o u s a n d s o f h o m e s w e r e destroyed across the region.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/wor ld-as ia-india-52749935

The COVID-19 pandemic was already underway when we departed and shortly after, on 17th March 2020 the first case was confirmed in Kolkata. One year later India has over eleven million confirmed cases. The Mathieson School was forced to close when the country went into lockdown and has remained so ever since. Sadly because the students come from impoverished backgrounds this situation has created great hardship for already vulnerable children and their families.

Corona Virus

Thanks to the continued efforts of the builders the construction of the school buildings has continued during lockdown and the staff are looking forward to welcoming back both boys and girls as soon as possible.

During this difficult time the Mathieson Trust has been fundraising to cover the cost of food parcels which are prepared by staff at the school and deliver to the children. The cost, including transportation, is approximately $25 (£20) per student per month.

Everyone is in challenging financial circumstances at this time, however if you are in a position to make a donation The Mathieson School and its children would be deeply grateful.

Donations can be made direct on the Friends Of Mathieson UK trust website: https://mathiesonmusictrust.org.uk/donate

For more information please see: www.mathiesonmusictrust.org.uk 

https://www.facebook.com/watch/mathiesonmusicschoolkolkata/ In 2015, a documentary was made about the Mathieson Music School. You can use the link below to watch it on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/jMMfu1z2FJE

I also had fun singing carols and selling mistletoe at Glastonbury Frost Fayre and with fellow ex-chorister Orla Donoghue at the Wells and Bath Christmas Markets.

Thank you very much to everyone who supported me through my GoFundMe page; to my brother and Adrian Pearse for helping to collect mistletoe; to Naomi Giaretta and Warwick Music Group for the wonderful pBuzz instruments and to all those who bought tickets and threw money into the hat! I would also like to say thank you to Anup Biswas, Dan Shaw, Diana Greenfield, Angela Lowes and all the staff and students at Strode College and the Mathieson Music School.

Thanks Again!

I am very fortunate to have had the generous support of friends and family who helped me to raise £1400 to cover my travel costs and to support the work of the school. Fundraising proved to be a really enjoyable experience as I had the opportunity to play in a number of concerts alongside the talented musicians at Strode College.