Chineke! Orchestra’s Betania Johnny (19, violinist): Expand the Picture!
Betania Johnny is a young violinist and second year student at London’s prestigious Royal College of Music. Born to Ethiopian parents in London, Betania started playing the violin when she was five. She was admitted to the Royal College of Music Junior Department when she was eleven. A few months later, her mom received an email about an exciting new opportunity: double bassist Chi-chi Nwanoku had just founded Chineke! Foundation to form Europe’s first orchestra for black and ethnically diverse classical musicians – and a junior orchestra for players as young as age 11. Betania jumped at the opportunity. Seven years later, she has grown into an inspiring young artist and moved on from Chineke!’s junior orchestra to its senior orchestra. TWoA talked to Betania about her musical journey and about Chineke!’s ground-breaking achievements in its seven years of existence.
Early Beginnings
Betania’s interest in in the violin was sparked by Music Masters, a charity that came into Betania’s primary school to teach its four-year-old pupils basic musical skills before introducing them to instruments like the violin at age five. Music Masters believes that every child should have access to the power of music and is working wonders in a state school system where access to music education is in decline. Betania loved playing the violin, winning a scholarship to her secondary school, James Allen’s Girls’ School, a school that combines a lot of musical opportunities with demanding academics.
Fitting in Practice Time
At age eleven, Betania’s life therefore changed drastically. She went from being a normal elementary school kid to a young girl studying at a demanding secondary school with a full music schedule of orchestra and ensemble rehearsals. Betania loved the social aspect of making music with friends – and music practice at home offered a welcome break from homework: “I think for me, practice was something I always looked forward to, especially whilst I was at school, because I was doing a lot of academic work. In that sense, music was really an escape.” Her school encouraged her serious passion for music, allowing her to use free periods for practicing her violin.
Sacrificing Weekends
Sacrificing every Saturday to attend the Royal College of Music Junior Department after a full week of school was the toughest part for Betania: “I think, for me, as much as I loved it, sometimes knowing that my Saturday would not be free because I gave that to music - I do think part of that was quite tough.” At the same time, sacrificing her free Saturdays also helped her realize that violin was something that she really wanted to do: “I think it is so important to make sure that the things you are giving time to are something that YOU really love and that YOU really enjoy and that you are doing because YOU want to.”
Give Yourself a Break
But the path towards becoming a professional musician is long and hard: “I definitely remember having times where I didn’t want to practice, or where I wasn’t so keen. I feel there is almost a stigma, especially with the violinists, that it can be a little toxic in terms of the competition and strive. Of course, you want to be the best that you can be at all times, and sometimes you pick up your instrument and you start playing and something just doesn’t sound right, and you don’t know how to fix it and you are not quite sure what to do. Sometimes, you just keep changing how you’re holding your bow or how you are holding your instrument and sometimes, it just doesn’t work out. I wish I would have taught myself when I was younger: sometimes, if practice isn’t working for you, put the instrument aside for a while. I think it is so useful to know when you reach that limit of starting to get frustrated and unhappy with yourself while practicing. I think practicing should never feel like such a huge, tough obstacle that you have to get through. It shouldn’t be something that makes you unhappy. I feel if you set goals for yourself during your practice, say I want to cover these ten bars in the space of half an hour, 45 min, if you give yourself manageable goals like that, it’s much easier to make practice more targeted and also more enjoyable because you feel like you are accomplishing something. A few days ago, I really wanted to want to practice, but sometimes, whether that’s for a day or for half of the day, listen to what your body is telling you, especially if you are experiencing pain. It’s so important to stop yourself at that moment because it’s never, ever good to play through pain. I’ve done it so many times, especially when I was younger because I thought, ‘oh, well, even if this is hurting me a little bit, I can just get through these last ten, twenty minutes or so’ – DON’T DO IT. I think that’s one of the biggest things I’ve learned with practice: stop when you start getting frustrated and unhealthy with yourself because practice should always be something – not necessarily that you are hugely looking forward to, but you are looking forward to achieving the goal itself.”
Remember Why You Love What You Are Doing
Betania has the following advice for young musicians or artists thinking of turning their passion into a career: “My general message to young people who are thinking about doing the arts is: make sure you know the reason why you love what you are doing. Sometimes, it can get really difficult - perhaps you are auditioning for something, and you don’t get it, or perhaps you didn’t play as well as you did, or you didn’t perform as well as you wanted to. I think it’s easy sometimes to feel despondent when things don’t go your way, but if you remember the reason why you started to do it in the first place, and you really remember why it is you first picked up that instrument, or went to see your first play, then that can really help drive you. Having that motivation and drive despite sometimes not the best circumstances is so important to keep you going, and to keep musicians, actors, artists all motivated at a time when so many organisations are receiving funding cuts and not as much help from governments. I think we just need to remember why we love it and why it is important that we keep going so that we can perform . . . it is not even just about performing to other people: it’s just about doing what makes you happy.”
Chineke!: Expanding the Picture
Working hard on something you love can open doors to extraordinary experiences. For the past seven years, Betania has been part of a project that is writing, and re-writing, the history of classical music: Chineke!. Betania has been a part of Chineke! since its very beginning: “I was introduced to Chi-Chi [Nwanoku] through Lady Victoria Robey. She was the founder of the charity Music Masters that came into my primary school and gave us the opportunity to learn violin. My mom received an email from her telling me about this opportunity, about this orchestra that champions diversity. I thought instantly that’s something that I want to be a part of. It’s something that I knew I would feel at home and comfortable in. I’m quite lucky because I was quite young when the foundation was started, and so it’s been a huge part of my life for the seven years that it’s been running now. I just hope that it gets to continue for a long, long time and reaches so many more people, because ultimately, the organisation is about bringing people together and about expanding that picture. It’s been such a great opportunity for me.” Betania has gone on tour with both the junior and senior orchestras and vividly remembers all their concerts: “It’s just been so great because it gets rid of the stigma that there are certain people who can’t play classical music or instruments such as the violin or viola or the flute. I think Chi-Chi, what she’s done with this orchestra, is just amazing. It’s amazing to see other people whom you wouldn’t normally see: I think it’s just expanding the paint shop.”
Bringing People Together
For Betania, the arts are ultimately about bringing people together, and allowing them to communicate with each other: “In these last few years especially, I’ve managed to meet so, so many amazing, interesting people. I think that’s the great thing about arts –it’s such a social activity, especially for people who are playing orchestral instruments. Desk partners, people in your section, you can even speak to the conductors who are conducting you as well. Especially for the junior orchestra, they were mentors to me, really. I’d ask them questions and I would just learn as much as I can from them. So much of it is just based on communication, not just in music - in dance, in acting. I think it is just so important: it’s great what you guys are setting out to do, to speak to as many different people in the arts. They are all equally important, and it’s so great to be able to hear from dancers, from actors, from musicians. Because all the arts just really, really excel and strive on communication. It is just so important to have that kind of human interaction that ultimately, we lost over the past few years because of Covid.”
Expanding the Repertoire: Underrepresented Composers
What Chineke! has managed to communicate over the past years is astounding. The foundation has been a real catalyst of change. By celebrating diversity in classical music, it has put a strong case against preconceptions that classical music is the exclusive domain of a certain type of people. It has also expanded the classical music repertoire by playing the works of underrepresented composers overlooked by history because of their colour or gender. Comparing Chineke! junior orchestra to other orchestras she played with while growing up, Betania observed: “The atmospheres were quite similar because, ultimately, you want to perform this music that you love to the highest standard possible. I think the only difference is that at Chineke!, we were performing the music of underrepresented composers that we hadn’t heard of before.” Just a few years ago, the music played at places like the Royal College of Music Junior Department was exclusively music by white, male composers. Comparing the repertoire she played with these organisations a few years ago to the repertoire they are playing now, Betania has noticed a change: “All these organisations, the Royal College of Music, the Royal Academy, these conservatoires, not only in the UK but around the world, they are getting the message. Chineke! has obviously made that difference. It made such a positive change to the repertoire that other conservatoires, including the Royal College of Music, are incorporating more diverse works into their repertoire, which is just something that we really need to see more of.” (If you are curious about some of the composers Betania discovered at Chineke!, read our companion piece “Betania Recommends: Composers”)
The Path of Progress
Diversifying the repertoire will be an ongoing process: “I think it’s getting past this barrier of just thinking that we need to showcase underrepresented composers of a different race. Because it’s not just race, it’s also gender. Women’s music has not been played enough. I think it’s just important to keep playing this music by female composers, composers of colour, and anyone who hasn’t previously been in the picture. That’s the most important thing.” Following Chineke!’s lead, organisations like the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and the National Children’s Orchestra have also diversified their repertoire, grooming a new generation of players for whom previously overlooked composers are already becoming loved artists. Audiences and players are together discovering a new repertoire: “It just opens your eyes literally to a new world of composers that you just could not have access before. Of course, there is still a way to go, but I’m excited about the progress that has been made.”
Exposure is Everything
Only increased exposure will widen people’s musical horizon. Hopefully, the diversification of repertoire will lead to a point where music by previously underrepresented composers will become standard repertoire. Betania is grateful for her early exposure to such composers at Chineke!: “Just being integrated into that environment where it was just so normal to be playing the music of these composers regardless of their gender, of their race- - - that’s not something that I’m actively having to think about anymore. It’s just like: I am playing music by this composer. I just hope that it gets to that point for many people, for all people who are connected to classical music. It is just such a great thing for the music to be so integrated that you don’t have to really think about it being ‘different’ anymore. I hope that’s the place we all get to as a society.”