PW_3_2024

Spotlight on the SIGS

If Music be the Food of Love… Seb Valentine , Music SIG Co-ordinator

As Shakespeare wrote in Twelfth Night, “If music be the food of love, play on.” With this in mind: a desire to foster love and friendship within the IPA, I decided to start a music Special Interest Group. I hope you enjoy reading about why I wanted to start a Music SIG , and some exciting musical events we have planned. Music has been used throughout history to bring people together and foster community. The oldest surviving instruments, pipes made of bones, date from 40,000 years ago and early Sapiens are likely to have been singing long before. Music serves many purposes, from a mother’s soothing lullaby to a funeral march. Military, religious and secular rituals nearly always use music, but what is it that music adds? I grew up surrounded by music and I can’t imagine my life without it. My mother was a music teacher and my father, although not a musician, was an avid listener. I have vivid memories of travelling down the motorway with him in our Volvo 240 estate that whistled when it went over 60mph, listening to Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring or Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos. I made music with my mother and my siblings, putting on a family concert each Christmas. I sang in the school choir in Bath Abbey and played violin in the orchestra. I was terrible at team sports, always being picked last, so spent most of my time in the music block doing what I loved. I somehow ended up at the Royal College of Music in 2000 as a singer and had an amazing five years expanding my musical mind, graduating in 2005.

Seb

As a fledgeling opera singer, I worked for intense periods on a production before moving on to the next. Looking back, some of the closest friendships I made were through music. There is something about making and enjoying music together that bonds people faster than almost anything else. It has now been scientifically proven that when people listen to or perform music together, they feel more positively about each other. It fosters a sense of belonging and causes people to cooperate and be more generous to each other. Some of you will have joined the police at a time when music was more prominent. Your training was punctuated by marching with your fellow recruits to a band. In some countries, you may still do this a lot more than we do in the UK. I think it is a tragedy we have all but lost this element from UK policing, but I am fighting in my own small way to get it back and this music SIG is a baby step in the right direction. After speaking to Karen Duckworth, VP Social and Culture, about my idea to start a music SIG, she was very supportive. After sending out an initial email about it, we had over 30 people respond which was fantastic. We had our first meeting on Zoom on 29th April to meet each other and decide what we wanted the group to be. After a lively discussion, we have set the following aims for the group: Meet on Zoom on the last Monday of the month at 1900 for one hour; Like a book club, we will listen to music suggested by members before the meeting and discuss it in the meeting; We will tell each other about concerts and events so we can organise group outings; Be a point of contact for IPA members wishing to travel to the UK and meet other IPA members interested in music or police-based music groups, such as bands or choirs; Develop relationships with police music groups across all IPA regions and publish a list of groups. Next year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the IPA and as a musician and IPA member, I can’t imagine celebrating that without music. That is why I am delighted that Region 11 and the NEC are supporting my proposal to hold a concert at Guildford Cathedral next year. We chose Guildford Cathedral not just because I work for Surrey Police, but because there is a stained-glass window there dedicated to the IPA. We will be inviting musical IPA members and groups they play in to come to Guildford from all over the world and take part in the concert, which will be a celebration of the cultural diversity of the IPA. Whether it’s a Waltz from Austria, a Samba from Brazil or a Ukrainian Hopak, folk songs or anthems, we want groups to come and play music that means something to them. Seb Valentine is a serving officer with Surrey Police and a member of IPA Region 11. You can email him at valentine.sebastian@gmail.com

BLSO Workshop Oct 23-30

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POLICE WORLD Vol 69 No.3, 2024