Who is Rachel Zegler?

 Meet the teenager playing Maria in the ‘West Side Story’ remake

By: Maddy Shaw Roberts, ClassicFM London

The high school student has been selected from a pool of 30,000 applicants to play Maria in Steven Spielberg’s remake of ‘West Side Story’. Here's everything you need to know about the rising star, from her resume and Twitter account to her ethnicity.

Rachel Zegler is a 17-year-old Colombian-American actress and singer-songwriter from New Jersey, who will star in the upcoming remake of West Side Story.

She will make her film debut as Maria, opposite Baby Driver actor Ansel Elgort as Tony.

One of 30,000 applicants, Zegler applied for the role after seeing a casting call on Twitter asking for Latino and Latina actors.

Rachel Zegler to star as Maria in West Side Story remake. Picture: Courtesy of subject

What is Rachel Zegler’s resume?

Although she is a newcomer to the film industry, Zegler is no stranger to the role of Maria – having first played the character in a Performing Arts School presentation of West Side Story at the Bergen Performing Arts Centre.

Throughout her teens, Zegler has starred in local, regional and school productions of Thoroughly Modern Millie, 42nd Street and RENT, as well as doing occasional work as a wedding singer.

She has also taken on the role of Belle in Beauty and the Beast, Serena in Legally Blonde, Cosette in Les Misérables and Ariel in The Little Mermaid.

In 2016, the young actress was nominated for a Metropolitan High School Theater Award for her role in Beauty And The Beast, according to NJ.com.

What is Rachel Zegler’s ethnicity?

Zegler was born in New Jersey to a Polish father and a Colombian mother.

When news broke of her role, she posted on Instagram: “When I played Maria on stage a few summers ago, I never could have imagined that I’d be taking on the role again in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story.

“As a Colombian-American woman growing up in this day and age, strong roles like Maria are so important. To be able to bring that role to life— a role that means so much to the Hispanic community— is so humbling.”

In West Side Story, Maria is of Puerto Rican descent. In the 1961 film adaptation she was played by American actress Natalie Wood.

Spielberg told Variety: “When we began this process a year ago, we announced that we would cast the roles of Maria, Anita, Bernardo, Chino and the Sharks with Latina and Latino actors.”

His casting, which includes Ariana DeBose as Anita and David Alvarez as Bernardo, has been widely praised on social media.

Follow Rachel Zegler on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube

Zegler already has an impressive social media following, with 85,000 followers on YouTube, 60,000 on Instagram and 50,000 on Twitter.

Last year, Zegler found viral fame when she posted a video of herself singing ‘Shallow’ from A Star is Born. The video garnered over seven million views on Twitter.

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Her YouTube channel is equally popular, with the ‘Shallow’ video boasting a huge eight million views. Her first upload to YouTube was in 2015, when she shared a performance of ‘The Wizard and I’ at a youth event group in Clifton, New Jersey. She was 15.

“Welcome to the life of a theatrical mess named Rachel Zegler,” she writes on her intro to her channel.

“I’m Rachel, and I am incredibly infatuated with theatre, musicals, and the people who help them to happen!! Follow me around as I show you how much I love what I do, and how I manage to do it all while juggling my entire life.”

The incredible 14-year-old self-taught violinist who fled Syria ...

... and joined Sydney Youth Orchestra

By: Helena Asprou, ClassicFM London

After a turbulent childhood in the midst of a war zone, young musician Aboud turns his life around using his incredible gift

For most 14-year-old Syrians living in Aleppo, life is a series of great challenges – but one young boy has managed to turn his luck around.

Born into a war zone, Aboud Kaplo is a self-taught violinist who originally used his talent to help him cope with his city’s ongoing conflict.

As the Syrian unrest escalated, Aboud and his family fled to Lebanon carrying only their essential belongings – including the boy’s rickety, child-sized violin.

While seeking refuge in Beirut, they met a musician from the University of Oxford who quickly realised Aboud’s skill and loaned him a restored, full-size violin from the university’s archives.

The musician was Susie Attwood, a former student and violinist at Oxford university, who had met Aboud while filming The Wait – a movie about Syriac Christian families waiting in a monastery in Lebanon in hope of receiving a visa for a new country.

Since then, life has become a very different story for the young performer…

Aboud Kaplo plays the violin. Picture: Amr Kokash

New strings – and new horizons

It’s not every day that you’re given a violin after a chance encounter – and the university’s donation to Aboud was extra special.

With more than 2,000 instruments dating from medieval times, Oxford’s Bate Collection is rather exceptional.

The violin they sent to Aboud, which is manufactured by German brand Wolff Brothers, is a 19th-century instrument with a heart-warming history.

Andy Lamb, the Collection’s manager, said: 'The moment I read about this lad’s situation, I realised that the Bate Collection and Faculty of Music could make some kind of positive contribution towards his quality of life.

“I immediately had an instrument in mind. It belonged to a former curator, Dr Hélène Larue, a very generous person, and I knew that if she had been confronted with this situation, she would have donated an instrument instantly.”

After receiving this exquisite gift, the teenage string enthusiast hasn’t been able to put his violin down and has now joined the Sydney Youth Orchestra.

Aboud Kaplo. Picture: Amr Kokash

From Aleppo to Sydney

Despite his lack of music education while living in Syria, Aboud’s passion and commitment for teaching himself the violin has led him to happier times.

Through sheer determination and a lot of YouTube tutorials, he has landed himself a scholarship with the prestigious Sydney Youth Orchestra and now lives in Australia with his family.

Since his arrival, Aboud has been receiving weekly violin lessons in the traditional Western Classical style to ensure that he can read well and play in orchestras or chamber ensembles.

Speaking to SBS News about the opportunity, Aboud said: "I love playing the violin because I can express myself; when I'm sad I play the violin… when I'm happy. Every time when I feel, I play the violin."

When Susie Attwood heard the news, she said: "I got a message from Aboud's mum with this picture of him in Sydney with a violin on his back – a selfie with his family in the background.

"It's amazing that this violin has travelled from Oxford to Lebanon and now all the way across to the other side of the world to Australia. He takes good care of it and I hope that he'll be able to take lessons soon and fulfil his dream."

Self-taught violinist. Picture: Amr Kokash

His father, Amanouel Kaplo, added: “I’m very proud, he has known his way since childhood, and he has always loved music.”

The orchestra is delighted to welcome Aboud and will be helping him to improve his technique even further by teaching him music theory.

The orchestra’s general manager Mia Patoulios commented: "He has this beautiful understanding of music and I think that's the thing that unites all our young people."

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"Access to music ...

... remains out of reach for the majority of children’ says Julian Lloyd Webber

Julian Lloyd Webber. Picture: Steve Thorne/Getty Images

By Elizabeth Davis, ClassicFM Londoon

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The principal of Royal Birmingham Conservatoire has spoken out against the decline in arts subjects in English schools

In an article in The Times, Julian Lloyd Webber has attacked the decline in arts subjects in England, saying:

“Access to music remains stubbornly out of reach for the vast majority of children from less privileged backgrounds.”

The cellist, who is now Principal of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, lays the blame with the EBacc.

“Since the introduction of the EBacc in 2010, the number of GCSEs taken in arts subjects has declined by 34 per cent,” he writes. “Yet judged by any rational criteria, removing arts subjects from the national curriculum makes no sense at all.”

The EBacc is a set of subjects, chosen by the Government and does not include music, drama or art. Many education professionals say it is driving the decline in arts subjects in schools, although the government has consistently denied this.

Many music teachers blame the EBacc for the decline in students taking the subject. Picture: Getty

In The Times, Julian Lloyd Webber goes on to point out that the music industry brings in £4.4 billion a year to the economy, but that there are other reasons the arts should be accessible for school children regardless of their background:

“On a practical level, many jobs will soon be lost to automation but jobs in the arts will be among the least affected. On a social level, all our children should have a right to experience music, not just the ones with parents who can afford to pay for expensive instruments and tuition.”

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Too many children are denied the joy of classical music

A recent ministerial pronouncement, all but submerged in the Brexit quagmire, proclaimed that “universities must recruit more white working-class students” or “face sanctions”. Damian Hinds, the...

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He was writing in response to a recent statement by education secretary Damian Hinds that said universities could face sanctions if they didn’t recruit more white working-class students.

Lloyd Webber said: “Mr Hinds should be overseeing a co-ordinated government policy which allows access to the arts for all our children, from primary school through to higher education.”

What should your New Year's resolution be ...

... according to your instrument?

By ClassicFM London

508

It's that time of year again! In need of a resolution? Tell us what you play - we’ll take care of the rest.

Setting yourself a New Year's resolution can be tricky. How do you choose just one area for improvement for the whole year, especially when you're a musician with foibles all over the place?

Fear not - we're here to help. Simply tell us which instrument you play, and we'll give you the perfect self-improvement task for the coming 12 months. You're welcome.

Happy New Year 2019 - Frohes Neues Jahr 2019

All I want For Christmas Is You

A music theory analysis of Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’

By Kyle Macdonald, ClassicFM London

Ever wondered why the sound of Mariah’s melismas makes you feel all warm and fuzzy? Here’s a rigorous musical analysis of ‘All I Want For Christmas is You’ – and why it’s pretty much impossible to write a Christmas hit without sleigh bells.

Released in 1994, Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas is You’ has morphed into a seasonal pop-gospel classic. Let’s break down the musical magic.

Introduction

A 50 second-long intro really hooks in the listener. After some trademark Carey melismas on ‘true’, we get a classy rallentando which leads into a perfectly placed appoggiatura on ‘you’.

It might be long, but it creates suspense by the bucket load.

Orchestration

It’s a scientific fact that sleigh bells equal snow, winter and Christmas – and Mariah uses them aplenty. Straight out of Leroy Anderson’s 1948 hit ‘Sleigh Ride’, they’re an essential element of the song’s orchestration.

Tubular bells ring throughout, giving a nostalgic, ecclesiastical feel. There’s also a certain genius in the simplicity of the piano and drum layering, with simple but infectious fills every four bars to keep those toes tapping.

Harmony

The song is in G major, but the intro takes us through a G - B - C - E flat - D - Em - E flat - D - Am - D - G chord sequence, packing in a whole load of harmonic tension that will finally be released when we hit that first verse.

Slate magazine’s resident musicologist counts 13 distinct chords at work throughout the song, giving it a sumptuous chromaticism against those driving 4/4 sleigh bells.

Mariah Carey Performs During NBC's Pre-Tape Christmas Tree Lighting. Picture: Getty

A Christmas chord?

Time for a lesson in scrunchy harmonies, guys.

There’s a theory, put forward by Slate and later illustrated by Vox, which says the chord under ‘presents’ in the opening line – a scrunchy half diminished chord, or D minor 7 flat 5 to be exact – is what makes this song Christmassy.

It’s a deliciously appealing idea, a secret chord that injects a feeling of warm, festive spirit, like a home filled with the smell of cloves and mulled wine.

But not everyone is convinced. Over the centuries, many have tried to link notes and chords to characteristics, but in the end, it’s all in the ear of the listener.

That being said, a scrunchy chord does stand out in the harmonic texture. So, if a half diminished chord makes you feel Christmassy, let it make you feel Christmassy.

The vocals

A few months ago, we asked Classic FM presenter and legendary Baroque soprano Catherine Bott to share her thoughts on the iconic voice.

She said: “Mariah is brilliant because she takes that shouty voice higher in pitch than any classical singer that I’ve ever met. It’s really, really impressive.”