The Mixed Museum follows Samuel Coleridge-Taylor to Newton Abbot
Following December’s visit to Gloucester for The Mixed Museum’s new Tracks of a Trailblazer project – an audio series following in the footsteps of the British Black mixed race composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor – January saw members of the team visit Newton Abbot. TMM’s Director, Dr Chamion Caballero and Freelance Editorial Director Laura Smith were there to find out all about the visit of Coleridge-Taylor to conduct his wildly popular work Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast at the Alexandra Hall in 1902.
Meanwhile, in Plymouth, Wonderzoo Arts were running an arts workshop on the composer’s trip to Newton Abbot, also part of TMM’s wider project exploring Coleridge-Taylor’s travels on the Great Western Railway, funded by GWR’s Community Care and Improvement Fund. Learn more below.
TMM's forthcoming audio series: Tracks of a Trailblazer
A cold but sunny January outing was in store for members of The Mixed Museum’s Tracks of a Trailblazer team, Director, Dr Chamion Caballero, and Freelance Associate Editorial Director Laura Smith who met at Paddington station in London to catch a train to Newton Abbot.
The pair were headed to the South Devon market town to record the second episode in TMM’s forthcoming Tracks of a Trailblazer series. Produced by Laura with support from Front Ear Podcasts, the series follows in the footsteps of the British Black mixed race composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and features original research and scripting by Chamion.
Spanning Coleridge-Taylor’s early career at the turn of the 19th into the 20th century and funded by Great Western Railways’ Customer and Community Improvement Fund, the series will retrace his train travels across the GWR network, looking at his work as a composer, conductor, and musical judge.
It will also explore what life was like in Britain for this son of a Sierra Leonean father and white English mother as the Victorian era gave way to the Edwardian during his incredible rise to global fame, before his tragic death in 1912 at the age of just 37.
The audio series will also be accompanied by a digital map and original illustrations from our Artist in Residence, Kinga Markus.
When Samuel Coleridge-Taylor went to Newton Abbot
The team’s day of recording took in the long history of WH Smith as a shop for rail passengers; the development of Newton Abbot in the wake of ‘railway mania’; and of course Coleridge-Taylor’s concert at the now Grade 2 listed Alexandra Theatre, formerly a corn exchange for local farmers. The conversations also covered the history of The Alex; colonial imaginings of Native American life; hidden mixed histories of Newton Abbot; and of course what travel would have been like for Coleridge-Taylor as a Black mixed-race man in Edwardian Britain.
Local historian and volunteer at Newton Abbot Town & GWR Museum, Tess Walker, and Dr Richard Ward, Chairman of the Newton Abbot and District Musical Comedy Society, shared their knowledge of the history of The Alex and Newton Abbot. Richard gave the team and Tess a backstage tour of the working Victorian theatre, while Tess shared information about the Native American performer, Go-Won-Go Mohawk who graced The Alex’s stage a few years after Coleridge-Taylor. Chamion and Laura were also delighted to be presented with copies of Tess’s fascinating book on Newton Abbot's local history.
The Mixed Museum’s visit provoked considerable local interest, featuring twice in the Mid-Devon Advertiser.
Slideshow: Images of TMM's Newton Abbot visit, including interviews with Tess Walker and Richard Ward at the Alexandra Theatre which operates as both a theatre and cinema.
Tess and Richard will appear as guests on the series, alongside other experts exploring Coleridge-Taylor's life, music and train travels, including Nick Roberts of the Museum of Music History, Professor Caroline Bressey of University College London, Chi-chi Nwanoku of Chineke! Orchestra, David Francis, CEO of the Three Choirs Festival, Simon Francis, Volunteer Archivist, Three Choirs Festival, Huw Tregelles Williams, musician and former Head of Music, BBC Wales, David Morgan, Tabernacle Choir, David Gwyn, Tabernacle Chapel, and Dr Oliver Betts of the National Railway Museum. Doug Devany also makes a voiceover appearance.
Wonderzoo Arts: Creative Workshop at The Box, Plymouth
Meanwhile, over in Plymouth, Wonderzoo Arts were sharing more about Coleridge-Taylor’s life and work with a local audience. Hosted at the Box, Plymouth, Chi Bennett delivered a talk on Coleridge-Taylor’s visit to Newton Abbot on behalf of TMM followed by a creative art and writing workshop reflecting on the themes of the talk. It was wonderful to hear about the positive interest in the event, which also made the press, with an article featuring in the Plymouth Echo. You can see images from the workshop, including some of the creative outputs, below.
Tracks of a Trailblazer will be coming to The Mixed Museum’s website and all podcast platforms soon. Keep an eye on our blogposts, social channels and the newsletter for updates.
Learn more
Read our blogposts about the origins of the project Funding news! Our new project exploring the train travels of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and the team's visit to Gloucester in preparation for episode 1
Find out about Coleridge-Taylor’s visit to Brighton and his life-changing work, The Song of Hiawatha, in our mini exhibition, A Tremendous Ovation
Watch our short film about Coleridge-Taylor’s 1908 visit to Brighton, featuring original artwork by Artist In Residence, Kinga Markus (YouTube) | Duration: 5:08 minutes