Work With Me

Evie Ashton: A Case Study

I've had the pleasure of working with young award-winning composer, Evie Ashton, one-to-one over the past year.

I recently asked Evie for feedback and was honestly moved to tears by what she wrote.

I have not edited this at all and I have Evie's permission to share this fully with you.

What were you looking for in composition lessons?

After a long time of not truly knowing what I wanted to do, falling ill made me realise music was the path that I needed to take. Except, my school had never offered a music A level, and there was no logical way that I could jump into a career in music without support. I looked to Ella, who I had done work experience with once before, and sought her guidance in the form of composition mentoring.

The other thing I sought, in a more abstract sense, was myself. Music was a huge part of me, but for a long time I’d struggled to really be myself, having struggled with fitting in. Regaining a sense of self was something ambitious to ask for Ella to help me with to say the least, but she took my hopes for the mentoring very seriously.

Not only did Ella give me the groundwork that I had never received in the more technical aspects of composition, but she helped me find myself in a more personal and emotional way. This interconnect between myself, my goals, and the music was everything I needed to know that music is my true passion. Not only that, but my self esteem, too - she helped me greatly with those reinforcements that I am a composer, and I can do this.

How did you find working with me? And why?

Working with Ella was incredible, and I’ve never received an education quite like it. I am a disabled young adult, so going into the lessons we were very aware that I would have a lot of energy and memory limitations, and Ella did everything she possibly could to accommodate for and respect this. She didn’t treat me like I was any different from an ordinary student, whilst being conscientious (yet never condescending) about my capabilities.

From a more educational viewpoint, Ella taught in a very organic way. Learning with her was emotionally driven - one of the most important parts of music is the emotions within it, after all - but also technical. She managed to balance these two essential things, isolating them sometimes, combining them at others.

Ella also does something I’ve never seen any other teacher do, and that’s utilising silence. A question is never immediately responded to with a definitive this is right or that is wrong (unless it is purely technical and there is a right or wrong), but instead you’re left to think on your own answer. She allows your mind to wander with carefully devised questions and prompts as you develop your own opinion, instead of molding you with her own. This is so essential for composition, as free thinking and creativity go completely hand in hand.

How useful was the structure of our lessons? (Over 6 months, once-monthly in person lessons and voxer support)

The structure of the lessons was absolutely perfect for me. It left a solid amount of time to work on things between lessons, play around with the new knowledge she gave me, and come back with the ability to learn more instead of feeling like everything was crammed together. The voxer support has been a godsend. Never once have I sat in ‘music person silence’ with no answers to the questions in my head. I’ve always been able to immediately ask Ella. Also, talking on voxer (I’ve never been a voice message person, always a typed message) really helped my self confidence with speech. I now find myself using voice messages quite a lot!

Is there anything I could do to improve my teaching? If so, what?

Nothing that I can think of at all.

Would you recommend working with me to others? And why?

Absolutely. For starters, Ella is an incredibly talented individual, with a wonderful and in depth comprehension of music from both technical and emotional perspectives. But also, her teaching style is so very unique, and she goes above and beyond. So many times did she contact me outside of mentoring with extra help, extra information, something she’d seen that might be of use, so on and so forth. As her student you really feel like you’re in her thoughts, as opposed to someone who gives her money for her knowledge. The price is nothing for how life changing Ella has been for me, and if you asked me before whether I’d do it again, I’d be there in a heartbeat with the same answer.