Sam Mulliner: Director of Performing Arts

At the very end of the 2020-21 academic year, we were delighted to interview Sam Mulliner, the then Head of Music at Dulwich International High School Suzhou. Sam has now been promoted to the exciting new role of Director of Performing Arts. In this interview he shares his passion and infectious enthusiasm for Performing arts, talks about his musical background and reveals some of his plans and hopes for how, under his direction, performing arts will develop at our school.

We asked Sam about his experience and career path before joining Dulwich and he had this to say: “I grew up as a musician. From nine years old, I discovered I had a bit of a singing voice and ended up singing across the country, in award winning choirs, including the National Youth Choir of Great Britain, and choirs that, for four consecutive years won the Sainsburys Choir of the Year Award (which is one of the most prestigious amateur choir competitions in the world). I was fortunate enough to study at Cardiff University, where I studied music and specialized in musicology, singing, and conducting. When I finished my degree, I was asked what I was going to do. And I said, I don't know what I'm going to do. But the one thing I'm never going to do is teach!

So how did that change?

“Actually, it was purely by coincidence! Some of the work that I'd been doing was with a primary school.  I'd been going in and just doing some silly little musical things with them. I really enjoyed it. I did a year working for a company called the Musicians Answering Service, which is an agency for classical musicians in London. 95% of all classical musicians in London are freelancers. So, their agencies and their diary services are incredibly important. We looked after over 1000 of London's top classical musicians, booking them into recording sessions, concert orchestras, tours, and musicals. I did a year there and I realized I wanted to do something else. I was gigging in the evenings, and I realized that what I really wanted was stability. I've got a passion for music, and I wanted to use that passion. Which led me back to teaching.”

What attracted you to come to work at Dulwich International High School Suzhou?

“Having taught in the UK for five years, I moved to China 10 years ago when an opportunity came up to work in Qingdao. I was very excited to come to China. I spent five years in Qingdao before moving to Shanghai for four years. Then an opportunity came up to come and work at Dulwich. Dulwich is an incredibly well-respected education group across the world, that provides exciting opportunities for its students. Coming into the school for the first time, I realized I hadn't entirely understood quite how good those opportunities truly are!”

What would you say is so special about musical performance in Dulwich international High School?

“There are some incredible musicians here and I want to give them the opportunity to flourish, to show off their performance, to show off the different things they can do. During 2020 - 2021, one of the most exciting projects that we embarked on was Guys and Dolls the musical (all done in about five weeks). I’m looking forward to next year in my new role during the 2021 – 22 terms, as the director of Performing Arts.

Ms Park, will remain as Head of Drama, with a specific focus on academic drama. I'm going to have a particular remit to focus on the development of performance for our students, which is why we have such an incredibly exciting performance schedule!”

What are your plans at Dulwich International High School Suzhou?

“Over the next year, we are looking to both grow the academic and the performance programme within the school. Academic music is an incredibly important course for the school to be offering; it offers pupils the chance to develop their musicianship, understand more about how much is put together, work both independently and within a team and create some incredible work. We hope to nurture this programme in the school and get more pupils involved within academic music.

We have similar goals for performance within the school. The first big project we're embarking on is a young musician of the year competition, highlighting musicians throughout the school. In the past, the focus was only on the musicians that studied music. This time, instead, we're going to have winners from each year group, then those winners are going to go through to a grand final where we crown a Young Musician of the Year for the whole school. The idea is to find and showcase the incredible talents that we know we have in our school. I’m working with some exciting music companies with the possibility of them sponsoring the event. We are also very excited about the Chinese drama, which is due to happen in November and December, which Miss Yang is taking the lead on, we've got some big plans for that! Then, in February it’s the musical when we will be proud to present Shrek Jr! It’s a phenomenal show!

I want to make sure as many people as possible get the opportunity to perform, but also ensure that as many people as possible get the opportunity to see what our amazing students can do! What has been happening in the school, up until now, has been phenomenal. The work that our drama team are doing, and music has been brilliant. I see the role of Director of Performing Arts is to highlight the great work that's going on, and to really give those students the opportunity to shine!”

Richard Nunns, Deputy Director, notes:

Creativity has always been a central value of Dulwich International High School Suzhou as we prepare students holistically to thrive at university and beyond.  We are fortunate to have such a strong Performing Arts team supporting not only students who want to specialize in these disciplines but also students for whom performing arts forms part of a well-rounded profile of interests.  Performing Arts at Dulwich provide multiple opportunities for students to perform, to push boundaries and to develop their skills.  Performing Arts also has a central role in developing collaboration, leadership and confidence whilst also promoting individual and collective wellbeing.  Despite the challenges of COVID, under the expert leadership of Sam Mulliner, ‘All the world’s a stage’.