Category: Performance

  • Orchestral Disturbance

    I stumbled upon this: ‘Modern Toss presents a comedy take on a Classical Music concert’ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02ysg91 And that it does. It got me thinking that is kind of activity would be excellent to try with classes. Give them the video performance of a piece of music and let them recreate the sounds. They have to think…

  • Keep being taught to learn

    “Musical Futures is a global movement that transforms, engages and inspires people through making music that is meaningful to them; the festival builds on its aims to create exciting, innovative, tried-and-tested learning methods and approaches which are based on the way self-taught musicians learn. Dedicated to providing hands-on training and resources, the Music Learning Revolution…

  • CPD through Music

    I took up singing lessons a year ago. I’m always on the hunt for a new endeavour and something that can feed my musical self as well as provide me with new ideas and repertoire for my own teaching. There’s something quite unique about being taught an instrument or voice as you form a very…

  • Be insistent with your vocal weapon…

    I was watching vocal masterclasses on YouTube, keen to glean some ideas on a few issues I’ve been working on in my own singing lessons. Gerald Finley gave a masterclass at RCM in 2003 and I was glued to his first session with a tenor, particularly as I have been working on Un’aura amorosa too…

  • Woodwose: Wigmore’s first opera

    I never thought I’d see a bicycle whizz by me in the Wigmore Hall but it immediately captured the scene for the opening of Woodwose; the first ever community opera at Wigmore Hall. What makes the project so exciting for me is that the community of 120 local children and adults – joined by the…

  • Imagined Occasions: London Contemporary Orchestra celebrates its 5th birthday

    I don’t recall what I did for my fifth birthday but I certainly will remember the London Contemporary Orchestra’s fifth birthday. I visited the abandoned Aldwych Underground Station on the 24th May to experience behind the scenes of the first of the London Contemporary Orchestra’s ‘Imagined Occasions’ series (performed that evening). Helen Scarlett O’Neill and…

  • Vivace Chorus – Best of British 26 May 2013

    The Guildford based Vivace Chorus were in full voice last weekend at Guildford Cathedral, giving a ‘Best of British’ concert as part of their Contemporary Choral Classics series. Will Todd’s Angel Song II opened the concert; a beautiful, ethereal evocation of angels on Christmas night. The commited performance was controlled with immense aplomb by Jeremy…

  • Vocal Tai-Chi

    I realised this weekend how powerful voice work can be. More importantly, how powerful group work with the voice can be. Jenni Roditi’s Vocal Tai-Chi workshop this weekend was a pleasure to experience. I offered some additional backing to the solo performances in the second half of the workshop – improvising on the piano –…

  • New Voices @ CUA

    My choral piece ‘Versa est in luctum’ was performed in January as part of the New Voices festival at Catholic University of the Arts in Washington, DC. As part of the festival website I was asked to write about the piece and my musical inspiration; below is what I submitted. Originally published on the festival…

  • Corpo: Lixa da Alma (Waste: Body of Soul)

    Anomalous Visuals writes of the work that I composed music for: “Performed at Cena Brasil Internacional Festival, Waste-Body of the Soul was an international multimedia installation involving artists based in London, Berlin and Rio. Conceived by costume designer Mauricio Carneiro and artist Beo da Silva, the collaborative project combines performance, poetry, live feed video, music…