Created by Alison Burns and Gitika Partington, Community Voiceworks is a great resources for workshop leaders everywhere.
One of my songs, Different Ships, features in the book!
Portfolio
Poetry Army Tour – Choral Director
I was invited to join the Poetry Army as its Choral Director, bringing in choirs from across the UK, including Sheffield Socialist Choir and Red Leicester Choir.
Written by Heathcote Williams Poetry Can F**k Off was a celebration of the power of poetry, the voice it can lend to people facing injustice and oppression. It highlighted the works of poets and orators from Emily Dickinson to Gil Scott-Heron, Gandi to Pussie Riot. My part in the celebrations was to direct the choirs who performed Leon Rosselson’s arrangement of James Oppenheim’s poem Bread and Roses.
Click here for a review of the Brighton performance.
See below for the Poetry Army Trailer.
Poetry Army & Brighton Tubthumpers
Brighton Tubthumpers was invited to take part in a Poetry Army performance of a Heathcote Williams‘ poem. We sang Bread & Roses. this was the first performance for Brighton Tubthumpers and it was well received.
Here is a review from Michael Kemp – read to the bottom for his praise of the choir’s contribution.
20/11/2015 Poetry Can F*ck Dress Rehearsal
Cycle of Songs – Cambridge
Cycle of Songs was an Arts Council England funded project commissioned by Cambridge City Council, devised by the award winning Pilot Theatre and Historyworks to mark the Tour de France visit to Cambridge on 7th July 2014.
I was commissioned by Helen Weinstein to write a choral piece with Rowena Whitehead to celebrate the place names of Cambridge on the theme of riding bicycles round Cambridge, called Why We Ride, and based on the poems of Hollie McNish & Inja. Read more about Why We Ride here. Also, I also composed a piece for the Cambridge Choir called ‘Women of Note’ to record for the Cycle of Songs, which told the History of Women to celebrate the ‘Unsung’ Women of Cambridge! Read more about Unsung Women, and listen to audio parts here.
I also lead a massed choir in a flashmob style busk in several locations around central Cambridge, and conducted the choir on the steps of the Fitzwilliam Musem as the Tour de France cyclist went past. The photos below were taken during the project.
All the photos in the slide who are taken from the Historyworks Flikr Photostream.
The Chalk Circle Collective
The Chalk Circle Collective is about to start the first leg of our REVOLUTIONARY BALLADS tour!
This project first started a few years ago, when I arranged the libretto from The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertholt Brecht as part of a school project.
The songs sat, unsung for a while, until Frankie Armstrong and I were talking Brecht in a bar one evening (as you do) and she told me about her Pirate Jenny album and repertoire of Kurt Weill and Hans Eisler with her accompanist Mikey Price. And a plan was hatched to combine the two sets into a Brechtian Bacchanalia of Revolutionary Ballads!
So I gathered the (rebel) troops and was extremely lucky that many of my good friends – all phenomenal musicians and Natural Voice Teachers – agreed to be part of our coup!
Revolutionary Ballads is launching this weekend: 19th – 21st September 2014, and we are playing in Cardiff, Lower Lydbrook and Bristol. We then hit London, Brighton and Lewes 3rd – 5th October. The attached poster has all the details and the ticket prices are £10 full price and £8 concessions.
Our poster has all the details and it would be great to see you there!
Robb Johnson & Hullabaloo
In Autumn 2014 – my raggle tangle group of choral troubadours Hullabaloo Community Quire worked with folk rock protest singer Robb Johnson! The project culminated in a joint performance. I am currently working with Robb to put together another project, this time with Brighton Tubthumpers!
