Workshops
Most of our workshops focus on groups of children within schools creating original works that are then performed either by themselves or by professional musicians, usually in a public setting. Through our work with the Deal Festival of Music and the Arts we have had children's work performed by leading performers including the Kosmos string trio, the guitarist Johannes Möller and the Sacconi String Quartet.
This year also saw us complete our first project for the Sounds New Festival that had two schools from the Canterbury area joining together to perform Paul Patterson's setting of Hilaire Belloc's poem, Rebecca, at the Gulbenkian theatre, Canterbury.
Guitar Tuition
Our guitar tuition is undertaken in the East Kent area both within schools and in our private practice. Throughout the year we offer opportunities to perform publicly through organised concerts and this year we have started to run group workshops for guitarists focusing on specific issues and techniques associated with the instrument.
Our students are encouraged to study a variety of styles, from classical to rock, along with any particular interest they may have. As well as a chance to perform in public they have the opportunity to gain recognised qualifications through the Trinity Guildhall and Rockschool grade exams.
Bands
We provide a service to groups and bands providing professional advice on how to improve their sound and group musicianship or how to make themselves become more prominent in any particular genre. Our advice can be used before embarking on a studio recording or a series of live performances saving time and ensuring maximum effect from any exposure. This service is charged at an hourly rate for our attendance at band rehearsals and advice is given before booking to ensure that our time working with any group is used efficiently.
Guitar Project Backing Tracks
Through our education work with guitarists we have developed a series of guitar projects to help students develop certain techniques. These projects are available to purchase and download from this site. Each project comes with a score in standard notation with TAB and two mp3 files, one of the backing track with the guitar part removed and the second of the track complete.
Each project is designed to focus on one or more specific techniques, both basic and more advanced. A description of each project explains the techniques explored within it and the level of skill required. Each project is field tested on students within schools and through our own practice to ensure they function in the way they were intended. Samples are available to listen to on this page and the complete project is available from our secure online shop.
Recent Education Projects
The Nature of Change
The Nature of Change was a project in conjunction with artist Will Glanfield and the Whitstable museum funded in part by the Arts Council.
The purpose of the project was to record an approximate two mile stretch of coastline at Whitstable on the North Kent coast using art and electro acoustic music.
Children from two primary schools, Swalecliffe and St Mary's, each spent a day exploring the beach starting a different ends but ending at the central point of the towns harbour. The work they create both on the day and back in the schools was shown in the Whitstable Museum throughout April 2008. The objective was to record the change in the coastline at this moment in time as we move from the extremes of the town's coast to the industrial harbour. This was arranged to happen before planned redevelopment of the harbour takes place.
Video Examples from the Nature of Change project:
'Yacht Club Slipway'
'Stone Drawing with Poem Reading'
'Surf'
Sounds New 2010 - Film 7
The Sounds New 2010 festival had the number 7 as it's theme this year with many of the performances and education projects using it in some form or another. Film 7 was one such project using 7 seven schools to create either a new silent film or an orignal soundtrack for an existing short silent movies. Our role was to work with four schools to create the original film scores with Peter Cook of Big Bash Music working with the remaining three to create the films.
Four schools from the Canterbury area, Wingham Primary, Brockhill and Herne Bay High Schools and Barton Court School all created scores to early pioneering films dating back nearly 100 years. The pieces were then performed live to the films at the Orange Street Music Club, Canterbury as part of the Sounds New Festival. The Performance also included the new films created with the help of Peter Cook with a pianist providing a live improvised accompanyment.
Sounds Of The Valley
Sounds of the Valley was a project within a larger regeneration programe in the Medway Gap area of kent. The aim of the project was to increase awareness of the areas natural beauty and create community links within the area itself.
A number of local schools were involved with musician Stephen Clee and artist Will Glanfield taking them to explore the local area and document it using recording sounds, photos and videos. They then worked with the children to create a number of films which were compiled into a DVD to be used as part of the larger promotion of the area and the work of the project funders Valley of Visions.
Frustration, Solitude and Rage (excerpt) | |
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Year 7 children from the Abbey School in Faversham produced a three-movement work that was performed by the guitarist Johannes Möller as part of the Deal Festival. |
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Kopanitsa | |
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Music students from Dover Grammar School for Girls explored gypsy and Balkan music to create three works performed by the Kosmos string trio. |
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Whales Song (excerpt) | |
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Harpist Deian Rowlands and flautist Nicola Phillips performed with pupils from Cartwright & Kelsey primary school to bring to life the children's own composition. |
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