It's been quite a while since I last did a live gig. May 2006 to be exact. That was when I went to Chicago to sing at Sanctuary AG church Batavia, IL. It was a difficult time with the knowledge that my sister-in-law was in the final stages of her cancer, also the first time I'd been away from home on my own since I got married 16 years ago. Also whilst I loved the church and especially being with my host I really got a shock when it came to my perception of ME as a performer. You see I always believed that wa what I was called to do. Since I was 14 to exact. The rude awaking was that having achieved my first international performance it felt completely wrong.
So the step to get out and perform again has been a difficult decision both personally and spiritually. However the timing seemed right so I decided to go for it. I still find myself asking why did I take the gig over and over again especially considering the huge volume of work I'm currently experiencing. But I will remain positive and faithful to my role as a performer this time and see what happens. I will learn from lessons gained in America and prepare for the performance in a different way.
So about the music. A number of years ago I was comissioned to write a set of contemporary Christmas songs and so was born the project "Incarnate God". It's basically my exploration of the most amazing gift that God ever gave us and the reason why we celebrate Christmas. With only 43 days left til Christmas I thought I'd post the following link to my Soundclick where you can listen to the entire set plus one extra. The recording was used on Christmas day a few years ago on Radio Linconshire with the Washingborough Singers led by Greg Wright and me singing the lead and playing double bass.
http://members.soundclick.com/station/603940
I hope you get chance to have a listen and maybe even feed back on the music.
Wednesday 21 November 2007
Rock and Pop Academy
Ever had an idea that exceeded your expectations. In the search for funding of various types to upgrade my new music department I stumbled upon Musical Futures and some fantastic ideas for personalised learning in relation to the extended curriculum. So I decided to persue the idea in my new school having had moderate success with it in my former post. Basically students get the opportunity to develop group performance skills and the potential of performing to a large audience at a county based event. During the eight week programme students will gain basic knowledge of a new instrument to them and meet industry professionals from time to time to assist in their development.
So having broadcast the information to students who I thought would benefit from the experience the first week was a disaster. Two students attended and I ended up leading them in a workshop about playing the blues, they were both capable guitarists. As a result I decided to advertise the program to the whole school on two seperate occassions and to my astonishment the second session happened and I had 24 students attending whch created a whole new problem. That equates to 6-7% of the school population.
I now had a new set of opportunities to play with and have unwittingly created sustainabilit to the course by making two maybe three cohorts rather than one cohort of two bands that would eventually potentially lose interest. It just goes to show that we never fully appreciate the enthusiasm of our students until you stick your neck out and run an activity like this. As a foot note the program successfully won a bid of £2000 for tuition fees, instruments and transport costs to the events.
So having broadcast the information to students who I thought would benefit from the experience the first week was a disaster. Two students attended and I ended up leading them in a workshop about playing the blues, they were both capable guitarists. As a result I decided to advertise the program to the whole school on two seperate occassions and to my astonishment the second session happened and I had 24 students attending whch created a whole new problem. That equates to 6-7% of the school population.
I now had a new set of opportunities to play with and have unwittingly created sustainabilit to the course by making two maybe three cohorts rather than one cohort of two bands that would eventually potentially lose interest. It just goes to show that we never fully appreciate the enthusiasm of our students until you stick your neck out and run an activity like this. As a foot note the program successfully won a bid of £2000 for tuition fees, instruments and transport costs to the events.
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