Instrumental music workshops
I work with any combination of instruments to arrange and develop a performance repertoire. The arrangements are always tailored to the abilities and levels of experience of the members of the group. Pieces may be drawn from popular songs, jazz, folk music, and music from a wide range of non-European cultural traditions. Participants would always have an input into the choice of repertoire. I also compose music for these groups where appropriate. My most recent involvement (starting May 2016) is with the Hackney Community Orchestra (see below).
SOME EXAMPLES
Holiday music courses for young people in Greenwich and Lewisham, often for bands as large as 50-60 players, with instruments including strings, woodwind, brass, keyboards, guitars and percussion. Arrangements of popular songs, mediaeval and renaissance tunes, folk tunes, African and Latin American tunes.
Playing Together Day, Every Child a Musician project, Newham. Workshops on improvising and playing together, leading to performances of new music, with significant creative involvement from the young people taking part. The finale of this concert was a version of 'I am the music man' called 'We are the Music Makers', sung by over 100 Newham children, with each instrument group playing its own section to demonstrate the sound of the instruments.
Hackney Community Orchestra - a mixed ensemble of adults, meeting weekly in Hackney. Open to all players of any instrument, there is no audition process. Repertoire includes classical, jazz, folk and music from a range of different cultural traditions. For further information, please contact https://www.hackneycommunityorchestra.co.uk/