Monday 9th May 2011
If you’ve been reading this blog from the start you’ll know by now that Mondays start with our staff meeting, all was good and no-one got injured! Hooray! In fact Monday included a double dose of meetings as Jo Freya; project director of Komposit, came to the office to brief us on the next day’s activities in helping to publicise the Komposit project. During this meeting we were given a background on Komposit and had the chance to ask Jo any questions we had pertaining to it.
Monday afternoon was a quiet one, as Pete was at Welbourne Primary showing Tim Walker’s guitar tuition. Back at the office Liam and I spent some time researching junk-percussion in its various forms, from ensembles to solo performers. After watching various videos on Youtube we came to the joint conclusion that simplicity is the key and that getting mileage out of basic pieces of equipment is the way forward. As well as junk percussion we also researched various instruments we could use in our workshops, again, opting for simplicity taking favour with hand bells and Boomwhackers; very basic instruments with both percussive and tonal qualities.
Tuesday 10th May 2011
All hands on deck!
A day that had been anticipated for the past couple of weeks, this particular Tuesday was a long, busy and important one for us here at FBT. The ‘Composer Platforms’ is a new initiative by Komposit and aims to showcase the composers that have been part of Komposit and their work independently post-Komposit. This particular event showcased Dr Charles Tebbs, a fantastic pianist and composer at the Derby Assembly Rooms lobby area prior and after the performance in the “Great Hall” by the world renowned ‘Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra’.
Being a high profile event the night proved to be a fantastic opportunity not only to showcase Dr Tebbs’ work, but also to promote and publicise the work of FBT and Komposit. Our work in promoting the trust involved us handing out leaflets on Komposit and talking to the general public about the work that the trust does, an experience that at first was quite uncomfortable for us, working out the best way in which to approach people. After a half an hour of leafleting and promoting we went into the hall to watch the Bolshoi’s performance, which was in short inspiring and brand new experience for Pete and I, it’s both damning and inspiring to witness musicianship of such high calibre…but more of the latter! Better get working on my French-grip then!
After the performance there was another set from Dr Tebbs, the audience definitely more a captive one, we stood one hand to answer any questions that the public had about Komposit and the trust although most people talked to us and taken leaflets during the first session. The entire day was great day, not only for the promotional work we got done, but for bonding as a team. Pete, Robin, Ross, Kayleigh and myself travelled down together to Derby (courtesy of Kayleigh) and had some great banter on the journeys to and from and in Derby itself. Working together on one task was a great experience too, given that we’re all from different backgrounds; music, graphic design and even paleobiology…it was a task that didn’t pertain particularly to any one of our specialist areas.
Conclusion? A job well done!
Wednesday 11th May 2011
Today we had our usual practical tomfoolery at Liam’s house, we started off by reflecting on last week’s experiences in Binbrook and the previous night’s work in Derby, as an added special Liam had a surprise celebrity guest for us in the form of U.S. folk artists Jeff Warner. Jeff shared with us his experience and values in making music with traditional instruments and impressed upon the importance of making sure that it’s kept simple and that everyone can get involved in the music making process.
The evening took us to Binbrook, as has been the case for the past few weeks. Tonight’s session was a short one lead by Firebird musician; Gary Hammond and gave us the opportunity to observe his approach to working with younger people. Based around percussion instruments; Conga, Djembe, Cajon, etc. Gary used words and phrases to teach the participants basic rhythms on the instruments, a method that we have looked at before and would like to include into our own workshops. Observing Gary’s workshop also taught us a lot about instructing and directing workshop participants and the importance of setting out clear signals for starting and stopping the group playing, something that thus far we’ve been less than successful at. After the workshop was finished we joined Gary outside and talked about our observations of the way he works, what we can take away from it and gained Gary’s own insights into work-shopping and how best to handle different situations. As usual a valuable learning experience.
The Firebird Trust
The Stables, Wellingore Hall
Wellingore
Lincoln
England
LN5 0HX
The Stables, Wellingore Hall
Wellingore
Lincoln
England
LN5 0HX
01522 811229
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