Hello to all our readers, and here is our R&P from the 4th February. It’s been a very busy and exciting week for the three of us and we have hardly had a chance to stop and write about all that’s been going on, so apologies that this is reaching you a little later than planned.
First up on the week’s agenda it’s time to diarise, as we can officially confirm our next performance date, Friday 1st March at the Saatchi Gallery. We will be performing new works by the young composers of The Purcell School, who are writing pieces for MOC, inspired by the work on display in the current exhibition at the Saatchi ‘Breaking the Ice: Moscow Art 1960’s-1980’s’. On Monday we travelled up to Purcell to have our second brainstorming session with the composers, following on from our visit to the gallery last week. We are encouraging the composers to think of creating ‘performance art’ as opposed to simply a piece for flute, oboe and bassoon, to be performed in traditional format - seated behind music stands. Thus, we have asked them to think about the extra elements of choreography, staging, costume, lighting etc, and to consider including some freer sections which could have an improvisatory element, where we can leave our stands, and the constraints they bring.
The ideas the composers have come up with so far are really exciting, including the use of neon lights and fake blood, and putting us in prison! They are also thinking about how the musicians will reflect the medium used, stamping on the wooden floor to reflect the tempura on cardboard used by Valery Koshlkyakov inGrand Opera, Paris 1995, and walking independently around the space, joined by the music yet also free to move note at random, depicting the mood created by Yelena Popova’s Untitled 2011 (mixed media on linen).
First up on the week’s agenda it’s time to diarise, as we can officially confirm our next performance date, Friday 1st March at the Saatchi Gallery. We will be performing new works by the young composers of The Purcell School, who are writing pieces for MOC, inspired by the work on display in the current exhibition at the Saatchi ‘Breaking the Ice: Moscow Art 1960’s-1980’s’. On Monday we travelled up to Purcell to have our second brainstorming session with the composers, following on from our visit to the gallery last week. We are encouraging the composers to think of creating ‘performance art’ as opposed to simply a piece for flute, oboe and bassoon, to be performed in traditional format - seated behind music stands. Thus, we have asked them to think about the extra elements of choreography, staging, costume, lighting etc, and to consider including some freer sections which could have an improvisatory element, where we can leave our stands, and the constraints they bring.
The ideas the composers have come up with so far are really exciting, including the use of neon lights and fake blood, and putting us in prison! They are also thinking about how the musicians will reflect the medium used, stamping on the wooden floor to reflect the tempura on cardboard used by Valery Koshlkyakov inGrand Opera, Paris 1995, and walking independently around the space, joined by the music yet also free to move note at random, depicting the mood created by Yelena Popova’s Untitled 2011 (mixed media on linen).
Valery Koshlkyakov inGrand Opera, Paris 1995
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Yelena Popova’s Untitled 2011 (mixed media on linen)
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Monday was a busy day for us, as in the morning we headed up to north London to run three workshops at Oakleigh Special School with the Live Music Now scheme. Before Christmas we gave a series of workshops to the junior school, based around the theme of landscapes, and this second visit we were working with the older children and our topic was animals in the jungle. It is incredibly rewarding to share and make music with children who have SLD (severe learning difficulties) and PMLD (profound and multiple learning difficulties), as their reactions are so spontaneous and uninhibited. Our workshops in this setting are improvisatory at the core, and we also incorporate any themed songs that the children are familiar with, as repetition is an important aspect in their development. Two effective ways to connect with the children utilise their one-on-one helpers, who know the children so well, one being to tap along to the pulse of our music on the child’s body, the other to shake percussive instruments close to them, allowing the child to feel the texture of the instrument. We also go right up to the children with our instruments so that they make a visual connection to the sound heard, and to allow them to feel the vibrations of the sound waves.
On the previous Saturday we had another rehearsal for our upcoming performance in collaboration with Emma Miller, and the piece is starting to take shape. It’s great to be composing again, and exploring the capabilities of our instruments. We were buzzing after the rehearsal, and headed down to the venue for the upcoming performance, The Macbeth http://www.themacbeth.co.uk. Nestled in the heart of Hoxton, The Macbeth is an old pub come music venue with a great deal of character and charm. Over the years it has hosted, among others, Florence and the Machine, Gallows, Annie Mac, Pete Doherty, Toddla T, Gang Of Four, Roots Manuva, Fucked Up, IS TROPICAL, Drums Of Death, Saves The Day, Rolo Tomassi, Dan le Sac and Scrubious PiP, The XX, The Count & Sinden, Fake Blood and Franz Ferdinand. Now that we’ve seen the venue, we can think about appropriate staging, and other exciting elements the space inspires.
That’s all for now, so follow us next week to find out how our next meetings with Niamh, Emma and the Purcell composers go, plus, the three of us get creative with candle sticks, and reveal our Martian melodies!
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