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Orchestral Manoeuvres
One of the delights of being involved in the community opera at Blackheath Halls is working with the Blackheath Halls Community Orchestra. We don’t get to hear what they are up to until the sitz probe, when we run through the entire opera and work out the corners. This is one of my favourite sessions,…
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Who are all these people?
We are a reading household (there’s a surprise) and an oft-quoted exclamation, when one of us, uninvited, reads an extract from the current book to the other is ‘Who are all these people?’ I think it’s from a Peter Nichols play but I could be wrong – we are also very poor on attribution. So…
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It’s about to get loud…
If you’ve been thinking I’ve been a bit quiet lately it’s because I’ve been so busy. One of the things I’ve been busy with is the Blackheath Halls Community Opera. We are doing Idomeneo [Mozart] this year and it is tremendously singable – lush baroque music to make you weep with joy at the cleverness…
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Pretending poetry, songs of liberty and Ursula le Guin
The thing about running your own business is that holidays become almost entirely theoretical. It’s a holiday to leave the computer for long enough to hang out the washing on a sunny day, it’s a holiday to take the long way to the post office, it’s a holiday to read something that isn’t for work,…
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Blackheath Brundibar
Brundibar, the children’s opera by Hans Krása, was performed many times by children in Theresienstadt concentration camp, and the music is very much of the time, wandering from tango to ragtime with overtones of Kurt Weil. This rather sombre historical note is echoed in the pre-show performance by Trinity Laban’s Colab singers, with songs actually…
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readings this week
Busy week again, singing Monday (Vocal Chords mid-project ‘stop-over’ concert) and Sunday (rehearsing Brundibar at Blackheath – more on this later), teaching Tuesday, reading Saturday. So the readings are: Saturday: Arachne Press event at Keats House – readings from The Other Side of Sleep, and discussion of Narrative Poetry. I’m not reading personally apart form…
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Celebrate 800 years of Magna Carta in song
Join Lester Simpson of Coope Boyes & Simpson in celebrating 800 years of Magna Carta with Songs of Liberty A Folk Song Workshop St Hilda’s Church Hall Courtrai Road London SE23 1NL Saturday 18th April 2015 12:45- 5:15 £25 Tickets available here advance booking essential
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Tall ships and icecream floats
It’s been a manic few days, getting the review copies of The Other Side of Sleep out, sorting fliers for the exhibition, hounding people as nicely as I can to support the crowd funding for Solstice shorts. taking the cat the vet, rehearsing the songs Vocal Chords are singing at The Tall Ships Festival in…
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Folk. Always
I have been singing folk carols for something like 6 hours today, because Vocal Chords, my regular (as opposed to occasional forays elsewhere) choir, are doing a recording. Carols in August, why not? I love folk music. It’s something to do with the ability to tell a story, and not be afraid of really going…
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Last Blackheath performance of Count Ory this afternoon
It is the last performance! After Friday’s sold out but sweltering performance, it is cooler this afternoon, and I can consider the wearing of my (quilted!) tail coat fairly calmly. I hope the sweat in the wimples has dried … There’s a nice enthusiastic review on Classical Source. Lena Kern (official photographer) has been having…
Cherry Potts, Writer 