Brought to you by Music for Youth
Whether or not you had the opportunity to attend Singposium at the Music for Youth National Festival 2010, this online archive provides an overview of the highlights of the event, along with extra resources to download and use in your own time.
Return over the following weeks as more content is added to the site.
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I was born in 1956 in the village near Barnsley where I still live; I wanted to be a writer all the way through my schooldays, but I wasn't sure how to go about it. All the books I got out of the library were written by people who lived in Surrey, not the Yorkshire Coalfield.
So as a teenager I wrote all the time without ever working out how to make a living from it; at the same time I discovered a love of standing up (or sitting down: I was drummer in Barnsley's first folk-rock band Oscar The Frog) in public. After Oscar the Frog, me and my mate Martyn Wiley formed Jaws, Barnsley's first folk/poetry duo.
When I left North Staffordshire Polytechnic in 1978 with a degree in Modern Studies I knew that I wanted to be a writer and performer, but I still wasn't quite sure how. I worked on a building site and in a tennis-ball factory. I went freelance in 1981 with the aid of a little grant from Yorkshire Arts and I've not looked back since.
I worked for years with The Circus of Poets performance poetry group and Versewagon, the World's first mobile writing workshop. Later, I worked with Martyn Wiley as Yakety Yak, entertaining audiences all over the place.
Now I'm a solo performer and writer: I've worked in schools, theatres, arts centres, fields and front rooms. I've been poet in residence at Barnsley Football Club, Northern Spirit Trains and Humberside Police. I've written comedy for radio and plays for the stage, and I've worked extensively for Radios 1,2,3,4 and Five Live as well as for Yorkshire Television and BBC2's Newsnight Review.
I'm currently presenting The Verb, Radio 3's Cabaret of The Word, doing gigs all over the place on my own and with cartoonist Tony Husband and musician Luke Goss and writing weekly columns for The Yorkshire Post and The Barnsley Chronicle. It's a busy life but I love it: it's a long way from Oscar The Frog, but maybe it isn't.
Founded in 1993 by Susan Digby (Lady Eatwell) OBE, The Voices Foundation aims to transform the lives of every primary school child by developing their musicianship skills and thereby their self-esteem, socialisation and emotional intelligence. Since its inception, the charity has reached nearly 300,000 children and trained more than 9,000 teachers nationwide.
At the heart of its work is a dynamic year-long in-school programme, designed to train every primary class teacher in its aural/vocal approach, giving them the confidence to teach music at the same level as other subjects. Its remit has recently extended to include Early Years, working with practitioners in children's centres and nurseries.
Most of the schools and children's centres currently involved in the charity's projects are low in the league tables, socially challenged, large ethnically-mixed or small poor rural schools selected by Local Authorities for their challenging circumstances.
The Voices Foundation also runs a range of short courses for teachers, music co-ordinators, music teachers and those who support teachers.
Get to know your instrument - your voice - and learn how to use it better. It is incumbent upon everyone who works vocally with young singers to have a basic understanding of vocal function.
Here are some points for all choral leaders to think about:
Singing, and indeed all music making is a highly disciplined activity; it is important to have fun, but you should work them hard, and don't let them get away with anything other than their best. "Sing for Pleasure; sing better for greater pleasure!
The English Folk Dance and Song Society exists to raise the national and international profile of the folk arts in England. It is the custodian of our heritage, protecting and developing our rich and diverse traditions and ever-evolving culture. For nearly a century the English Folk Dance and Song Society has been preserving and disseminating our folk heritage.
The Society works to promote the best of the folk arts in a range of mediums including dance, music, song, film, exhibitions, publications and our library collections; engage new generations with the folk arts through workshops, classes and study, and to ensure that the folk arts are a fundamental part of the cultural life of the UK.
David Lawrence is one of the UK's most versatile choral conductors whose posts currently include those of Associate Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus, Choir Leader of the CBSO Young Voices, and Associate Conductor of Quay Voices, The Sage Gateshead's Regional Youth Choir. He is a regular guest chorusmaster of the Netherlands Radio Choir.
David has particular experience in the field of contemporary music, having worked closely with Stockhausen to conduct the German première of Engelprozessionen, and with John Adams towards the Dutch première of A Flowering Tree, as well as preparing and conducting premiere performances by Per Nørgård, Pierre Boulez, Iannis Xenakis, Mauricio Kagel, Graham Fitkin, James Wood, Bob Chilcott, and others.
He has recently worked with the London Philharmonic Choir, the Philharmonia Chorus, and the Hallé Choir, and outside the UK his work has taken him to India, Canada, South America, the USA, throughout Europe, and on regular visits to North Queensland, Australia. He continues to work for the UK's leading choral organisations, is a popular leader of choral workshops, and is a well-known trainer of choral conductors. Recently David was invited as the guest teacher at the Sixth Masterclass of Choral Singing and Conducting in the Ricote Valley, Spain, and in February he spent a week training conductors for the Ministry of Education in Singapore. He also teaches regularly alongside Ghislaine Morgan at the Sintra International Singing and Choral Conductors Course in Portugal.
David has adjudicated at international choral festivals as well as for the BBC Choir of the Year and Young Musician of the Year competitions, and regularly conducts for BBC Television's 'Songs of Praise' programme. He is featured in an hour's documentary filmed for the BBC, conducting Tallis' 40 part motet Spem in Alium sung by over 700 people – almost certainly the largest choir to ever perform this work. David is well known in the UK for his work in education.
As Principal Conductor of Young Voices David directs massed voices in an annual series of concerts with some choirs incorporating over 8,000 singers, and he consequently holds the Guinness World Record for conducting the UK's largest choir. As their Choral Advisor David continues to work with sinfonia ViVA as a project leader and conductor, and recently conducted large scale education projects with the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. In 2011 his projects include a six week tour of Australia.
Stuart has a dual career as a freelance Musical Director & Singing Coach working in the West End, TV and in education. He is President of the British Voice Association (09-10).
He studied at the Purcell School of Music for 8 years, before going to Cambridge University with a Choral Scholarship, followed by two years as a conductor and singer at the Royal College of Music.
As a singing coach, he runs a busy private teaching studio and coaches at the Royal Academy of Music and taught at the Actors' Centre for 10 years. He has worked extensively for the BBC, with programmes such as R2's Voice of Musical Theatre Competition and BBC Talent's Be A Musical Theatre Performer competition, and the children's TV opera The Little Prince. He adjudicates and mentors for the BBC Performing Arts Fund's Musical Theatre Bursaries, which gives £150k in funding annually to musical theatre students, and is National Selection Judge again this year for Choir of the Year.
He has musically-directed, assisted, supervised and/or orchestrated over 20 shows in the West End and internationally, including productions of Blood Brothers, Rent, The Rat Pack, Passion, Jesus Christ Superstar, La Cava, On A Clear Day You Can See Forever and Zipp! 100 Musicals in 100 minutes. His work as a concert conductor spans a similarly diverse field, including bringing the music of Broadway to the Ekaterinburg Philharmonic in Russia, and bringing Symphonic Abba to Sweden amongst much else.
His musical direction also includes Dame Shirley Bassey's autumn '09 TV performances on The Graham Norton Show, Paul O'Grady Show and Strictly Come Dancing, and also conducting at Carnegie Hall for her performance at the Rainforest Foundation Gala. He is also MD for the veteran classic actor John Standing's Nöel Coward cabaret, which ran at the National Theatre and the Carlyle Cafe, New York. Other recent projects include Artistic and Musical Director for London's St George's Day Celebrations in Trafalgar Square, celebrating London's great heritage of Music Hall.
As current President of the British Voice Association, he heads an organisation dedicated to furthering knowledge of vocal health and research, and that brings together the country's top singing teachers, speech therapists and larynx surgeons. Stuart regularly writes and presents on vocal health, notably for Sing Up.
As well as his work within the profession, he produced the pioneering educational project Sing For Freedom, which brought together 130 children from 4 schools, Voce Chamber Choir, Queens' College Cambridge Choir and a gospel choir to celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade.
Other community work includes being a Governor at the inner-city Wyvil Primary School. He was recently elected an Honorary Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (HonARAM).
Although this session was predominantly practical, we also looked at some of the social and cultural issues that have a direct bearing on boys' willingness to sing. We considered approaches that have proved effective in encouraging boys' participation and focus particularly on styles of teaching and leading.
Much depends on the general ethos of the school or youth centre in which the leader is working. We looked at some common situations and ways we can bring about change.
The changing voice was considered. Are there any discernible patterns in the ways that boys' voices change? Are there 'stages' of change and what can we do practically to adapt to these? How do we accommodate the widely varying and constantly changing vocal needs of the boys we teach? Are boys more likely to sing without girls there?
Repertoire was looked at and sung. What should we consider when looking for songs that are both appealing to boys and performable? How can we sustain their interest in a broad range of singing in a world of MC's and rapping?
It is important to adopt a workshop style of leading that will encourage a sense of discovery and an interest in the extraordinary expressive range of the human voice.
My journey as a professional singer has been somewhat unconventional. I studied classical vocal technique with Josephine Veasey and Janice Chapman but was drawn towards more contemporary repertoire after encountering the music theatre work of Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler at University where I also sang in the chapel choir. This interest in combining music with other visual art forms, particularly theatre and dance, led me to working with such companies as DV8 Physical Theatre, Lumiere & Son and IOU Theatre, all of whom commission new music.
Since then, I have worked more or less exclusively in contemporary music and have been lucky enough to have pieces written for me by several leading composers including Jocelyn Pook, Gavin Bryars, Orlando Gough and Dario Marianelli.
When I joined The Shout 11 years ago I was just about to become a mother for the first time. It was perfect timing as the endless sleepless nights were contributing significantly to the pressures of being a solo performer. I was able to carry on my professional singing career with what promised to be an interesting group of singers and two composers, Orlando Gough and Richard Chew whom I already knew and respected enormously. I don't think any of us could have predicted that 11 years later, The Shout would still be going with most of the original members and have such an incredible body of work under its belt! The group comprises 16 soloists – singers from many different vocal backgrounds such as jazz, opera, early music, contemporary music, gospel and Indian Classical singing.
Apart from the music of Orlando and Richard, we also sing work composed by various members of the choir including Jeremy Avis and Michael Henry and as many pieces incorporate a lot of improvisation we are all to an extent contributors as well as performers. The music is mostly tonal, very rhythmic and makes wonderful use of all the different vocal colours and musical genres available within the group. We memorise all our music and perform without a conductor often in spacially challenging situations such as galleries, towers, car parks; frequently outdoors.
Some 'Shouters' are fluent readers and some, initially at least, were much less experienced. To combat this we are all given what we call a SLD (Shout Learning Device!) with individual parts highlighted for those who require it; consequently there is relatively little 'note bashing' during rehearsals. Orlando Gough directs the choir in rehearsals but because of the amount of improvised material, all the choir members have a great deal of input which makes for a lively atmosphere and one where we feel happy to experiment.
The Shout has produced several fully staged devised pieces (often incorporating several amateur choirs) and worked with such directors as Rufus Norris and Emma Bernard. Orlando Gough is very interested in creating dramatic situations involving the heightened use of the voice such as an argument between groups of women as in 'He Said, She Said' or a community divided by war shouting information, including messages of love to each other, across a wide open space as in 'The Shouting Fence'. Then there is the exquisitely beautiful 'Love Song' for two sopranos, a setting of two verses from the Song of Solomon, sung simultaneously in Hebrew and Arabic and many more. Please visit The Shout website (www.theshout.org.uk) and my own website (www.melaniepappenheim.com) for further information. Other artists who combine vocal music with visual work that interest me include: Meredith Monk, the Dutch composer/filmmaker Michel Van der Aa , the Estonian composer Veljo Tormis (www.veljotormis.com) and British composers Jocelyn Pook, Helen Chadwick and Jeremy Peyton Jones.
Singing engages the whole body, ignites the soul and transforms individuals into communities. Ex Cathedra's Education programme is highly sought-after nationwide and beyond, and comprises innovative projects from first-access to nurturing the gifted and talented, for children, young people, and adults of all backgrounds and capabilities.
Our mission is twofold: to enable children, young people and adults to discover themselves as singers whilst offering opportunities for development of vocal skills, musicianship, and personal and social skills; and to provide opportunities for singers to develop and work to their full potential.
This academic year, Ex Cathedra is delivering and disseminating its acclaimed 'Singing Playgrounds' project as part of Sing Up's flagship work in conjunction with Birmingham and Hertfordshire music services, and its 'Singing Medicine' project to Birmingham Children's Hospital and Oxford Children's Hospital (part of the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals trust), in partnership with Oxford University.
Children who discover a love and aptitude for singing, often via these first-access projects in schools and communities, have the opportunity to develop their skills further by joining one of our training choirs: the Academy of Vocal Music, for male and female singers aged 16 upwards; or the Junior Academy, for boys and girls aged 7 to 16 years. These youth choirs work on a project basis and produce high quality performances. Members of both the Academy and the Junior Academy are taking part in tonight's concert.
The act of singing is an exploration into the world of creative possibility - to a sound-world seemingly without limits. It is also an exploration into the self, an act of baring the soul and of sharing hopes and fears; it presents a new set of challenges to young people which is critical to their personal emotional development. In a choir, strong bonds of friendship are formed as singers share these experiences together. Such experiences are key to the education of all our young people as they learn to be open-minded, free from prejudice and open to the inspirational possibilities of sharing and friendship.
At the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain (NYCGB) the belief and trust in the individual, together with the development of teamwork and leadership are all part of the philosophy which underpins the musical excellence of the organisation. The young people who are successful at audition embark upon an educational experience far wider than they could ever imagine.
Founded in 1983, NYCGB has grown to become one of the most highly regarded and inspirational youth music organisations in the world. Originally set up as a single Choir made up of 100 of the best young singers in the nation, NYCGB now comprises an educational structure which includes four Junior Choirs (NYJC), two Training Choirs (NYTC), the National Youth Choir (NYC) itself and the graduate Chamber Choir Laudibus.
This year alone almost 800 talented young people, between the ages of 8 and 23, will benefit from the NYCGB experience by taking part in a programme of Residential Courses and Concerts. These Courses include intensive rehearsals, both full and sectional, individual voice coaching and lessons in musicianship, all of which take place in an environment which develops both teamwork and leadership. Alongside these activities is a programme of tuition for student conductors and composers and vocal workshops led by guest specialists who are brought in to augment the work done by staff members who are all selected for their expertise in the field of choral training. Since the first Concert back in 1983, thousands of talented singers have been trained and inspired by NYCGB and many thousands more have been moved by powerful performances given by these young musicians.
The work of NYCGB is vital in helping to nurture the exceptional young musical talent which exists in this country and has been the launch pad for many of our greatest singers. By continuously feeding many of the most outstanding professional choirs, opera houses and schools in the country, NYCGB has established itself as a foundation for the musical framework of Britain.
A&C Black publish innovative, high quality books and software for music teachers where no music reading is required, such as Singing Express and the award winning Music Express to classroom and assembly resources, songbooks, musicals and instrumental resources.
The Music Sales Group publish practical editions of choral masterpieces alongside music by the most exciting and individual composers of today.
Rayburn Tours organises tailor-made Choir Tours for choirs of all ages, standards and styles. As specialists of group travel for over 30 years, why not let us take your choir on superb performance tour abroad or in the UK, performing at magnificent venues whilst experiencing different cultures.
Formed in 1994, Alfred UK initially operated from small premises near Birmingham working with local dealers and teachers to develop sales and marketing platforms for the promotion of Alfred products throughout the UK.
The choral and schools' music catalogue now not only includes standards from the Lawson Gould and Kalmus series but now has popular titles from the stage, screen and charts! Including titles from the hit TV show 'Glee'.
The National Association of Music Educators (NAME) is the professional body representing all involved in music education. Its members include class and instrumental teachers, heads of music services, advisers, inspectors, higher education lecturers, independent consultants and administrators. Corporate members include publishers, retailers and software providers.
Schott Music and Boosey & Hawkes publish an exciting array of new educational titles from two of the world's greatest names in educational music publishing:
Faber Music is one of the UK's leading choral and educational publishers, with a growing catalogue of quality repertoire for choirs and singing groups of all types, from professional level to classroom singing.
Out of the Ark write songs that children love to sing, and that music specialists and non-specialists love to teach! Their songbooks are being used in over 16,000 primary schools and early years settings in the UK. They believe their songs are enriching children's experience and learning through music
Vocalzone is a medicated lozenge endorsed by singers and voice professionals the world over as an effective remedy to help keep a clear voice. The unique recipe which includes Myrrh, Menthol and Peppermint Oil is based on a throat specific tonic developed in the early 1900's for the Opera singer Enrico Caruso (the first man to sell 1,000,000 records).
Lindsay Music has been around since 1972, primarily publishing the music of Douglas Coombes, although today, a number of other composers are also represented.
Oxford University Press is one of the largest and longest-established music publishers in the world, renowned for the outstanding quality of its publishing and the breadth of its catalogue.
Youth Music Voices is a major new project providing 14-19 year olds with the opportunity to join in and celebrate the Olympic and Paralympic Games through singing. By joining Youth Music's national singing team, young singers can be part of London 2012 without having to be a sporting great.
