In Training at Cumberland School

This morning five of our musicians were at Cumberland School with the GCSE Dance group, working with them to create their own anthem. There were five NLO musicians working with the class, and so we were able to break off into groups and discuss the class's thoughts on being a team and what words and feelings they associated with dance. Then when we'd brainstormed and put all the words down on the board, Baden (our performance poet working on this project) asked the class to give us a demonstration of their dancing skills. The musicians created the backing music and so began the dance off! Whilst the team seemed reluctant to show us their stuff, Aga seemed the most excited by the music - check out the video of his moves! I left the team at the break, but have been sent the final anthem... you'll have to come along on the 9th June to the Rex to check out the final piece.
Go to www.nlo.co.uk to get your tickets.

Selwyn School - Deaf project

I've just got back from Selwyn School in Newham where we had our last session today with the deaf group.

We've been working with the deaf children at Selwyn for the last couple of years and over that time have introduced them to a whole host of instruments including the harp, bassoon, tuba and today the electric guitar. Our musicians show the children how their instruments work, how the sound is made and then join in with the second part of the session where everyone plays together using percussion and their own bodies to create rhythms.

Orphy, who wasn't in today (he's at Hackney Empire rehearsing for a show, our musicians get everywhere!) has been leading the sessions. Over the last 8 weeks he's got the group thinking about visual scores which can show long and short, loud and quiet sounds, as well as indicating when to play different instruments, or use parts of the body to make noises. From seeing the first and the last sessions, I can see how much the children have all picked up the concept and can now play quite long and complex visual scores, stopping and starting together, which they devise themselves using colours and lines to indicate changes.

As I mentioned, today was the last session, which is a shame as the children are a really great group to work with, always interested and keen to ask questions. They even give everyone sign names, mine is me miming playing the viola, as that's what I do in my spare time! We really hope to be back, funding dependent, as Selwyn are going to be seeing a lot more of NLO players in 2009/10 as we take up residency there, providing the whole school with music as part of the curriculum as well is after school activities.

Thanks to Max who joined us for the first time today and who we hope to involve in our projects in the future. All the children got a go on Max's guitar today, check out the photos!

The Carnival at the Circus

Last night saw the New London Orchestra present it's second concert in Newham at the Stratford Circus. The programme featured lots of English dance music including Grainger's Shepherd's Hey and Holst's arrangements of Morris Dance tunes including English Country Gardens. Of course the highlight of the evening was The Carnival of the Animals with the wonderful Murray Melvin reading the poems by Ogden Nash, which went down a storm. Also playing both in the Carnival and also in a fantastic performance of Ravel's La Valse were two students from Trinity College of Music, Matthew McCombie and Yoon-Seok Shin. These guys are incredible, so many notes I could barely keep up, and I was page turning for Yoon which was pretty nerve wracking!

This concert was in a new venue for us, as we explore different options in Stratford to find somewhere that feels right and creates the accessible and friendly atmosphere we want at New London Orchestra concerts. Stratford Circus was a real winner last night. We were getting all the right feedback, including things like "I felt like I could reach out and touch the orchestra" and "really informal" and "so glad it was brought local to our borough." Gary and his staff were absolute stars and really accommodating as this was a first for them having an orchestra come in, so big thanks to everyone at Stratford Circus.

Hugely successful and firmly in our plans for a come back, was the text poll for the audience to choose the encore for the night's concert. After hearing the Carnival of the Animals we offered the choice of three of the most popular as well as a mystery piece. Winning by far though was the Fossils, and once we'd found our pianists (!) we performed it as an encore. However the secret Ron let the audience in on was that the piece that we'd selected as the 'Mystery' option (one of Ron's arrangement of a Purcell piece called Lilliburlero) we couldn't have played, as I had brought the wrong music!!

Ron reminded the audience about our website and this blog, so if you're reading this and you were at the concert, make sure you post a comment to tell us what you thought of the night.

In Training Remix Competition

The first entry has been submitted in the Newham Welcomes The World: In Training 2009 remix competition!

Listen to it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFzgpD9zh0U&feature=response_watch

It's totally different to what I was expecting, but seeing all the different ways people interpret music and the interesting ideas people have is one of the most brilliant things about running a competition like this!

Enjoy, and looking forward to many more!

In Training - The Remix Competition is here!

I am so excited - the In Training remix competition went live on our website today!

Following the lead of DJ Excalibah, who remixed an NLO recording for Newham's Ascension Eagles Cheerleaders to perform to at the In Training event, you can now go to www.nlo.co.uk/intraining2009 and download for free an excerpt of Mozart's Symphony 41 (one of the pieces we will be playing at the In Training concert).

You can then do whatever you like to it; remix it into a piece of any style and post it as a response to our video on our YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzgXa1zUXRQ

I'm really excited to see what people will do with it...the winning entry will be played at the concert on June 9 so make sure you're there!

Step into 'our world'

http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/thework/news/897977/BBC-Radio-3-step-world-Red-Bee-Media/

I was watching the TV this morning as I was getting ready to go to a meeting at Stratford Circus (the venue for our forthcoming Carnival of the Animals concert on 14th May) and saw this advert come up after my usual daily dose of BBC Breakfast. I couldn't have been more horrified.

"Step into our world" says the narrator, advertising Radio 3's Handel Week as two women step in and out of a circle which plays classical music to them from a hidden speaker (click on the link above to see it yourself). 'Our world'?! What does that mean?! I don't think I could think of a more divisive, patronising slogan if I tried. What happened to trying to engage audiences at an open level? Surely in order to broaden our audience we need to be creating an image of classical music which expresses the inclusive experience it offers and letting people know it's something that everyone can enjoy. I can't imagine this advert will endear anybody to log on and listen to Radio 3. 'Step into our world' just goes to highlight the already evident opinion that exists that people who listen to classical music are from a different 'world'. The comment from BumberClott on the link I've supplied here speaks volumes about how this advert will be perceived - "Oh no, radio 3, don't get me started... snobby music and toffee-nosed presenters make me vomit."

I'm sorry Radio 3, I listen to you most days of the week, but this advert has really got my blood boiling.

Dumbing down...hmmm...

As I sat on the tube home on Thursday evening, flicking through one of the free evening papers, I came across the small column that invites readers to email in responses to the question of the day. The question of that day was 'Should Goldie be at the Proms?'

Two respondents replied positively, but one replied vehemently in the negative. Her argument (in as much as she could make one in the bite sized emails that are printed) was that drum and bass has no place at the proms and that it was 'dumbing down'.

As I understood the situation, Goldie's composition is in fact a non-drum-and-bass orchestral piece and so there won't be any drum and bass at the proms at all, whether out of place or otherwise (maybe there should be - another discussion for another time and something we may come back to quite soon in fact in relation to our forthcoming concerts). In any event, need the two be mutually exclusive? One of the many things that Goldie is noted for is his use of strings and influence of symphonic textures and structures; that he cites Górecki as the composer that got him into classical music is not entirely surprising when you listen to tracks like Timeless, Mother etc. Given that the work in question is not D&B I can only assume this respondent wrote 'drum and bass has no place at the proms' but in fact meant 'drum and bass musicians have no place at the proms'.

Surely it is possible for musicians to work in more than one genre? Surely musicians, and in fact anyone, can enjoy more than one genre ? (I know I do). The implication here seems to be that because Goldie has had a career in D&B we are free to make assumptions about the quality of his work and his ability to write in different styles - I haven't heard the piece yet so I wouldn't write it off purely on the basis that it is written by someone who comes from a different musical background.

The more worrying element is the need to associate certain types of music with certain societal groupings. We're all aware of the stereotypes. They do still exist (see Tom Service's article that we discussed here recently) and they seem to be being perpetuated. However, I work for an orchestra while my friend DJs on a hip-hop radio station. When people see us in the street together they don't stop and stare at what an odd couple we make (maybe because we actually look, dress & speak relatively similarly). But then our musical backgrounds are almost identical, from playing in the same youth orchestras to going to the same club nights.

We spend quite some time here asking 'how can we get audiences to classical concerts and engage people in classical music?'. We'll have a tough job when 'outsiders' are continually being pushed away and rejected. In Goldie's own words ''Drum and bass has always been a misunderstood genre. It has always put outsiders off. Unless you're a specialist, you think it's not for you. And classical is the same."

And what is dumbing down anyway? (that's not a rhetorical question - I would love to know people's different thoughts!) I'm not sure I actually have a set definition. I think I know it when I see it. Where is the line between making accessible and dumbing down?

Timeless is a 21 minute 3-part work. Mother is a 1 hour long work for 30 piece orchestra. It has had many accusations levelled at it: pretentious, self-indulgent, overly ambitious, pointless because nobody has that attention span...I don't think dumbing down is one of them though.

I've read at least one article that claims Mother could even be described as contemporary classical music (the veracity of which is another long discussion in itself). If that is true, then I wonder whether in some quarters there might be a further period-based-hierarchy within classical music.

To end on a positive note, I will look forward to hearing Goldie's new work and here's to the many things we are doing to try and break down some of the barriers mentioned!