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 Global Newsletter - Summer 2010
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Greetings!
Rosco Jones  |
Welcome to the Summer 2010 edition of
our newsletter! Our first full season of programmed live musical
events was launched in February - we are now in the process of programming our Summer Season of live musical events see below.
Staff changesWe have recruited Artistic Director, Project Manager
and Fundraiser who will be developing and expanding our artistic programmes
even further. According to the Charities Commission, more than half of
charities in England and Wales have been hit by the recession. We too at Music for Change are having
to introduce measures to protect our work and funding and will be
re-structuring our team over the next few weeks. In addition, Julie Larner, our Projects Development Manager,
will be leaving her part-time position with us to take up a full time post -
from all the staff and Trustees, thanks very much for all your help Julie! Global BandstandWe are currently fundraising to bring back the very
popular Global Bandstand free Summer Festival in 2010. As ever, we welcome sponsorship and
volunteering to help make this the success it has always been. Relocation Plans We can now announce that we will be moving into a
self-contained unit at The Chaucer Technology School, Spring Lane, Canterbury
in May - please watch this space for our official Open Day as well as Visioning
Days when we will be working with local community groups as part of the next
phase of organisational growth. We will also be running regular workshops and musical
events and musicians and community groups will be able to hire rehearsal and
practice rooms on an hourly basis. Music for Change is a registered charity and we are seeking help from
the community - financial or in kind through sponsorship or volunteering - to
help with the decoration and preparation of our new location. We are very
grateful to local organizations who have already donated some office equipment and
we would also welcome musical instruments as well as kitchen and catering
materials. Plans for Developing Local Musical TalentFinally, we will be launching our plans for developing
Kent-based musical talent - this will present opportunities for local fledgling
musicians to work with us and to gain exposure for their work. We welcome your input to this new programme and you
can telephone 01227 459243 or email Rosco@musisforchange.org
for further details. Have a happy Summer! Rosco
Jones - Director - Music
for Change |
Nick Williamson  | New
Artistic Director for Music for
Change
It is with pleasure
that I write a few lines as the brand new Artistic Director of Music for
Change. I look forward to getting
out and about and witnessing all the fabulous work created by and for our
community.
I have a long
background as a professional musician since growing up in Kent - working as a
piano player, musical director, and educator in many fields, from the West End
theatres of London to schools and other educational establishments at home and
abroad.
I look forward to
Music for Change continuing to offer high-quality art and educational and
inspirational opportunities, whilst developing new directions and striving to
reach an even greater number of people and communities. There will be new live performance
opportunities, our artist development program will shortly be up and running, and all manner of exciting
projects are currently being planned to thrill and engage locally and further
afield.
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Education
Chris Head  | In March we appointed Chris Head in the role of Education Project Manager, in which he will be overseeing Music For Change's ongoing projects and partnerships including, Sing Up, Music in Detention, Folkestone Forwards and Celebrating Sanctuary. In addition Chris will be developing work with new partners, driving further the educational potential of the organisation and our artists into schools, colleges and the wider community.
Chris's background lies in music broadcasting, educational project work and event management, producing and writing material for BBC Schools, GCSE Bitesize, Radio 1, The Learning Zone and The Open University, and co-ordinating live music events in southern England. Please do get in touch with him with
any education enquiries!
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Community
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'H' Patten at Snodland Library | Music for Change continues to thrill with community workshops
Article from The Kent Messenger
THE beat of drums reverberated through a library during an African Caribbean Music Workshop.
The community event was organised by Nicky Delacey, Beat Project community outreach co-ordinator for Snodland, in association with the town's library.
More than 40 people, some with learning difficulties, went along to the session where they were able to enjoy the music and try out a range of instruments brought along by workshop leader, "H" Patten, from Music for Change.
Ms Delacey said the aim of the workshop had been to bring the community together and she was delighted with the reaction she had received afterwards. She said: "I have had so many calls from people saying how brilliant it was and how much they enjoyed it. "I thought it was brilliant and it was lovely to see everybody enjoying themselves together and having fun."
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Projects
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Reel Lives Shanghai - New DVD Update
 As reported in the last newsletter, Reel Lives Shanghai,
the 3rd
in a series of educational DVDs is in production.
Thank you to all those
who responded to our Reel Lives feedback questionnaire.
The final edits are
being made to the DVD as we go to press...
Watch this space and the website for announcements
about the DVD publication date.
Go to web page for more details
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World Music Matters
 Global Learning through Music and Dance
Artist Development
The last Global Learning for Artists' course of Music for
Change's DfID-funded World Music Matters project took place in
February. A fantastically diverse group of talented artists signed up
for the course, bringing a vast range of experience, skills and talent
to the mix. The course was jointly facilitated by artists: Sujata
Banerjee, Téa Hodzic, Usifu Jalloh and Lucky Moyo who collaborate on
Music for Change's educational work, playwright and drama practitioner
Sara Clifford http://inroads.org.uk/,
and Helen Garforth http://www.just-ideas.co.uk/who brought a wealth of Development Education experience.
The aim of the course was to inspire and equip artists to
develop creative cross-curricular projects with a global dimension,
which support young people in understanding the world around them,
encourage critical thinking and spur action for positive change.
One participant Janna Eliot has already put some of the
course learning in to action, she writes:
"Just wanted to let you know that today we had our first
all-day workshop on Romani culture of 2010, and I incorporated many of
the ideas and tips learnt during the week I spent with you. It was
really successful and I thank you and all your team for the very useful
suggestions I was able to adapt. I really saw the difference in the
interest and enthusiasm of the pupils. And the teachers commented on
the child-centred approach. Thanks again, all best wishes, Janna"
 Joint Artist &
Teacher CPD
Sessions
Visiting professional artists from, or influenced by, art forms from
around the world, offer a rich and creative stimulus for learning with a
global perspective, but such visits require careful planning to ensure
they are embedded in the context of the learning and that negative
stereotypes are not inadvertently reinforced. Joint artist and teacher
professional development sessions are a really good way to explore the
contribution artists and the arts can make and are a valuable forum to
discuss any concerns or potential pitfalls. As part of the World
Music Matters project artists Sujata Banerjee and Alex D Great
delivered sessions in conjunction with TIDE~ (Teachers in Development
Education) Birmingham and at Canterbury Christ Church University to
explore these themes with teachers and trainee teachers. These sessions
were funded through the DfID World Music Matters project, which
unfortunately came to an end in March. Feedback from teachers suggests
that such INSET opportunities are valued, and we are keen to explore
ways of delivering more of these types of sessions in the future.
 
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Big and Small Music Makers
Tim Davey at Sturry Pre-School | Music for Change's Big and Small Music Makers project started in
early January 2010. It is funded by Canterbury Coastal and City &
Country Local Children's Services Partnerships (LCSPs).
The positive effect of music making in the early years is well
documented; music helps stimulate learning and development within young
children. Big and Small Music Makers gives children in local pre-schools
the opportunity to see and play instruments whilst partaking in live
music sessions. The aim is to engage children (aged 2-5) in informal
music-making activities by using musicians to lead and interact with
small groups of children.
 The project is being facilitated by five musicians who are spending 4
weeks each in four different pre-schools, giving them a chance to build
a rapport with the children. The pre-schools are City View in
Canterbury, The Firs in Chartham, Sturry Pre-School and Blean
Pre-School. The musicians are Tim Davy (tuba), Mike Wheeler (melodeon)
and Ruth Cronk (concertina), Livia Sevier (vocals/guitar) and Katy
Diamond-Jalloh (vocals/guitar/flute). The project is off to a great
start with staff, children and musicians thoroughly enjoying the
sessions. There will also be monthly 'open' sessions held in local
children's centres, giving parents the chance to attend and experience
the sessions with their children.
Some positive outcomes that pre-school staff have noted are; children gaining in confidence children learning and remembering new songs children with English as a second language have been able to
participate fully exposure to unusual instruments musical exercises that help co-ordination, confidence-building,
sharing, listening, self-expression and concentration.
The children have been exploring rhythm, tempo and pitch whilst
thoroughly enjoying the participatory sessions which encourage
appreciation of music, song and dance. There has been a lot of laugher
so far!
The project will finish in early July with a celebratory finale in
which all the schools and musicians will come together. |
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Pledge Project Update
Pupils in their traditional costume | In June we launch Pledge 2, continuing the
refugee-based work in eight Kent schools to develop understanding,
critical thinking and reflection about refugees, asylum seekers and
migrants. Each school is allocated an artist who, over four sessions,
will work together in creative learning techniques, music and visual and
performed arts toward making their pledge. The pledge is up to the
students to design and put into practice and can be small, such as a
change in the classroom, or something broader within their hometown. The
schools come together after these four sessions to showcase their
pledges to each other and to share their understanding of the key issues
intrinsic to the project.
The final stage is a reflection workshop, where each artist
revisits their participating school to allow the students to discuss the
impact of their creative work on themselves and the effectiveness of
their pledge on their communities. There will also be an evaluation of
the common understanding of the circumstances facing asylum seekers and
refugees.
The Pledge project is being run by Music for
Change in conjunction with Find Your Talent. The project sees Music for
Change artists Alex, Téa, H. Patten and Kev and Dan team up with visual
artists, a costume designer, and a dancer from Find Your Talent to work
with secondary school students in Shepway.
The project is about the young people making pledges towards a
positive change in attitudes, understanding and behaviour in the
community towards the issues surrounding asylum seekers, immigration and
refugees. The project began by both the artists and students
participating in a fact and fiction session run by Migrant Helpline - a
charity which provides relief for asylum seekers, refugees and migrants
who are in distress. Then followed four weeks of workshops where the
artists and students worked together to explore the pledges they could
make and how to express these creatively. The project culminated in a
sharing event at Folkestone's Quarterhouse where the students shared
what they had been doing and made their pledges.
The artists re-visited the students in January 2010 to
reflect upon whether the pledges had been kept and whether they had made an
impact in the students' communities.
You can read the outcomes of this in the Pledge Web Report. 
Go to web page for more details
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Events
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We are currently planning our summer season programme of events which will include another series of free local concerts and a free mini-festival of World Music. We also have workshops and performances taking place as part of Medway's FUSE Festival, Broadstairs Folk Week and Lounge on the Farm Festival. Watch this space for more information!
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 Seckou Keita at Orange Street Music Club
Thursday 10th June
Tickets £9.50
Doors: 7:30 pm
Call: 01227 760801
Venue Address:
Orange Street Music Club
15 Orange Street
Canterbury
Kent CT1 2JA
Go to web page for more details
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 Rochester Outdoor Dance Day
(part of Medway's Fuse Festival)
Saturday 26th June, Rochester High Street
 Kenny Mangena will be performing
Gum Boot Dancing
and leading a Gum Boot Dance Workshop. Bring your
wellies!
Kenny will also lead a Zulu Dance
workshop.
Go to web page for more details
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 Kent
Sinfonia at The Gulbenkian, Canterbury
12th July
Kent Sinfonia's 28-piece
orchestra performs 'The Birds and the Beasts', in conjunction with Music
for Change's Big and Small project, for children ages 4-7 years in
the Gulbenkian Theatre.
Go to web page for more details
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 Broadstairs Folk Week
Sunday 8th
August
14.30 - 15.30 Zirak Hamad leads a
Middle Eastern
Dance workshop
16.00 - 17.15 Kenny Mangena leads
Gum
Boot Dance and Singing workshops  
19.30 - 21.30 Performances from
Zirak Hamad and
U'Zambezi
All Music for Change workshops and
performances will be taking place at
The Pavilion.
Go to web page for more details
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  Herne Bay Festival, Central Bandstand, Central Parade
Monday 23rd August
Lucky Moyo
10:30-12:00 Singing workshop
13:00-14:30 Gum Boot Dancing workshop
15:00-16:30 Singing workshop
Go to web page for more details
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Music for Change's Spring Season of events
concluded at the end of March with a buoyant and charismatic performance by
Senegalese musician Laye Sow at Orange Street Music Club, Canterbury. With his three-piece
band and guest singer, Maiuko, Laye was a roaring success and had the audience
singing and dancing along with him to some beautiful World Music.
February was a busy month for Music for Change with
a series of four free gigs in (sorely-missed) café/bar Coffee and Corks. Music
from Brendan Power, Relig Oran, Universal Dread and Madam Molotoff gave
audiences a taste of music from a variety of places including France, Belgium, Greece,
the Balkans, the UK, and Africa. We were even treated to some New Zealand Blues!
Also during February, Music for Change worked in
partnership on two projects with Canterbury Museums. The Year of the Tiger family
fun day took place at Canterbury Museum in celebration of Chinese New Year. Regular
Music for Change collaborator, MeiMei treated visitors to Chinese folk stories
and ran Chinese folk-dance workshops over the course of the day. The History of
the World event gave Music for Change collaborators, George Fiawoo and MeiMei an
opportunity to educate children (and adults!) about historical artifacts and
their cultural significance, whilst giving audiences a chance to hear traditional
music and stories from West Africa and China.
In early March, Music for Change was able to raise
just under £500 for the DEC Haiti Earthquake Appeal in Whitstable. Over the
course of a day we held a series of fundraising events, working alongside musicians
Samba Pelo Mar, U'Zambezi, Relig Oran, Téa Hodzic, Another Planet and High Life
djs in order to raise funds for this worthy appeal. The Duke of Cumberland pub
kindly gave us the use of their function room in which to hold workshops and an
evening concert.
In March, Music for Change put on a gig at the
Farmhouse, Canterbury. The Urban Folk Quartet left a great impression on the
audience who enjoyed the band's unique fusion of Spanish, Arabic, South
American and British music.
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