Workshops
I regularly facilitate music workshops and have worked in a variety of settings over the last decade, from youth groups and music festivals to care homes. Please get in touch if you are looking for a music facilitator, see below for a taste of previous workshops I have given.
Previous workshops
Melodies For Mums - Breathe Arts Health Research
2023 ongoing
London
I am part of the team of facilitators working with the amazing organisation Breathe Arts Health Research to deliver singing sessions for new mothers who are experiencing symptoms of post-natal depression. It's a joy and a privilege to witness the power of group singing in helping women overcome the challenges of new parenthood.
Murmurate Open Singing Sessions
2023 and ongoing
Saint Barnabas Church, London
I run regular singing sessions in East London, open to beginners and more experienced singers alike. Participants are welcome to bring along babies and also children aged 9+. In Murmurate I always work with accessible songs but with a bit of challenge, to keep everyone engaged. The sessions are well attended - this singing community is fast growing!
Pram Jam
Spring 2021 and ongoing
Leyton, Stoke Newington and Tottenham
Along with Luisa Gerstein I run weekly groups in London for new parents. Pram Jam is a weekly singing group for parents and carers. Tired of wheels on the bus? Come and sing some beautiful music from a range of genres and cultures (no nursery rhymes!). Pram Jam is a chance for parents to relax and do something for themselves in a baby-friendly setting. Parental leave can be such an isolating time, and parents have reported that being part of the Pram Jam community has been great for their mental and physical wellbeing. In the words of Hetta, who attends our Leyton session: "Pram Jam is the best baby group I've been to! The singing is low stakes, so relaxing and always joyful. Best of all I now feel more confident singing to my son and have a repertoire of songs that he loves"
Winter Singing Session
Winter 2022
Mildmay Community Centre, London
In order to beat the January blues I organised a 1.5 hour winter singing session for 30 people. I led the group in a range of embodying breath and voice exercises and then we sang a range of music, including an ecclesiastical Kyrie, a traditional gaelic song from the Hebrides, and a round from 16th Britain. Participants really enjoyed the event and asked for more, so a whole series of group singing events for 2023 are in the pipeline...
Singing Workshop at the LGBTQ+ Community Centre
Winter 2022
Blackfriars, London
I have been facilitating singing workshops at the LGBTQ+ Community Centre in London. The centre is an intersectional, inclusive welcoming space, providing a setting in which people from the community can make connections, build community and flourish. I have facilitated family singing workshops and also workshops for individuals at the centre.
Careers In Theatre
Autumn 2022
Half Moon Theatre
I worked as the lead on sound design and music as part of this project at Half Moon youth theatre, working over 5 days with students from different Tower Hamlets schools. CIT brings together around 50 young people from different schools to give them the experience of creating a theatre show over one day, in teams of five disciplines, producing a fully staged performance by 5pm. More than 250 young people take part over five days. It was amazing to see the young people being inspired and coming alive through the process of working creatively in a professional setting. It was very intense work as a facilitator but incredibly rewarding.
Basket Of Light rounds workshop
Summer 2022
Basket Of Light Festival
Along with Kate Huggett I facilitated a workshop at Basket Of Light festival in Wales. 30 festival goers were introduced to vocal exercises and a wide range of rounds from different genres and cultures which they performed together very enthusiastically even thought it was 11am and many of them were pretty blurry eyed!
"He Mandu" Waulking Workshop
<>Spring 2022
Total Refreshment Centre
As part of the development of my piece "He Mandu", which is based on a traditional Scottish waulking song, I introduced a group of singers to Waulking music and we developed improvisational ideas around this theme. "Waulking” is the process of working the cloth in order to make tweed, through soaking the fabric in urine and bashing it on a table. Waulking songs, often improvised, are sung by women as they work round the table. Using repetitive movements and a range of improvising activities we created vocal textures together which went on to become part of the piece.
Group Singing with the Latin American Youth Forum
Autumn 2021
IRMO (Indoamerican Refugee and Migrant Organization), London
In this workshop which I facilitated with Rose Stachniewska, young people from the Latin American Youth Forum were introduced to using their voice as an instrument. We explored vocal technique, warm-ups and creative improvisation. They also had the opportunity to learn a protest song from the civil rights movement which included new English vocab and phrases and prompted a discussion about the meaning of the song and the global fight for civil rights.
Vocal Improv and Sound Fishing
Autumn 2021
Kinnersley Castle, Herefordshire
In this workshop I led a group of singers in a range of improvisation exercises. The group were introduced to the idea of "Deep Listening" in order to expand their creativity in improvisation. We finished the workshop with a group performance of the improvisation piece "Sound Fishes" created by composer Pauline Oliveros.
Online vocal group
Spring/Summer/Winter 2020
Zoom
During the lockdowns I ran an online zoom vocal teaching group. In these weekly workshops students tried out a wide range of warm ups, relaxation and meditation techniques, learnt new songs and had a chance to individually work on a song observed by the rest of the group.
Bolder Voices
<>2015 - 2016
Bolder Voices, London
Bolder Voices was a weekly singing group for over-65s with a political edge. Throughout 2015 I facilitated the group with the director Clair Chapwell. We sang soul, gospel, pop and also original protest songs exploring the politics of age, regularly performing live in different settings, including residential care homes, Hackney Empire and the Serpentine.
Three Generations Singing
<>Spring/Summer 2015
Brent, London
This was an arts-council funded project which included getting 3 different generations singing together, with "Bolder Voices" (the over 65's singing group) and two other facilitators Clair Chapwell and Andrew Walpole. With the singers of Bolder Voices we ran a blues songwriting workshop with year 9 students at Queens Park Community School and several a warmup and music sessions at Lawfield House residential care home.
Weekly women's singing group
Spring/Summer/Winter 2015
Core Arts, Hackney
This was a group that I co-faciliated in 2015 at Core Arts, Hackney. Core Arts promotes positive mental health and wellbeing through a college-like environment of creative learning, for people with profound mental health difficulties. The women's group at core is a chance for women members to explore warm ups, vocal technique and learn different a cappella songs. With a chance to perform at regular music nights hosted by Core Arts.
