Thursday 30 June 2016

SOL - The Tour (Days 1 and 2)!

The first day of our SOL tour began with one of our most challenging venues - Heathrow Immigration Detention Centre. I don't think I was alone in feeling a little apprehensive about visiting a place that seemed so unfamiliar and unknown. We were advised beforehand that many of the people staying at these centres were being held for undetermined periods of time, so they could be facing days/weeks/months of anxiety and uncertainty. After we had passed through security, photos, ID, fingerprints etc we were escorted to the sports hall, which was our first concert venue. After feeling a little anxious about our presence there, I soon realised that our role there was pretty simple - to share our love for music in a human, ego-less, genuine way. Maybe that sounds a little airy-fairy, but it was completely evident that playing music in this way will resonate with so many people, no matter their circumstance, age, race, background or existing interest in music... We played the opening movement of Beethoven 7 in the first detention centre at Heathrow, and the people there really listened and engaged with us. The atmosphere in the room during the Beethoven was electric. One man stepped up to the podium to conduct Wallace and Grommit, and another guy rapped an awesome free-style verse in our Snoop Dog arrangement (after some gentle persuasion..!). If I had felt at all unsure of unconvinced of our presence there, by the end of the first gig the penny had definitely dropped for me! After this first visit, we were all much more familiar with the set-up and generally how we all worked and played together, so going into the New Horizon Youth Centre felt great. This venue was a real squish however, so it was just as well (purely for space reasons, guys!) that a few of the orchestra members had split-off to go and play at Queensmill School for autistic children. Their visit sounded really wonderful - they also had an impromptu busk/jam with a lady at the piano in St Pancrass Station! At the youth centre, we had a fantastically enthusiastic audience... almost with a rap or two, but we couldn't quite persuade them to take to the mic. It was another great gig, but also quite a relief to break out into the fresh air afterwards, and to enjoy a refreshing pint/pimms/bevvy at the local pub!

The finale of Day 1 was absolutely EPIC. We had a planned performance outside the entrance to King's Cross Station, but...wait for it... during rush hour! We had a slight delay with music and stands arriving, and as we had already attracted a growing crowd with our sunny yellow t-shirts and army of instrument cases, we decided to perform our two memorised pieces there and then. We very quickly got an idea of the awesome atmosphere of the evening ahead, as passers by were stopping, filming, listening... this later turned into a full-on celebration, with the usually-poker-faced London commuters dancing swing, salsa, free-style...! It was a wicked evening and even the rain didn't deter the crowd, or stop the full-blooded sing along to Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner!



Day 2 of tour was perhaps one of my favourites… although I feel like that's unfair to the other super duper gigs we played and people we met! Actually, I simply can't choose a favourite day... so cancel that! We started in Dalston Library and played a Guerrilla performance in a park in Hackney - this was a cool gig, as a school girl from the audience took to the mic for a verse of Snoop Dog  - and she could RAP! Effortlessly cool. It was also a lovely surprise to bump into a friend and fellow musician at this gig - he just happened to be working at the children's centre next to the park and heard some noise! There was also a lovely chance to sit and chill with some lunch after this gig and the sun even came out for a burst!

Also on Day 2, we played at St Joseph’s Hospice in Hackney, which was a very moving experience and one of those unforgettable ones. It was a wonderful surprise to see the patients, residents, staff and visitors already excitedly gathered for our arrival in the main waiting area of the hospice; so it was time for another shot at a super-quick set-up. We again played Beethoven 7, followed by a few upbeat, Latin-American numbers and some wonderful songs with our super soloist, Peter. The lump-in-the-throat moment for me was when we finished with Maybe It's Because I'm a Londoner, and Peter passed the microphone to several audience members to hear them sing a line or two. It was really special to feel the whole room singing and to see everyone smiling.. really enjoying that moment and losing any inhibition or hyper-awareness of the situation. Pretty cool for a room full of 'strangers' (we definitely left as friends!) After the gig, a few of us chatted with members of the audience. The lady (Lucy) who had conducted this morning's rendition of W&G was buzzing, with a beaming smile, and she told me that she runs a weekly choir there, which sounded like such a valuable part of the residents' time at the hospice - in fact, you could see the residents looking to Lucy throughout the concert for guidance or reassurance.. or just to exchange an excitable smile. Another older gentleman, with the kindest eyes I have ever seen, spoke to a few of us about how happy he felt to see so many lovely young people coming together to share their passion with others, and spreading positivity at such a dark time for many. This was really touching and I felt so lucky to be there with everyone.

The ever-threatening rain was still holding off for our next gig in London Fields (a particular fave of mine). This was another park gig and it pretty much turned into a full-on party. There were kids galore, all desperate for the chance to conduct the orchestra, so they formed an orderly queue before taking to the podium for a few bars of Carmen or Wallace..! There was a particularly lovely little boy who had clearly just finished the best day at school - he had paint, chalk, colouring pens, mud, grass... you name it and it was strewn across his polo shirt (and face!) and this boy danced beautifully to a lot of our music. He looked so free and uninhibited - miss those days!! In this gig, we went for a spontaneous walkabout (even us celli) during one of the pieces in which you'd struggle to sit still (there were plenty of those)! The audience members at this gig were awesome - just so completely into it, which I think really rubbed off on us musicians. Later, we had a wonderful stop-off at a pizza garden in Dalston – any Londoners should go and check it out this Summer. It’s like a calm oasis in the middle of the city, with flowers, bird feeders, blankets and hot water bottles and perrrfect pizza… all of life’s simple pleasures! Our last gig of day 2 was another awesome event and was held in Dalston Square. We decided to start this gig with a pizza-fuelled rendition of Ski Sunday, but with the orchestra interspersed amongst the crowd. It was such a fun way to start the concert and a great ice-breaker for the audience... also, I will never stop loving walking around with a cello and grooving out with other musicians, as well as total ‘strangers’! It feels kind of weird to call anyone we encountered on this tour ‘strangers’, because there really wasn’t ever any ounce of a divide or barrier between those of us playing and those of us who were ‘audience’ or passers-by at the gigs, in fact the line was often completely blurred/non-existent, which is sadly something that cannot often be said about the way we experience concerts and live music…

Stay tuned for days 3&4, featuring escalators, carousels, sunsets, flower markets... the lot!



Sunday 26 June 2016

Street Orchestra of London - 24 concerts in 4 days! The preparations...

When I auditioned for SOL earlier this year, I knew that I was auditioning for something that was perhaps a little quirky and definitely very exciting, but I really had absolutely no idea at that time just how unique, inspiring, and powerful this project would be!

The Street Orchestra of London has been modelled on an existing Dutch ensemble called the Ricciotti Ensemble, which has been running for many years already. This tour with SOL was the first of its kind in the UK, so it was a new venture for everyone involved. The orchestra aims to break barriers between the players and the audience, to reach new audiences in new locations (and ALL locations!) and to share music with all members of the community.

SOL's slogan reads: Music for everyone, anywhere... I think we definitely proved not only that this concept is a possibility, but also that it is necessary and beyond valuable for everyone involved!

Us players met each other for the first time on Monday afternoon, when it soon became clear that the coming week was going to be pretty damn cool. The other members of SOL had all chosen SOL for the same reason - to share music, which kind of sounds simplistic... but we truly all had this in common! From day 1 it was already so refreshing to meet all of these wonderful musicians, each with their own vibe/style/background, but each with a passion for getting out there in the community, sharing in high quality music-making and having heaps of fun in the process.

Days 1, 2 & 3 were all about rehearsing, getting to know each other and getting to grips with the 23 (or was it 24!?) pieces of repertoire that we would be taking on tour later in the week. We were delving into rep including: Beethoven 7, Bizet's Carmen, works by Donizetti, Puccini, Gabrielli... David Bowie, Gershwin, Piazzolla, Snoop Dog, the theme tune from Ski Sunday - we pretty much dabbled in every genre, which was loads of fun! We also played some new commissions/works by composers Gabriel Prokofiev and Charlotte Harding.. so we had some hefty 9-hour rehearsal days in order to get our fingers and brains in gear, punctuated by truly yummy meals at our hostel, made by our very own tour managers who achieved the impossible - feeding 40 hungry musicians whilst running the whole shebang - pretty incredible! We had plenty of time to get to know one another, as we stayed in a youth hostel near our rehearsal venue, and opposite a lovely pub. The pub owners probs weren't too sure what had hit them on night 1, when a gaggle of thirsty musicians entered their doors, but by the end of the week we'd gotten to know them pretty well!

At the end of Day 3 (our last rehearsal day), we found the perfect opportunity to perform a programme for an audience before heading out on tour. Underneath the Church we'd been using for rehearsals there was a refugee centre, and they were keen for us to go down and share some music there. It was at this point that we discovered how SOL would work in practise. The idea of the orchestra is that we are able to perform ANYWHERE.. and at limited notice, which means carrying as little equipment as possible. The orchestra therefore stands up to perform, apart from us cellos, basses and percussion, so we would sit on boxes which also doubled-up as containers for stands and music. We also had some tech equipment, allowing us to have a microphone for our wonderful singer and for introductions etc. So, as an orchestral team we would carry, set-up and pack-down all of our equipment before, after, and in-between all of our gigs. It was really valuable therefore to have the opportunity to practise this slick operation at the first concert in the refugee centre.

As soon as we began playing in the tiny, cramped space beneath the Church, I felt an incredible excitement for the week ahead, and it really dawned on me just why SOL exists. From the very beginning of the Carmen Overture, a lovely lady in the audience began beaming and dancing in her chair, and did not stop until the music did! This same lady stepped up to conduct the orchestra in a fun rendition of the Wallace and Grommit theme tune, and the look of pure joy on her face was just the best thing. It was a wonderful feeling to be part of a group of musicians who were there purely to share their love of music with anyone who wanted to listen/dance/sing/just be present. Later that evening the weather was sunny and dry, so we popped outside the Church to try out one of our Guerrilla (flashmob style) performances. We began playing to an audience of about 3 people, which very quickly turned into a sizeable gathering of school children, parents, city workers, passers by and even local residents on their balconies/hanging out of their windows. It was a truly exciting taster of the 4 days that followed...