Hand in Hand – Vocal Workshops on 13 July – Workshop 4: Medieval Mash-up

Karin, Artistic Director
Karin, Artistic Director

We round up our series of posts about our vocal workshop leaders for our upcoming Hand in Hand festival by introducing the sensational Loré Lixenberg, who, for our purposes, will be quite the renaissance woman…
Workshop #4: Medieval Mash-up

Loré Lixenberg conjures up some ethereal sounds from the middle ages in this exploration of unaccompanied vocal music.

lore-lixenberg
Loré Lixenberg

Loré has performed in operas, concert recitals and music theatre across the world and recently featured in Anna Nicole at the Royal Opera House. She has also arranged and directed a wide range of musical styles, from medieval plain chant to electro-acoustic pieces, featuring videos and improvised choreography.
An extremely accomplished mezzo soprano, Loré has performed internationally at many festivals including those of Salzburg, Lucerne, Donaueschingen, Aldeburgh, Witten, Edinburgh and Huddersfield, and at the Wien Modern and Oslo Ultima festivals.
She has performed with orchestras and ensembles including the Hallé, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Orchestra, Ensemble Intercontemporain, London Sinfonietta, Klanforum Wien, BCMG Ensemble Aventure, Icelandic Symphony Orchestra and Danish Royal Opera.
Her workshop will include teaching harmonies in plain chant in a few short pieces from various medieval and renaissance composers, including the French Machaut and Arbeau, as variations around the theme of courtly love in the style of medieval troubadours.
Get involved!
If you fancy a fun day of vocal workshops in a variety of styles, taught by leading professional musicians, get yourself signed up. And why not bring a friend, too! Workshop tickets are a bargain at £39 (£34 concessions) and include the chance to enjoy (and perform in!) our evening concert at the fabulous Troxy theatre in Limehouse, London.
Hurry, as sign-ups close Sunday June 30, 2013.

Hand in Hand – Vocal Workshops on 13 July – Workshop 3: West-End Workout

Jerome
Jerome

In the third of four posts about our festival Hand in Hand on Saturday 13 July, we introduce another of our fantastic workshop leaders to give a taste of what’s in store on the day.
Workshop #3: West-End workout
Loosen your larynx and buff up your belting in this vocal keep-fit session from one of the West End’s top vocal consultants, Louise Shephard (with Sarah Kershaw)

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West End vocal consultant, Louise Shephard

Louise Shephard is a West End singing coach and teaches musical theatre at the Royal Academy of Music. She is also the leader of the Oxford School of Drama 6-month course ‘Acting in Musical Theatre’. She has worked on national productions including Sound of Music and Wizard of Oz and at the moment for Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. In her private practise she also works for singers in the pop/rock industry and is currently working with a member of Take That for his upcoming tour…
Her workshop will feature a range of techniques and postures for stage singing, bringing life and expression to your favourite tunes!
She will be accompanied on the piano by Sarah Kershaw, a performer, composer and singer who graduated from the Birmingham conservatoire; she is the co-founder of a new collective of composers and songwriters known as Priniciple Six who debuted at Latitude Festival last year to critical acclaim. Between them they have worked with artists such as Lana Del Ray, Bat For Lashes, The Hidden Cameras and Baby Dee. Sarah’s own composition work has brought many commissions in the theatre world, particularly her adaptations of Shakespeare sonnets.
Get involved!
If you fancy a fun day of vocal workshops in a variety of styles, taught by leading professional musicians, get yourself signed up. And why not bring a friend, too! Workshop tickets are a bargain at £39 (£34 concessions) and include the chance to enjoy (and perform in!) our evening concert at the fabulous Troxy theatre in Limehouse, London.
Hurry, as sign-ups close Sunday June 30, 2013.

Hand in Hand – Vocal Workshops on 13 July – Workshop 2: Singing Safari

Karin, Artistic Director
Karin, Artistic Director

In the second of four posts about our festival Hand in Hand on Saturday 13 July, we introduce our fantastic workshop leaders and give a taste of what’s in store on the day.
Workshop #2: Singing Safari

Chris Rowbury teaches traditional music (and movement) from the Maori and Zulu cultures.

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World music & a capella specialist, Chris Rowbury

Chris Rowbury has 30 years’ experience teaching choral music from scratch to small and large groups alike. He has taught at the Royal Festival Hall in London, at several well-known UK drama schools, and at music festivals. He runs regular world music singing groups and community choirs as well as working as a freelance workshop leader and performer, specialising in a wide range of music traditions, from Eastern Europe to Africa.
His workshop will consist of teaching harmonies as well as moves from two famous traditional music styles, from South Africa and New Zealand. These songs will then be performed during the evening concert.
Chris has 30 years’ experience of teaching and running workshops in singing, voice and theatre. He has worked all over the world as a teacher, director and performer. He runs regular world music singing groups and community choirs as well as working as a freelance workshop leader and performer.
As a member of the Natural Voice Practitioners’ Network, Chris shares the belief that everybody can sing regardless of experience or background. He is a patient, charismatic teacher with a relaxed style laced with plenty of humour.
Get involved!
If you fancy a fun day of vocal workshops in a variety of styles, taught by leading professional musicians, get yourself signed up. And why not bring a friend, too! Workshop tickets are a bargain at £39 (£34 concessions) and include the chance to enjoy (and perform in!) our evening concert at the fabulous Troxy theatre in Limehouse, London.
Hurry, as sign-ups close Sunday June 30, 2013.

Hand in Hand – Vocal Workshops on 13 July – Workshop 1: Operatastic!

Jerome
Jerome, UK Concerts Producer

In the first of four posts about our festival Hand in Hand on Saturday 13 July, we begin to introduce our fantastic workshop leaders and give a taste of what’s in store on the day.
Workshop #1: Operatastic

We’ll be starting the day with a classical vocal warm-up and a classic Italian opera chorus by Verdi, guided by Maestro James Burton.

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Choral and operatic conductor James Burton

James Burton is one of the country’s leading choral conductors, trained at St John’s College Cambridge and the Peabody Conservatory. He is the Music Director of Oxford’s Schola Cantorum and former choral Director of the Hallé. He has extensive experience of working with professional as well as amateur and youth choirs.
His workshop will open the festivities, with some operatic singing to rehearse the famous chorus of the Hebrew slaves from Verdi’s Nabucco.
Get involved!
If you fancy a fun day of vocal workshops in a variety of styles, taught by leading professional musicians, get yourself signed up. And why not bring a friend, too! Workshop tickets are a bargain at £39 (£34 concessions) and include the chance to enjoy (and perform in!) our evening concert at the fabulous Troxy theatre in Limehouse, London.
Hurry, as sign-ups close Sunday June 30, 2013.

Singing the Changes

Hester

Hester has been singing with the Pink Singers for a number of years and is a key member of the team working on our Singing the Changes exhibition, opening this week. In discussion with fellow choir member Ben, Hester explains her involvement in the exhibition and talks about her experiences with the choir.

Singing the Changes contains loads of amazing images from the choir archive, and also from the press archives of LGBT events and protests in the last 30 years. Have you got a favourite?

It’s extremely difficult to pick favourites from such a wealth of fascinating documents and memorabilia. Some of my favourites are the photos of Pink Singers performing in dustbin liners and assorted hats, in 1986. 27 years later, we still have the same willingness to experiment and risk looking silly in the cause of entertaining our audiences.

BPeditedHugill
Image: LSE/HCA/Pink Singers

Perhaps my serious favourite is the press release put out by the European Lesbian and Gay Festival of Song in 1988, stating their support for the Pink Singers, who were facing the ‘anti-homosexual laws of the Thatcher government’: Section 28. It is very heartening to see evidence of the way ten other gay choirs spoke out in solidarity with the UK gay community at a very difficult time.

Could you tell me what the exhibition is about?

It is a celebration of 30 years of the Pink Singers and an exploration of the changing lives of gay people in London from the 1980s and 1990s onwards. Gay history isn’t taught in schools, and has not been passed to children by their parents, so it’s important for organisations like ours to share their stories.

How did the idea for the exhibition come about?

We realised what an important milestone our 30th anniversary was going to be: we were the first gay choir in the UK and we are the longest-running mixed gay choir in Europe. A lot has changed for the gay community during the time the Pinkies have been singing and we wanted to mark the occasion appropriately, looking back at how far we’ve come, the fun we’ve had and the difficulties we’ve faced.

Has it been tricky to document the history of the Pink Singers?

It has been a lot of work, by many dedicated choir members, but once you start looking, there are all sorts of ways to record our history. The filmed interviews with choir members were carried out especially for the exhibition and they’re fascinating personal stories, covering all sorts of things not documented elsewhere; they are not just about singing, but about coming out, exploring the gay scene and all aspects of LGBT experience. The choir’s early history was well covered in documents deposited at the LSE’s collection in the Hall Carpenter Archive. They were donated by one of our early conductors, Robert Hugill, and consist of hundreds of items, from concert flyers and programmes, to handwritten lists of members, letters and sheet music for a song adapted to give it a gay theme. Long-serving members of the Pink Singers have also donated artefacts, programmes and other items, then there are press reports, costumes and audio recordings to build up the picture.

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Image: LSE/HCA/Pink Singers

Aside from putting together the exhibition, you’re an active member of the choir. Have you worked on projects like this before? How has it felt working on something that forms a part of your own experience?

I’ve never done anything like this before! Some of the work has played to my strengths and some has involved venturing quite a long way out of my comfort zone: I loved pretending to be an academic at the LSE Archive, compiling an inventory of the Pinkie materials held there (I’m a librarian and history graduate), but interviewing one of the choir’s conductors on film was quite scary.

I’m so pleased to have been involved in the whole process though; I have learnt a lot about gay history that I didn’t know and have found it completely fascinating.

Why did you originally join the choir?

I wanted to meet other gay people who loved music – and more people around my own age; previously I had spent a lot of time going to social groups, and a lesbian walking group, where I had tended to meet women who were a lot older than me.

Are you in the choir for the same reasons now?

I still enjoy meeting new members each season, but the choir turned out to offer a huge amount more than I expected. It has transformed my social life, for the better, taken me all over Europe and the UK, and even shown me that I can enjoy dancing! We are in some ways like a huge, supportive, varied family – I’m so lucky to be part of it. We know how to have fun and there’s nothing like the buzz you get from singing with other people. If I’d known about the choreography I’d never have joined, but it’s such a quintessential part of a Pinkie performance, and so entertaining for the audience, that I quite enjoy it now.

Some of the interviews included within the exhibition are strikingly powerful and I’ve been surprised to hear how far LGBT rights have come in the last 30 years. Clearly we’ve still got some way to go and just watching the news in the last few weeks shows that even in mainland Europe, the advancement of LGBT civil rights has the potential to cause dissent. Can exhibitions like this help inform and educate?

Yes, it is so important that our past is not forgotten, so that we don’t take our current situation for granted: the political and social climate can change to our detriment as well as to our benefit, as demonstrated by Section 28 and the hostility provoked in some quarters by the emergence of AIDS. The exhibition is also communicating the message that the gay community is a wonderful, varied, supportive network of amazing individuals who know how to have a good time, whether by singing or just by partying! In this respect, it is playing a similar role to the ‘It Gets Better’ campaign.

The results of Hester and her fellow curators efforts can been seen at ‘Singing the changes’.

Timeline datestamp: 14 June 2013