Just a brief update this week, because it was basically as good, if not better, than the previous two.
My old course-mate from the Goldsmiths Music Workshop Skills, Liv McKellen, volunteered and made both the big group session and the Indian group all the better for her presence. We were able to sing a simple canon today with Liv’s help. We hope that she can return with her cello over the next few weeks.
Everybody seems to be getting more familiar with each other and the venue, and therefore more able to focus on the music. The sun was shining for the first time so Ramesh led the talas and ragas out in the lovely Resource Centre garden. The manager of the Resource Centre was pleased with the look of the sessions and made suggestions about the future such as involving more service users, using these sessions as a means to bring the service users together a bit.
So on a practical level, no worries and I’ve even been offered financial assistance following the failed Newham Go For It Grant Application. All that I am primarily concerned with now is that we do arrive at some kind of decent ‘programme’ for a short (eg fifteen minute) performance in Week 6 (the end of academic year). Ramesh seems encouragingly confident with his group but so far my group only have one song, working title “Where’s Donat?” half written. It was an insightful discussion about Newham’s history, I thought. Hopefully next week’s session will see two songs completed and we will begin the process of ascertaining which students will be attending in the summer.
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