Music you should hear at least once…
As I type, we’re listening to the second of this week’s ‘Watch This Space’ gigs, with some beautifully melancholic material from singer-songwriter, Sabiyha Rasheed.
Croydon-based Sabiyha is reading English and American Literature with Creative Writing, but is active musically on the London gig-circuit, and has also appeared on CSRfm’s Lounge Session on Sundays.
Keep an ear out, as I expect we’ll be hearing more from her in the future…
President of this year’s Medway Music Society, Jack McDonnell, dishes the inside info on what’s been happening, and what’s to come, out West…
Music Society are back with a bang in 2013 and have a plethora of auditory treats for your delectation in the coming weeks.
Last term we had great success with our events having launched our first ever weekend Socials and with Battle of the Bands raising over £125 for an array of charities including UMSA RaG and Kent Hitch.
We’re very pleased to say that we’ve successfully lobbied the University into securing professional leadership of the Big Band-esque ensemble “JAM” or Jazz at Medway (now lea by Peter Cook – Thursdays 5pm, The Galv) as well as the Universities at Medway Chamber Choir (now led by Sarah Dacey – Mondays 6pm, Medway Building) who have upcoming plans to become an UMSA Society in their own right. Both ensembles had a number of great performances last term, at Medway Law Group’s Annual Dinner and the UMSA Carol Concert in December. Our society memberships have smashed our peak from last year, and we’re well on target to break 100 members by the end of the year.
Music Soc’s infamous Tuesday nights in Coopers Bar continue this term with a unique mixture of old (band nights, open mic, rockaoke) and new (Music Soc vs Music Dept, Socials, Folk Night) over the coming weeks. To keep up with the news of these, upcoming executive elections as well as our contributions to the Asian Society’s Culture Shock, Diversity Celebration Fayre and the UMSA Summer Party join us online through…
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/musicsocietymedway/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/bigbandmedwayunis/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/medwayunischoir/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/MedwayMusic_Soc
For a full details of membership benefits and how to join, visit our spread on the UMSA website.
Jack McDonnell
If you’ve ever wondered what composer Benjamin Britten might have been listening to, as he took his post-prandial ‘composing walks’ around Aldeburgh in the afternoon, now you can find out.
Famed wildlife sound-recordist Chris Watson has spent a year following in the composer’s footsteps, armed with a microphone – a clip of his findings is available to listen to, in his article in The Guardian earlier this week.
From birdsong to pealing church-bells, it’s an evocative exploration of the soundworld surrounding Britten’s daily walks through the Suffolk countryside – and all from the comfort of your own armchair.
Listen for yourself here.
If you’re coming to the Postgraduate Open Day event this Saturday, by all means drop in to the Colyer-Fergusson building and hear the University Chamber Choir, which will be in the midst of its all-day workshop.
The Choir is busy preparing for its annual concert in the Crypt of Canterbury Cathedral in just over two weeks’ time, and at this point in the year, we hold an all-day rehearsal, getting to grips with the works in the concert and running the entire programme in ‘performance mode.’
The rehearsal lasts from 10am to 3.30pm; come and get a sneak preview of what’s to come in the concert on Friday 15 February.
You can find out more about the Postgraduate Open day, which runs from 10am-2pm, online here.
Via The Guardian, here’s conductor Antonio Pappano giving a masterclass on a Verdi aria: a short lesson in the importance of singing consonants in Italian, the continuity of line, and pacing dynamic change; filmed as part of a behind-the-scenes day in the life of Covent Garden.
Fascinating for singers and conductors alike.
Bursting with enthusiam for all things musical at the University, Society members Sophie Plötz and Emma Murton went on CSRfm recenty to talk about life at Kent.
Click here to listen to what they had to say (on SoundCloud).
The inimitable Brodsky Quartet will be here on Friday, celebrating its fortieth anniversary with a concert combining classical music with the slick feel of a game-show. The programme will be decided on the night by the spin of a wheel, with each of the ‘four tunes’ selected from their extensive repertoire by chance.
You can read a review of a similar concert the quartet gave a few months ago in an earlier post I wrote here.
Tickets on the Gulbenkan website; come and be part of something extraordinary.
Today marks the centenary of the first performance of Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, a pre-serial masterpiece from the King of the Second Viennese School.
Here’s Pierre Boulez conducting Ensemble InterContemporain, with Christine Schäfer bringing the soprano line vividly to life.
