Category Archives: music

creative events, fine art, music, news

Three FREE December concerts showcasing students from the SMFA: Everyone welcome!

cargo

 

A wide range of vibrant music making activities is available at The School of Music & Fine Art, from Chamber Choir and jazz ensembles through to the World Percussion Ensemble and the large-scale Choir and Band, comprising students from across the Medway campus. In December we will be showcasing the talent and skills of our students in a range of concerts that are free to attend.

On Wednesday December 9th in the Galvanising Workshop at the Historic Dockyard Chatham, part of the University of Kent’s Medway campus, students from the School of Music & Fine Art perform music from a range of traditions. The Jazz Improvisation Ensemble will perform works by Juan Tizol, Fats Waller and Joe Harriott.  There will be a performance of Frank Martin’s exceptionally beautiful Piano Quintet in D Minor and the concert will be framed by works with a festive flavour sung by the Chamber Choir.  This free concert starts at 7.30pm.

In the following week, there is also a chance to hear students from the BMus and MA Music programmes studying band and ensemble playing. This Ensemble Performance Lunchtime Concert is on Tuesday December 15th from 12 noon until 1pm in the Galvanising Workshop, and will include performances of jazz and contemporary popular music.

Finally, from 8pm until late on Thursday December 17th the award winning bar and bistro Cargo Bar at Liberty Quays welcomes bands from the School of Music & Fine Art to perform sets of original material and covers.  This stunning nautical and industrial-style venue is the perfect place to sample some of the best live music acts the area has to offer. The gigs are free to attend, always draw a crowd and have a fantastic atmosphere. The SMFA gig at Cargo last Easter was a huge success, with three bands from across the stages of the School of Music and Fine Art giving powerful and exciting performances.

Says Director of Music Programmes and Lecturer in Music, Dr Ben Curry, “I always feel immensely proud and excited when I see our students perform. Whether they are playing innovative pop, soul and jazz or pulling off a challenging work from the classical tradition, they always give compelling performances.”

 

For more information on any of these concerts go to: https://www.kent.ac.uk/smfa/events.html?view_by=month&date=20151222&category=&tag=

The School of Music & Fine Art offers a wide range of degrees which include: BMus Music, BSc Music Technology, BMus Popular Music, and NEW joint honours BA (Hons) Music and English & American Studies, and BSc (Hons) Music Technology and Computing; MA Music, MA Music Composition, MA Popular Music, MA Music Technology, PhD Music and PhD Music Technology.

creative events, fine art, music, news

Real Life Charm presents The Tame Modern

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Writing, producing, recording, mixing and mastering for his band, Real Life Charm, a self contained Pop and Art Collective that bring together video, illustration and music as one experience, Frank Walker, Music Technician at the University of Kent, School of Music and Fine Art is now curating an innovative arts, music and performance exhibition called The Tame Modern. Taking place on 12th December at Norwich based Dove Studios, the event seeks to distort, critique and compliment the idea of high brow and low brow and comment on its existence in Western culture, a major influence being the works of Herbert Gans and in particular his seminal book Popular Culture and High Culture.

Run by Dyad Creative in partnership with East Street Arts, Dove Street Studios works with writers, video and sound artists, installation artists, performance artists, prop makers and multi-disciplinary artists.

Real Life Charm’s music has been played on BBC Radio 1 (Huw Stephens, Phil Taggart, Annie Mac), BBC Radio 6, XFM, and playlisted on amazing radio, I-D magazine, Clash magazine, Indi shuffle and were hailed as ones to watch in 2016, playing the Radio 1 Academy at OPEN in the build up to the 2015 BBC Big Weekend.

Members of the band are Frank Walker, TP Hyland, Adam Avery, Jason Naylor, George Welsh, Dan Fretwell and Narayan O’Hanlon. Their recent releases can be heard over at spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5KWpK5JIrAXIaUN0IOOCNe

 

More information and tickets available at: www.reallifecharm.com

Venue information: http://dovestreetstudios.com/dovestreetstudios/

creative events, fine art, music, news

Outstanding Teaching Celebrated in 2015

Barbara Morris Prize 2015
Winners of the 2015 Barbara Morris Prize.

 

The University’s annual Teaching Prizes recognise the standard and levels of teaching for which it has an outstanding reputation. And for 2015 Staff from the faculties of Humanities, Sciences and Social Sciences received their prizes from Vice-Chancellor Professor Dame Julia Goodfellow. The ceremony in October was hosted by Professor John Baldock, Pro-Vice-Chancellor Teaching and Learning.

The recipients of the 2015 Barbara Morris Prize for learning support, include Laura García Rodríguez Blancas (Centre for Journalism) who was recognised for her outstanding work as a Graduate Teaching Assistant, particularly in relation to the provision of opportunities for students to experience authentic journalistic practice. The Medway-based interprofessional team consisting of Louise Frith (School of Music & Fine Art/SLAS), Frank Walker and Moses Malekia (School of Music & Fine Art), Gerard McGill and the Wellbeing Team, and Sally Apokis (Medway Chaplain) received the award for their collaborative project developing meditation resources and participative events to help students combat stress.

For more information on this innovative project, see the following related stories:
https://www.kent.ac.uk/smfa/news.html?view=1703
https://www.kent.ac.uk/smfa/news.html?view=1310
https://www.kent.ac.uk/smfa/news.html?view=1265
http://www.kent.ac.uk/news/kentlife/7338/outstanding-teaching-celebrated-at-kent

 

Click the video link to find out more:
Meditation Mix 2015

music, news

Technology in Performance Masterclass – Friday the 13th of November

On Friday the 13th  November the School of Music & Fine Art welcomes the Israeli composer, performer and improviser Guy Harries who will lead a two-hour masterclass from 3-5pm demonstrating his method and techniques in utilising technology in live performance.

Guy is involved in a number of projects ranging from garage rock to chamber opera, from sound art to electro art pop to multimedia musicals. His compositions have been performed by contemporary ensembles such as: The Tate Ensemble, SOIL, The Roentgen Connection, Vocal Lab and LOOS, and have been broadcast and performed internationally. With over Guy is also a researcher, looking into the live performance aspects of electronic music. He completed his PhD in Electroacoustic Performance at City University, London and is a senior lecturer in music at the University of East London as well as Trinity Laban Conservatoire. For info on Guy go to www.guyharries.com

FREE to attend but booking required. Please contact: mfareception@kent.ac.uk

Location: The Galvanising Workshop, The Historic Dockyard Chatham

For more info contact: Ben Curry

music, news

Music Masterclass with Alice Zawadzki – Wednesday 28 October!

AZ Butterfly2.credit Andy Sawyer
Alice Zawadzki,  Photo by Andy Sawyer

 

NEW for 2015, this is the first in a series of masterclasses, starting with multi-award winning vocalist, violinist, songwriter/composer and improviser, Alice Zawadzki is a distinctive presence on the creative music scene in London, nationally and internationally. Her music has been featured on Jazz FM and BBC Radio 3, and draws together influences from her early exposure to New Orleans soul and gospel, a classical training and an exploration of world and improvised music. Alice’s diverse background and striking ability to perform across genres while retaining her own expressive musical style give her a unique accessibility. Her widely acclaimed debut album China Lane was released in 2014. http://alicezmusic.com/

The masterclasses run from 9am-10.30am and 12 noon 1.30pm

FREE to attend but booking required.

Location: Galvanising Workshop, Chatham Historic Dockyard

 

For more info please contact: Dr. Ben Curry

music, news

BASCA Presentation for Musicians and Songwriters on Monday 2 November at the School of Music & Fine Art, Chatham Historic Dockyard

basca

Further to the announcement that The School of Music and Fine Art has joined the Academic Supporters Programme of the British Association of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) there will be a presentation by Cindy Truong, BASCA Member Events & Relations Coordinator, under the educational partner programme, on Monday 2 Nov at 11am, followed by a Q & A session, networking – and pizza! The venue is the atmospheric Chatham Historic Dockyard, Room CT102. FREE to attend, this is a fantastic opportunity for musicians and songwriters. Places are limited, so booking is essential. Please confirm your attendance with mfareception@kent.ac.uk by 28 October.

About BASCA
The British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) is the voice for music writers; the independent professional association representing music writers in all genres, from songwriting, through to media, contemporary classical and jazz and can trace our history back over 70 years. Whilst we are well known for putting on the British Composer Awards, the Gold Badge Awards and The Ivors every year, there is far more to us than these events. BASCA campaigns in the UK, Europe and throughout the world in order to protect the professional interests of our members. We count on the best songwriting and composing talent in order to do this important work and are entirely self-funding, relying on the continuing support of our members, who include Sir Paul McCartney, Dizzee Rascal, Michael Nyman, Gary Barlow, David Arnold, Sir Elton John, Imogen Heap, Howard Goodall, John Powell, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Kate Bush, Chris Martin, and many more.

Cindy Truong- Member Events & Relations Coordinator
Cindy is Member Events & Relations Coordinator at the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers & Authors (BASCA). BASCA exists to support & protect the professional interests of songwriters and composers of all genres and to celebrate & encourage excellence in British music writing. BASCA own and organises The Ivor Novello Awards, British Composer Awards and Gold Badge Awards. Her role at BASCA involves organising over 30 events a year for members and looking after BASCA’s Academic Supporters (of which University of Kent is one).

Prior to BASCA, Cindy spent five years working at Making Music, a charity which supports amateur music groups across the UK, where she organised their annual conferences. She is a classically trained pianist with an undergraduate degree in Music & History from Oxford Brookes University but doesn’t, unfortunately, make time for piano playing nowadays. (Although she did recently take up a grade-one-athon challenge which was to learn and pass Grade 1 Flute in 3 months – which she did and proudly displays her certificate on top of her dusty piano…)

See also: https://www.kent.ac.uk/smfa/musicandaudio/news.html?view=1688

creative events, fine art, music, news

Taster Day – Experience University Life for a Day

Saturday 21st November 2015, 10am-3pm – Clocktower Building, School of Music & Fine Art, University of Kent, Chatham Historic Dockyard.

The School of Music and Fine Art at the University of Kent are holding taster sessions for all of our undergraduate degree programmes on Saturday 21 November 2015, 10am 3pm.  These sessions are free of charge and are aimed at Year 12 and 13 students (or mature applicants) who are considering applying to university to study in a related area.

The sessions provide a great opportunity to see and use our award winning facilities on the Historic Dockyard, to meet and work with some of our academic staff and students, and to gain first-hand experience of the courses and opportunities we offer.

There will also be seminars, workshops, subject talks and guidance on writing your personal statement and what to prepare for interview/audition.

We are offering taster sessions in the following subject areas:

 

Download a copy of the Taster Day Schedule

Book Online
If you would like to attend please book a place via the Online Booking Form  confirming any accessibility requirements. For any additional enquiries please email MFAadmissions@kent.ac.uk

Connect with us via Social Media
In advance of the day, feel welcome to connect with us on social media to help you find out more about life as a student at Kent:

 

How to find us
For details of how to travel to the Historic Dockyard, Medway Campus by road, sea, air, channel tunnel, rail, bus and foot, please see Direction for Travel.

Campus Maps are also  available online to help you find your way to the Clocktower Building.

 

 

music, news, research

Call for Papers: New Currents in Ethnomusicology

British Forum for Ethnomusicology: Annual Conference 2016 14–17 April 2016

The BFE invites proposals for its 2016 conference, which will be hosted by the School of Music and Fine Art in Chatham Historic Dockyard from April 14-17th, 2016. The British Forum for Ethnomusicology (BFE) is an association formerly known as the International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM, UK Chapter). As an Affiliate National Committee to the ICTM, the BFE aims to advance the study, practice, documentation, preservation and dissemination of traditional music and dance, including folk, popular, classical, urban, and other genres, of all countries. BFE is a body fiscally autonomous from any other organisation, and membership is open to anyone interested in the study of music and dance from all parts of the world. The BFE, in association with Routledge, publishes the scholarly journal Ethnomusicology Forum (formerly the British Journal of Ethnomusicology).

Proposals on any current research are welcome; papers having a nautical theme would be particularly appropriate, given the surroundings.

Proposals are invited for:

  • Papers (20 minutes with 5–10 minutes for questions)
  • Organised sessions (3 or 4 linked papers around a theme, totalling 1.5 or 2 hours)
  • Round table discussion sessions (3 or 4 shorter presentations, around 15 minutes each, followed by a chaired discussion, totalling 1.5 or 2 hours)
  • Poster or other material for digital display.

Proposals should be submitted in the following formats to enable them to be reviewed anonymously:

Paper proposals: include the name and email address of the proposer, paper title, and abstract (the latter not exceeding 300 words). The name of the proposer should not appear in the abstract.
Organised session proposals: include the names and email addresses of the proposer and the other participants, an overall abstract for the session (not exceeding 300 words), and abstracts for each contributor (no more than 300 words each). Abstracts should not include the names of any of the participants.
Roundtable proposals: include the names and email addresses of the proposer and the other participants (the proposer will be assumed to be the chair unless stated otherwise), an overall abstract for roundtable (not exceeding 300 words), and abstracts for each contributor (no more than 300 words each). Abstracts should not include the names of any of the participants.
Poster/digital display proposals (digital displays will allow research to be shared using electronic posters as well as videos and other media). Include the name and email address of the researcher, a description of the material to be presented (not exceeding 300 words), and a brief description of your technical requirements. The name of the proposer should not appear in the descriptions.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS 1 NOVEMBER 2015. Successful applicants will be notified in December. 

Please note that all presenters must be members of the BFE. Proposals should be submitted by email to: bfeconference2016@outlook.com

For more info go to: http://www.bfe.org.uk/conf/bfe-annual-conference-kent-2016

creative events, fine art, music, news

Cargo Music Gigs: Diary Date 17th December 2015

cargo2
SMFA Music Gig 2015 at Cargo.

The next School of Music and Fine Art Cargo Music gig will be at the end of the Christmas term on Thursday 17th December, 8pm until late at Cargo, Liberty Quays, our award winning bar and bistro, in a stunning nautical and industrial-style venue and the perfect place to sample some of the best live music acts the area has to offer.

These gigs offer a platform for the numerous wonderful bands that have formed amongst SMFA students. The gigs, which have a fantastic atmosphere and always draw a crowd, are free to attend.

For details for bands wanting to perform, either email Alan Mash or go along to the Bands Forum with Rich Perks on a Tuesday at 5pm, where you can receive coaching.  Individuals who wish to join a band are also encouraged to attend Bands Forum to meet and play with other musicians.

The Easter SMFA gig at Cargo was a huge success, with three fantastic bands from across the stages of the School of Music and Fine Art giving powerful and exciting performances.

The bands included:
Wondermoth (headline act)
Beat the Devil’s Tattoo
The Outcome

music, news, research

Dr Ruth Herbert, Associate Lecturer in Music Performance at SMFA, invited to give guest lecture at the oldest University in the Netherlands

RuthBook picture

Following the continued success of her book Everyday Music Listening: Absorption, Dissociation and Trancing, (to be reissued in paperback next year), Associate Lecturer in Music Performance at School of Music and Fine, Dr Ruth Herbert, has been invited to give a guest lecture on the topic of ‘ubiquitous listening’ at the University of Leiden, the oldest University in the Netherlands (founded 1575), early in October.

Says, Dr Herbert, “A music psychologist and performer, “The lecture is part of a Music and Society module that asks some pretty big musical questions. What makes music so important in our contemporary society? What is the role, the function, and the position of music in our everyday lives? That’s very much the territory of my book. The digitization of music has allowed people to seamlessly interweave music into all aspects of daily life. Young people especially use music as an extension of self – to experiment with identity and mediate subjective experience in all sorts of ways – from mood control to totally cutting off (dissociating) from self, activity or situation.”  

Dr Herbert’s work focuses on the subjective experience of music in daily life, and the transformations of consciousness that may occur in conjunction with listening to and making music. Her extensive research interests also embrace music and wellbeing, music education, evolutionary psychology, ethology and performance psychology. Publications include book chapters and articles in both peer reviewed journals and specialist magazines. She is currently Junior Fellow in the Faculty of Music at Jesus College Oxford and has performed widely as a classical pianist and as a member of a diverse range of ensembles, notably recording soundtracks for two classic silent films.

She has also published extensively on aspects of music teaching and education in mainstream specialist magazines, in addition to undertaking consultancy work for OMD UK (featured in the Mail Online), the Daily Telegraph and the BBC. Ruth is a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Sonic Studies. She is also a member of the Music Education Expo and Musical Theatre and Drama Education Advisory Committee, the NYJC/IoE Jazz and Gender Forum, and (latterly) the Musical Progressions Roundtable.

For more about Ruth go to http://www.kent.ac.uk/smfa/staff/staff-profiles/musicandaudio/Herbert.html

And also http://www.music.ox.ac.uk/people/staff-listings/academics/r_herbert.html

http://www.jesus.ox.ac.uk/fellows-and-staff/fellows/dr-ruth-herbert

Info about the Leiden module: https://studiegids.leidenuniv.nl/en/courses/show/55475/music-and-society

Info about Ruth’s nationwide study of 10-18s experiences of music: http://experiencingmusic.com/

Links for Everyday Music Listening: Absorption, Dissociation and Trancing: http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9781409421252

Everyday Music Listening proves that Music Studies can reach areas and problems inaccessible to other disciplinary modes of investigation. It will be required reading for music scholars, philosophers and clinical psychologists. Professor Tia DeNora, Exeter University