We totally fell in love with Cornwall and the Cornish people and did not want to come back. We are making plans for visiting again, perhaps a summer retreat…. ;0)
As well as having a wonderful time for BBC Music Day and jamming with lots of lovely people in St Austell, we also managed Cornish bingo: Cornish pasty, cream tea (jam on first), cider and local fish pie. Yum!
As part of our Arts Council England funded BBC Ten Pieces Schools tour, we got to film two videos. This was designed to be both a tool for post workshop embedded learning and to be able to be watched as a stand alone video for those who couldn’t attend the workshops. We also put together a short film on how string instruments work, which was so ably demonstrated by Amy’s brother Tom – thanks Tom! You sure know how to give the cello a good pluck!
We are very grateful to the inspiring and generous Ian Blanford from Bright Spark TV who has been coaching us on our presenting skills and helped us assemble an all star cast behind the scenes, including the brilliant Jane Field as our stylist, who we have long admired from her role as Head Stylist on George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces. In fact, we have just bought a caravan for our Rig summer tour, so we might well be using some of Jane’s tips on how to make our own caravan “amazing”!
This time we were joined by two musicians from the London Symphony Orchestra, the lovely Robert and Hilary, who have also been working with the children in the school.
We set up the rigs, played music, sang and danced and had a thoroughly lovely day!
Amy and I went to the Music Education Expo at Olympia on 26th February 2016. As usual we spent the day wandering around the 50+ stands covering all things music and went to a couple of lectures, I particularly liked one lecture on encouraging positive behaviour during lessons.
Below is my round up of the best bits:
Coach House Pianos – a piano showroom in Wales. Family run, they have over 250 pianos for you to try. Sure, it’s in Swansea so a bit of a trek, but if you are serious about buying a piano but don’t know which one to buy, then this is the place for you. They have a selection of Steinway’s, Yamaha’s, Bechstein, Bosendorfer, Bluthner and Kawai’s. Let me know if you are interested in buying from them as I am always happy to come piano shopping with people.
Carrying on with pianos, we found this great Yamaha piano. It can play like a normal piano AND completely silently with headphones due to a clever bit of technology inside. Starts from £3,500.
We then also came across this company called Black Dress Code making black concert attire. Very useful for professional concerts.
We stopped to have a chat with our friends from the BBC Ten Pieces team and I saw this flyer for BBC Proms Inspire – they are looking for composers between the ages of 12 – 18. For more, see bbc.co.uk/promsinspire for more details.
News Flash! – **New** Pixie Rigs!! (see The Rigs section) – Arts Council England awards grant for summer tour (see our new calendar of events!)
What We Do Events – Workshops – Festivals – Sound/Science Performances – Videos
The Rig is an interactive installation combining percussion, creativity, musical exploration, visual stimulation, learning and adventure. Designed by professional musicians, The Rig is an impressive, original musical soundscape with an exciting visual impact aimed at kids from 1 to 100 years old!!
The Rig is made from recycled, altered and adjusted objects to form crazy inventions with unusual sounds. We hope to promote awareness about recycling and the creative reuse of everyday items! We explore the science behind sound with the aim of encouraging musical creativity and rhythmic adventure through the stimulating and thrilling medium of percussion.
The Rig is fully accessible for wheel chair users and children with disabilities and is able to be enjoyed regardless of ability or physical restraints.
Available for festivals, events, schools workshops, SEN schools, family days and corporate events so BOOK US NOW!
“For my four-year-old son who is music-obsessed, ‘The Rig’ was simply wonderful and enthralling, and I think he would have happily spent all day there, banging bottle tops, knives and forks, tin tea pots and the like with various implements. The creations were stunning and encouraged creativity, led by the wonderful and enthusiastic staff who interacted with the children, started beats and showed them how to make a variety of sounds” – Cornbury Festival Review
News Flash! – **New** Pixie Rigs!! (see The Rigs section) – Arts Council England awards grant for summer tour (see our new calendar of events!)
