I work for Learning & Participation (L&P) and we're all excited and busy for the festivities. Today was the practice Silver Big Sing. The real thing is Sunday at 1.30pm on the concourse...come and watch!
Photo Credit North News and Pictures

Silver is open to anyone over the age of 50, musical background is not a requirement...only enthusiasm is! The Silver Programme started out as a community style choir during the day time and now has over 1000 attendances each week. The concourse is alive with song as they sing carols and festive songs. The Silver Programme has a wealth of activities during the daytime including show songs, community choirs, ukulele groups, classical singing, gospel singing. The sessions happen all over the North East. If you know anyone who'd be intersted then contact Silver@thesagegateshead.org for more details.

Saturday is when I start to get busy. We've got Open Studio workshops happening and these are open for the public to come and have a look at what we do. Open Studio is the non-auditioned element of the Young Musicians Programme. The musicians of any standard and any instrument can come and learn composition and arrangement as well as focusing on playing in ensembles and bands. I'm the project leader for this and I love it. We have two groups that come in. The first group are aged 8-11 and they work with me on a range of musical activities that boost their knowledge and understanding of everything from instrument families, music theory, singing work and Ukulele! The older members are aged 11-18. They look at vocal and aural work with me for the first 40 minutes and then go into compostion workshops with Rob, Adam, Matt and Dave. The compositions are in 2 groups and they both write to the same brief which encompasses elemements of western art music and requirements for the GCSE syllabus. Then it's onto ensemble....we've got folk, rock and funk/electronic. They're great! (in my opinion!)

On Sunday the Open Studio groups are taking part in concert in Hall 2 at 1.30pm. This event will showcase Co-Musica groups, Steel Pan bands and Open Studio participants....my 7-11 year olds are playing a ukulele medley that's not to be missed!! The concert is free, but ticketed, so please contact the ticket office, 0191 443 4661, for more information.

Photo Credit Mark Savage

After this is another special concert on Sunday which is Young Musicians Programme past and present. This concert will include performances from Weekend School students past and present and also a performance from our new Regional Youth Ensemble 'Stringendo'. These are some of the most talented, and hard working, young musicians in the region. Tickets are £7, £5 or £3.50.

Photo Credit Mark Savage

These are the bits I'm really excited about!!

Friday was amazing. On Sunday's I am a vocal tutor for The Sage Gateshead's Weekend School. The weekend school is an auditioned programme for gifted young musicians where they recieve a full and rounded musical education. On Friday the vocal tutors had a full day of training with Paul Farrington. Paul is an outstanding vocal tutor who was also a clinical vocal consultant for 16 years. He's taught at the Royal Academy of Music and is a main tutor for the Samling Foundation. In the training workshop we looked at new vocal teaching techniques as well as the anatomy of voice. We looked at developing voices, changing voices, different types of falsetto....the list goes on! I came out feeling that I still had so much to learn but really felt I couldn't wait to learn it! I felt pretty lucky to be doing my job!

From that workshop I went straight into a Northern Sinfonia Chorus rehearsal. I've been a member of the Chorus for about 18 months now. I love it! Don't get me wrong, it's hard work, but it's worth it. We rehearse on Sunday nights from 7-10pm....nearly every Sunday. The first project I did was Beethoven's 9th symphony...(think ode to joy). It's a massive piece of music and so much fun to sing. We then took it to Hong Kong on tour!! Now that was an experience!

This weekend was Northern Sinfonia's Christmas Concert. We rehearsed with the Orchestra on Friday night and Saturday afternoon and did concerts Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. With two hours off we went on to do a recording session. The concerts were recorded to make a Northern Sinfonia Christmas CD. In the session we re-recorded any bits that needed it, mainly pieces where there were audience claps or coughs.

The Christmas concert the highlight of my Christmas, so much so that I turned down 2 days of work to take part in it. There's something so special about this concert. This year we sang with Quay Voices (The Sage Gateshead's youth ensemble for voice) and also with the boys choir that had been a 7 week project to get 25 boys aged 7-change of voice ready to sing in front of 1700 people....twice! I adore Quay Voices! I am one of the pastoral carers that looks after them when they have residentials...and I took them to sing in the BBC Proms in September. It was great to see them again, and I think it's important that they see where the progression is...from Quay Voices they can join Sinfonia Chorus. I got a Hi-5 from each one of them as they went on stage....2 concerts...4halves....32 singers....128 Hi-5s! Excellent!!

We were conducted by Simon Halsey. Simon's one of the world's most well known and well loved Choral Conductors. He's chief conductor of the Berlin Radio Choir as well as Chorus Director of City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus and we're lucky enough to boast that he's been Principle Conductor of our Choral Programme for 5 years now. I spend much of my life conducting and leading choirs and I learn from Simon every time I see, and react to, his leading. Every gesture has meaning and he's so fluent and so clear that you know what he's asking. Everytime I work with (for?) him I get re-inspired to lead better! My choirs can all tell when we've had a Simon rehearsal. I'm far too enthusiastic the next day! I do tend to gush though....but to be fair, the man has two Grammy's....so I think that means I'm allowed!

The repertoire this Christmas was lovely...in Dulci Jubilo, O come Emmanuel, O Little Town of Bethlehem, Jingle Bells, Hark! The Herald, Wassail...to name a few! Northern Sinfonia also played Sleighride...it's the most christmassy (sp!?) piece of music. The 'neigh' of the horses at the end, the crack of the whip, the clop of the hooves...it makes me smile every time!

So in the lead up to fifth birthday next week I've sung in my favourite concert and had amazing training. Not bad, not bad at all!

This is my first attempt at a blog, so please bear with me!

My name's Kat and I'm a musician for The Sage Gateshead...you've hopefully noticed that it's out 5th Birthday this December...The publicity's been lovely. I especially like the cupcakes that greet you when you look at the Journal's website. There'll be three of us blogging from The Sage Gateshead in the run up to the birthday; Tom Besford, Fiona Gill and I.

My job at The Sage Gateshead is Project Leader for Open Studio, Vocal tutor for Weekend School, Vocal Union leader and from January I'm also going to be Folk Strand Leader. Obviously none of these are full time but it still takes some juggling!

I'm pretty lucky in my job that I get to work with a huge amount of people and in lots of different places...I do some miles but I quite like that! I was asked to write a blog because my week can be so varied and fun. I'll give you a very brief run down!

Monday 'Song Reivers' up at Tarset. The group is nearly a year old, about 20 members and so much fun. Then off to Haydon Bridge High School, my old school(!), to lead an a capella singing group and then teach two male pupils (getting them ready for university entries and a level exams). Monday evening is a family choir in Long Benton. This has only been running a few weeks and numbers are still low but I love it! It's at a primary school and the aim is to get the children and the parents singing. We've got one Dad who has no faith in his singing ability...He has no idea that he's a really good singer!! I also think it's really encouraging when Dads sing with their children, again especially boys. I think it changes boys perceptions of singing.

Tuesday Tuesdays alternate between an a capella singing group, for my old music teacher, in Hexham and Vocal Union sessions at a school in County Durham.Vocal Union is a Sage Gaeshead project that takes vocal leaders into schools over a long period of time (a year and more). In the time in school the vocal leaders teach songs, musical games and technique to the teachers hrough teaching the children. Everything is about passing it onto the teacher so that they feel able to lead the songs inbetween sessions, and also when the project ends and we leave the school. It's a good project, sometimes quite hard...teachers often don't believe they can lead song but it's important that they remember that when you're in primary school, infant school, first school the children adore their teacher and if you sing confidently then they'll sing with you, never doubting you. I still whole heartedly believe that my first school teacher knows everything!

I'll do the rest of the week another day...I'd better do some work today!

I think I'll get used to this blogging...it's hard to know what to write though...I don't know what's interesting to read!

I'm listening to Einaudi at the moment; Ludovico Einaudi has been described as minimalist, classical, ambient and contemporary....He just clams me down! When I was at uni, in first year, one of my flatmates, Sarah, played one track - Nefeli - to me on the piano and I fell in. Have a listen and let me know what you think.

Thanks for stopping by,
Kat