Nov 04 2009
Ways into Workshops 2009 part 1
Last week I attended the Ways into Workshops 2009 residential course at Minsteracres, near Consett in County Durham and put on by MusicLeader NE. This is part 1 of my response to taking part.
It is easy to refer to such events as being inspiring, but so much has come out of this particular one that it can only be described in such terms. On a personal level it was a revelation, but it may also prove to be a catalyst for action in Scotland. I’ll comment on that in another post.
Amy Higgs and Trevor Snowdon had organised an event for everyone. I was not familiar with any of the names of those leading the sessions, but I am now.
Hugh Nankivell, Dave Camlin, Beccy Owen and Rob Kitchen worked hard to ensure that it was fluid, creative and dynamic, with an emphasis on making people feel relaxed enough to step out of their comfort zone.
On the Monday night the participants brainstormed a theme for the event and a title worthy of a festival. Beyond the Bridge is what we came up with and it kept coming back as a refrain over the two days to help take people into new musical places. We all wanted to cross over into new ways of learning, teaching and maybe even performing.
Singing was a big part of the event, even for “non-singers”, because, as it was continually pointed out to us, there is no such thing as someone who can’t sing. For someone like myself who never sang in public until compelled to by the workshops I lead, this was both uncomfortable and encouraging. An honest acceptance of an honest contribution is welcome to the individual and a reminder of how some people feel about our own workshops. It isn’t necessarily exciting for everyone and can cause anxiety for people who feel that they aren’t musical.
On the Monday night, I had a discussion with Kate, building a community choir in Stockton-on-Tees, and Aly, who is on the new Community Music course at Newcastle University. One conclusion reached was that genius is something that can become apparent in anybody, given the right opportunities in life. I paraphrase, but we all agreed that as musicians and music leaders, we were aiming to provide those opportunities to everyone we worked with. It was heartening and also served as a reminder about why we were there.
More in the event to follow.
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