Violinists to the rescue

BBC Radio Humberside: New Paths at Freddie’s

In the last three weeks, the New Paths team has been working in conjunction with Frederick Holmes School in Hull for children with severe physical disabilities and those with profound and multiple needs. Hollywood composer David Buckley has written a new piece, Viking Voyage, especially for this project, which has seen New Paths artists Alexandra Caldon, Alex Caldon, John Slack and Libby Burgess working alongside the Freddie’s students. Co-ordinated by Mark Pybus and Patrick Plunkett, the project has been an inspiration for all involved.

The whole school has been involved with Viking-themed work and activities this term, and a performance to staff and students took place last week. The piece will be performed publically at 4pm on Saturday 7th April, at Toll Gavel United Church, as part of the Musical Takeover of Beverley – an entire day of free events.

The project was featured on BBC Radio Humberside‘s Breakfast show, after presenter Lizzie Rose visited a rehearsal at Freddie’s. Here she is chatting to the people involved and previewing the music:

Festivity: Bringing in the Spring

HU17.net coverage of junior school visits in March 2018

On March 19th, the website HU17.net published an article about New Paths’ upcoming visits to two Beverley primary schools.  Read the article here and see a .pdf of it below:

Two Beverley Primary Schools To Receive Special Musical Visits

During the visits on March 21st, approximately 800 children in Beverley enjoyed lively professional performances of high quality music.  We’re greatly looking forward to visiting other primary schools in Beverley in the future.

A word in your shell-like: “Rococo!”

A bridge to the “kings and queens of song”

Changes of cast: baritone and bassoon

Mezzo-soprano: Carris Jones

New Paths is thrilled that Carris Jones sings in the 2018 festival. We are honoured to have the history-making mezzo-soprano on the roster. In 2017 Carris ‘broke a glass ceiling’ by becoming the first full-time female singer in the choir of St Paul’s Cathedral. Read the story here. We are proud that Carris is the latest in a line of brilliant musicians from St Paul’s appearing in the festival (in our inaugural year Simon Johnson, the organist of the cathedral gave the recital ‘…A la mémoire…’ and last year bass baritone Edward Grint, a colleague of Carris in the cathedral choir, sang in A Retrospective).

Carris is singing some stunning songs in the festival. Hear her sing:

  1. ‘The Seal Man’ by Rebecca Clarke in Stories and Sagas on Thursday 5th April
  2. Britten’s ‘Cabaret Songs’ and Thomas Hyde’s ‘Larkin Songs’ in Larkin’ About on Thursday 5th April
  3. the world premiere of Diana Burrell’s ‘Two English Folk Songs’ in Footsteps Through the Snow on Thursday 5th April
  4. ‘Efterskord’ by Stenhammar in Viking Virtuosity on Friday 6th April
  5. Folksongs arranged by Britten in At Sixes and Sevens on Friday 6th April
  6. ‘King David’ by Howells in Songs of Praise on Sunday 7th April

This news item is published during World Women’s Week 2018. And so it is perhaps striking that the first song on the list – The Seal Man by Rebecca Clarke – is based on a Celtic myth which reverses the genders of the Greek myth of the Sirens. The legend is of a seal who takes on the form of a man in order to lure women to their death in the sea.

Don’t miss tales of mermen and so much more in Beverley this spring!