Sea Woman – the blog!
A musical performance devised and created with young people from Winchester, based on a Scottish folk tale.
What is it all about?
A unique collaboration between Winchester schools and Winchester Youth Orchestra will see more than 150 teenagers take part in an extraordinary music and arts project in the Great Hall as part of this year's Winchester Festival.
The Festival is joining forces with Hampshire County Council's Music Service to stage three performances of Sea Woman, a musical re-telling of a Scottish folk tale using dialogue, dance, song, music technology, orchestral instruments and a gamelan.
The project is particularly unusual in that it involves students from Westgate, Kings', Henry Beaufort, Perins Schools and Peter Symonds College devising, creating and composing individual elements of the production. Work began in March and a weekly evening rehearsal schedule is now under way.
Sea Woman is not a performance by primary school children aimed at parents and grandparents. Rather, it's a large scale, vibrant piece of musical youth theatre which is investing in the talent of the next generation by drawing on students' expertise, encouraging them to push the boundaries of their creative experience and giving them a high profile platform at a premier event in Winchester's cultural calendar.
The historic setting of the Great Hall will be transformed by tiered seating to create an intimate performance space for the three re-tellings of Sea Woman on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 July.
Musical element:
We (Winchester Youth Orchestra) have had experience of such projects before with performances of Benjamin Britten's Noyes Fludde and David Bedford's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. But never before have orchestra members had the opportunity to contribute so much to a project. All of the music used in Sea Woman is completely new and as a direct result of workshops and ideas put forward by orchestra members during rehearsals. We also have electronic music created by Kings School GCSE students by way of sound manipulation and will also join pupils from Henry Beaufort School who are working with a Gamelan and members of Westgate's Ska Band who will bring a rock element to the proceedings! Some of the most creative sessions have evolved during the Greek Chorus rehearsals. Not only do they sing but chant whilst playing rhythmic patterns on stones. This small chamber choir is made of pupils from Perins, Westgate, Kings and Henry Beaufort Schools.
Sponsors:
We are thankful to the following organisations for their financial help with this project and welcome anyone else who might like to contribute financially to it!
Hampshire County Council's Music Service
PRS Foundation
Arts Council – Lottery Fund
The Leche Trust
Project leaders and staff:
Not everyone is included on this list. There are many others helping with costumes, choreography, dancing and making the set—thank you to all those who are giving up their time to make this possible!
· Lorraine Cheshire: director of performance
· Martin Read: composer and animateur
· Allison Amin: costume designer.
· Carl Clausen: project co-ordinator
Where can you purchase tickets from?
Tickets £10 and £6 (young people under 18 years)
Available from:
Cathedral Box Office: Tel 01962 857276
www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk
You can contribute to this blog by sending your material to
Carl - waso.director@gmail.com
Please feel free to leave comments on the posts !
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