Mandela & The Role of Music in the Struggle Against Apartheid

Mandela & The Role of Music in the Struggle Against Apartheid

by | Jun 3, 2018 | 0 comments

Mandela & The Role of Music...

Mandela & The Role of Music in the Struggle Against Apartheid

The focus of this project is the life and work of Nelson Mandela, as well as prominent South African musicians who played a key role in bringing the issue of apartheid to the attention of the world through their music.

Children look at how music can be a tool for social change in its power to act as a unifying voice for a community, express ideas and emotions, and reach beyond geographical boundaries. They listen and respond to musical recordings, and learn to sing and accompany several of the traditional songs that took on social significance during the apartheid years.

Children explore ways in which movement can be used to convey a message or tell a story, and explore sound, language and rhythm to create soundscapes and their own multi-layered protest chants.

All the elements of the project are woven together to create a powerful and thought-provoking 20-minute performance piece.

This performance project has taken place at Sunnyhill, Tiverton and Ashmole Primary schools, performed by year 5 children.

Photography by Tracy Woodford

Meadowsong

Meadowsong

by | May 9, 2018

Meadowsong

Celebrating the wonders of wildflower habitats

The Meadowsong song cycle is a musical journey through the beautiful and fascinating habitat of a wildflower meadow – from the deep, dark, secrets of the soil to the vibrant colours, sounds and scents of a meadow buzzing with creatures. It is a celebration of the power of the earth to sustain our wildlife, of habitats that give life to so many organisms, and of the interconnectedness of all living things.

The piece, commissioned by Haringey, was performed by a massed choir from 52 primary and secondary schools alongside borough instrumental ensembles at Royal Albert Hall and Finsbury Park in summer, 2018.

A National Primary Schools Programme
in collaboration with RSPB and WWF

The Meadowsong project aims to give children across the country the opportunity to experience the beauty and wonder of the wildflower habitat and its wildlife. Through the power of song, outdoor learning, the Arts, Science and English, Meadowsong offers an immersive learning experience that gives children and teachers the opportunity to support biodiversity in creative and active ways.

Meadowsong teacher training days and resources support primary teachers to stage a musical performance, plant a wildflower area at school and deliver a rich programme of classroom and outdoor learning as part of the Yr 3 plants topic.

Following the success of the Meadowsong cross-curricular pilot in 2019, a national project for primary schools was launched in collaboration with the RSPB and WWF. In Spring 2020, local authority area training days were delivered to primary teachers and music leads in Northampton, Warrington, St Helen’s, south Cornwall, Peterborough, North Lincolnshire, Bedford and Leicester. We hope to be able to deliver training days in additional regions across Britain in Spring 2021.

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Visit the Meadowsong website
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Feedback from the 2018 Royal Alber Hall concert:

“Thank you once again for your fantastic composition. It made such a wonderful impression, worked so beautifully and inspired so many people”.

Peter Desmond

Head of Music, Haringey

“Your songs Kate are absolutely amazing and the children were so enthused and inspired by singing them. I do hope we get to work together again soon.”

Toby Davies

Music Teacher, Bounds Green Primary

 “It was an amazing night. Well done to you! The choir loved every minute. We would love to work with you again soon!” 

Clare Danso

Head of Music, Woodside High Secondary School

Feedback from teachers about the 2020 Meadowsong project training days:

“The Meadowsong training I’ve attended today has been absolutely brilliant – probably the best training I’ve ever been on, so if you get a chance to go on it, go on it. It’s well worth it.”

“The training was absolutely terrific. Such an amazing inspirational day. Lots of ideas for plans for teaching – incorporating music and dance, and the main part being that we’re going to create a meadow space for the children to enjoy and to bring the wildlife into our school playground.”

“Excellent delivery by two experts – thank you!”

“I have learned how to deliver the teaching of ‘plants’ in a dynamic, exciting new way, a way to perform what has been learnt that will be shared with the wider community. 

How easy it can be to create a meadow – don’t need lots of space for it to be effective and get children outside.”

“Extremely engaging and a good combination of practical and discussion activities. Eager to plant our wildflower meadow.”

“Great songs, materials and ideas. Good to learn about this amazing project.”

“The music and singing was fantastic. There are so many elements to Meadowsong and how it fits the curriculum. It gives all children with different abilities the opportunity to shine.”

“Great ideas for implementing a range of activities into the classroom, not only for year 3 children but for my eco-committee. I really enjoyed the drama and the music. Thank you.”

“Good links to the national curriculum and good advice for planting the meadow. Love the SEEK app and books advice. Very friendly and approachable trainers”

“Lots and lots of ideas to use straight away as well as such beautiful songs”

“Very thorough resource, and trainers pre-empted many questions. Course delivery itself was very practical giving me a memorable experience of how it can be delivered in school”

“Loved the singing! Drama exercises were great. Loved it so much”

“Doing all the activities, brilliant explanations. Demonstrating how the APPS work, how to deliver the songs, how it can blend together, looking at how pictures/dance/art and music can be performed.”

“A whole pack of amazing ideas, very informative and inspiring leaders, well-paced and fun course, ticks lots of classroom and curricular boxes.”

“Learning the songs…how to use the resources to get the kids really involved in the meadow through films, songs, movement, words and art and allowing self-expression”

“Very well presented. All activities were very interesting and achievable. Beautiful music, can’t wait to teach those in my class.”

“Really good ideas. Increased confidence”

“If we can get this right at a curriculum level at school bringing the indoors outdoors and the outdoors indoors… learning in a variety of ways, children will be much healthier academically, emotionally and mentally.”

Feedback about the 2019 Meadowsong project:

“I felt with the assembly and the planting of the meadow it was probably the best day I’d ever had at the school.”

Anita Chandler

Learning Support Assistant, London

“My favourite song is the Riddle Song because most of my favourite flowers are there, in the song”

Y4 pupil, 2019

“It’s made me into a more adventurous person.”

Y5 pupil, 2019

“When we sing them and when we create stuff with the nature it feels like we are actually nature… cos’ we are, we all live on the same planet because that’s what biodiversity is all about.”

Y3 pupil, 2019

Meadowsong artwork by Sophie Charalambous.

small-bird-old

small-bird-old

by | Oct 14, 2016

I Soar

I soar, I duck, I dodge.
My mission is so simple:
Reach the warmth, the food
Follow the stars, follow the sky
Reach the place where the rich food lies
Use the power in my wings
The wind is strong
But so am I

Esther Kent

One Small Bird

Ballad of the Red-Necked Phalarope

By Kate Stilitz & Jilly Jarman

The song cycle will be performed by 2000 young singers and instrumentalists at the Royal Albert Hall on June 27th as part of the Haringey Schools Music Festival.

The piece, commissioned specially for this event will involve the borough’s youth symphony orchestra, big band, steel pan, guitar ensembles and youth choir Haringey Vox as well as junior instrumentalists and choirs from 48 Haringey schools.

A group of young musicians from Lima, Peru will also perform at the event.

The song cycle was inspired by the RSPB’s exciting discovery in 2014 of the migratory route from Shetland to Peru of one of Britain’s rarest birds, the Red-Necked Phalarope.

Children participating in the project have found the story fascinating and exciting: “Such a tiny creature is so soft and fragile but it’s actually very brave and determined and powerful.”

Links:

www.jillyjarman.co.uk

www.haringey.gov.uk/

More Poetry by the Children

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Leaving

I created a nest like a puzzle
Shadows are creeping over the land
My egg hatched into fragments of shell

Will I miss the cosy nest?
Will this place change while I’m away?
Will I ever come back?

Liv Goldreich

The Red Necked Phalarope

This is the story of a little bird,
it flew much further than I had heard,
It took flight from the safety of an experts hand,
it flew from land to land to land.

No-one realised how far it flew,
until they discovered it’s journey to Peru.
It did not travel by plane or boat,
It flew by itself with it’s russet red throat.

Maya Brown

Flight

That uplifting moment
Breathtaking
Enlightening
When you rise up and up and up

When the wind takes control
Freedom!

Talia Hendry

Little Bird

A little bird
Flew a distance that no-one else could reach.
What a miracle.
A small thing is not weak
This is evidence and you say:
How far did it fly?

It flew over the ocean
Past Greenland
And to the Caribbean
And not only that
It flew into the wind
With no difficulty

What a miracle

Hafsa Ahmed

If I had Wings

When the wind came I took to my wings
I flew quite unsteadily at first
But it was worth it.

Soaring through the sky
The freedom of being so high
When I let loose and flew

Flight was my destiny
in the atmosphere full of danger –
But the view!

I wish I could go again…
If I had wings
If I had wings

Noah Max

If I was a Bird

If I was a bird I would see the world
In a new light
A new perspective.
All the millions of problems and arguments would mean nothing to me.
I would be free of the greedy, the selfish and the liars.

I would have the whole world to explore, to myself
If I was a bird

Robert Ibarra

Set Your Path Through the Sky

Set your path through the sky
Just keep on flying up so high
Small bird, don’t give up
Keep on flying so you don’t drop

Keep on flying through the air
Just don’t have a single care
You may be so very small
Just don’t give up so you don’t fall

Jason Small

One Small Bird

One Small Bird

by | Mar 4, 2016

One Small Bird

Ballad of the Red-Necked Phalarope

By Kate Stilitz & Jilly Jarman

This song cycle was inspired by the RSPB’s 2014 discovery of the migratory route of one of Britain’s rarest birds, the red-necked phalarope.

Facing huge obstacles, this tiny creature which weighs no more than a packet of crisps successfully crosses the Atlantic between Shetland and Peru every year. It passes through environments as diverse and challenging as the icy regions of the north and the storms of the Caribbean.

This little bird’s journey tells an inspiring story about strength and resilience in the face of harsh conditions, and of the unstoppable drive for survival among earth’s creatures.

One Small Bird has been performed by young people and community groups across Britain.

Alongside the song cycle, the One Small Bird project offers an opportunity for participants to engage in the incredible story of the red-necked phalarope through visual art, movement and poetry.

“The children’s understanding of the natural world has been greatly enhanced by this beautiful project which has allowed them to connect with nature in an immersive manner.”

Siobhan Barry

Assistant Headteacher, London

“These songs have caught the children’s imaginations and given them new knowledge and appreciation of the amazing events happening in nature. It seems that music can be a powerful catalyst for learning about all sorts of things out of our usual orbit.”

Laura Parfitt

teacher, London

OSB Performances

PREMIERE AT ROYAL ALBERT HALL JUNE 2016. HARINGEY SCHOOLS’ FESTIVAL

The piece, commissioned specially for this event by Haringey Music Service, involved the borough’s youth symphony orchestra, big band, steel pan, guitar ensembles and youth choir Haringey Vox as well as junior instrumentalists and choirs from 48 Haringey schools. A group of young musicians from Lima, Peru also performed at the event.

CUMBRIA MUSIC HUB, SANDS CENTRE, CARLISLE SUMMER 2017

A performance involving 400 North Cumbrian primary school children accompanied by Cumbria Youth Orchestra and BlueJam Youth Jazz ensemble.

SOUTH LAKELAND, SUMMER 2019

South Lakeland primary schools and the Westmorland Youth Orchestra performed the song cycle in Kendal in July 2019.

SHETLAND NATURE FESTIVAL 2019

This week-long project involving young people, their parents and local musicians was a collaboration with the RSPB for Shetland Nature Festival. The project culminated in a performance at the Mareel Arts Centre in Lerwick.

KATE STILIZ INTERVIEW

by BBC Radio Shetland

Photograph by Malcie Smith.

View O.S.B. Website
The Planet Gods

The Planet Gods

by | Apr 14, 2015 | 0 comments

the planet gods

The Planet Gods

Taking the book by Jaqueline Mitton and Christina Balit as inspiration, this project explores humans’ relationship with the planets and the mythology that surrounds the solar system. Through movement and drama improvisation, children explore the characteristics of the ‘planet gods’ and develop a series of monologues.

Children work in groups to compose a piece of instrumental music for each planet, the sun and the moon. In performance, these musical themes link the monologues to create a dramatic cycle of words and music, magically brought to life by illuminated lanterns.

This performance project has taken place at Tiverton and Sunnyhill Primary schools, performed by year 5 children.

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