LATEST NEWS
WORLDSONG FEATURE IN BBC RADIO 4 DOCUMENTARY
Singer songwriter Joan Armatrading has picked a Coventry choir to feature on a BBC Radio 4 series on outstanding choirs. The acclaimed singer-songwriter came to Coventry earlier this month to eavesdrop on one of WorldSong's weekly rehearsals. She talked to members about what makes their music-making unique, and listened to their special stories about how the choir has helped to change their lives.
The series, Joan Armatrading's favourite choirs, features five exceptional choirs from around the country, picking up on the wave of new interest in choirs and choral music. The choirs chosen demonstrate different styles of music, each with a distinct sound.
WorldSong's wide-ranging repertoire draws on harmony singing traditions from around the world — usually sung in the language of the country of origin. Formed in 1997 by Chris Rowbury, the 60-strong choir has performed extensively in Coventry and throughout the region. Chris said that "the choir's main guiding principle is that everyone can sing and nobody should be excluded from music. WorldSong plays a very important part in the lives of its members, and everyone is really excited that our music and our personal stories will be heard by a national radio audience."
WorldSong has recently been taken over by Una May Olomolaiye, who has worked throughout the UK as a vocalist, composer and vocal director, and whose influences include Gospel, jazz and traditional African music. Una May said: "There are more than 25,000 choirs in the UK, so we were thrilled to hear that WorldSong was one of just five choirs that Joan Armatrading had chosen to visit for this series."
Joan Armatrading is credited with being the first black female singer songwriter to gain prominence on the British music scene. She has been touring and recording for more than 25 years. Her classic songs — Love and Affection, Drop the Pilot, and Me Myself and I — have earned her Grammy nominations. She has also accumulated 18 gold records and 10 platinum records in her career, as well as critical acclaim.
WorldSong's story will feature as part of the BBC Radio 4 series, Joan Armatrading's favourite choirs which will be broadcast 19 - 23 May at 3.45pm each weekday. Our piece will be broadcast on Tuesday 20th May.
CHRISTMAS CONCERT IS CHRIS'S SWAN SONG
For the fifth year running, WorldSong brought their unique mix of traditional songs from around the world to Hearsall Baptist Church in Coventry, raising £500 for the Red Cross in the process. Playing to a packed house of around 150 people, the choir sang their hearts out and a thoroughly enjoyable evening was had by all!
Amongst the expected traditional harmony songs from places such as South Africa, Jamaica, New Zealand and Eastern Europe, the evening included 12 Christmas songs from different parts of the world. Chris also managed to persuade the audience to join in with a couple of festive numbers!
The choir premiered an arrangement of Johnny Nash's I can see clearly now as well as a jolly little Jamaican number and our sixth version of the Georgian favourite Mravalžamier. The afternoon rehearsal had been such a joy, and the choir had sung so well, that Chris had begun to worry that the evening wouldn't be so good. He needn't have done so though as the evening was even better, providing a wonderful concert for him to bow out with. This was Chris's last concert with the choir as he will be handing over to new musical director Una May Olomolaiye from January. Una May will be leading the choir in her first two concerts either side of Easter 2008.
NEW FOOT and MOUTH PERFORMANCE GROUP FORMED
Two Tuesday evening audition workshops were held in Kenilworth in early December to form a new performance group (FOOT and MOUTH) with voice at its heart. The new group will begin working together in January. It's very likely that we will need to take on new people in the future, so if you are interested and were unable to make the auditions, please contact us to express your interest.
Drawing on his 25 years' experience as a theatre performer, director and teacher, Chris's new performance group will be exploring what he is calling voice theatre. That is, theatre with voice at its heart: singing, speaking, chanting, shouting, moving, whispering, rhythm, body percussion, etc. This is an exciting new departure into a form that doesn't really exist at present. Rather than going to a concert and seeing a static group of people singing, Chris wants to use vocal and theatre techniques to create a new kind of performance. It will be non-narrative, poetic and ambiguous, and definitely NOT musical theatre!
The group of 20 - 25 people will work together each Tuesday evening in Kenilworth for a couple of hours exploring vocal and theatrical techniques and creating performances. The group is auditioned since Chris is looking for people who can hold a tune, have rhythmic ability, are happy to be physical and use their bodies, and are willing to throw themselves wholeheartedly into the new venture.
On Saturday 13 October Chris made the first step towards forming the new group by holding a one-day workshop called Mouth Dances and Body Songs. The day was an exploration of the use of voice, body and rhythm in a theatrical context and attracted 25 people.
CHRIS HANDS OVER WORLDSONG REINS TO NEW MUSICAL DIRECTOR
Ten years is a long time for one person to be running a choir! In that time WorldSong have come on a remarkable journey, improving beyond recognition and raising the stakes each time we perform. We have tackled increasingly difficult songs, extended our repertoire to almost 200 songs from around 45 different countries, made two CDs, performed in a wide range of indoor and outdoor venues, and attracted an enthusiastic following wherever we go.
This year alone we've performed on London's South Bank to celebrate the opening of the Royal Festival Hall, released our second CD and presented our most theatrical concert yet to our largest audience so far. The question then is: where do we go next?
The answer is: it's time to take off the training wheels, raise the bar even more, and hand over to a new musical director who can take the choir onto bigger and better things! "Change is always hard, but I believe this is in the best interests of the choir," said Chris. "Onwards and upwards!". So it is, with great pleasure, that we announce that Una May Olomolaiye will be taking over the choir from January 2008.
Una May is a talented vocalist, composer, choir and workshop leader. Having come from the Black church experience, Una May's main musical influence is Gospel, although she is also recognised as being one of a new generation of jazz vocalists. She has worked alongside some of Britain's top jazz musicians and performed internationally with the female acappella group Black Voices. Una May has travelled extensively in Africa, collecting and writing music which she has arranged and developed with many choirs across Britain. She currently leads the community Amika Choir in Leicester.
Una May has a love of all kinds of music and was especially impressed by the choir's rendition of the Macedonian song More Sokol Pie at our recent Butts concert. She has also fallen in love with our arrangement of the Scottish gaelic song Fhir a bhata and promises to keep our extensive repertoire alive.
