our lovely volunteer trainees

At our last session we said goodbye to Gemma and Vicky, this years' trainees from Wells Cathedral school. They have been so welcome at every session, adding to the mix with beautiful French Horn, Violin, recorder, ukelele, voices.... Good luck in the future you two! We'll miss you!

Somerset Sound Foundation

Just back from giving a presentation about Heart Beats at the Somerset Sound Foundation (music hub) event hosted by Spaeda at Great Bow Wharf, Langport - 'how do we get more children and young people into music?'
Ideally I would have taken the whole gang along and just played music! But, words, photos and film had to suffice. Great to get good feedback and especially inspiring to hear about other work going on across the county and region - including Actiontrack and Drake Music amongst others.
Giving this presentation has helped me to think clearly about Heart Beats and look back on what has been good practice.
We're now entering phase two with our first 'rehearsal' session with our core peer leading team - a step into the unknown, but a good one I feel.

NEW YEAR, NEW EARS!

Our theme for this week is EXPLORATION.

We're going exploring in Alex and Ben's Spaceship full of new sounds!

We're landing on the Planet '2013' .... bleep bleep ... touching down ... what new music will we hear as we explore this unknown world?

It could sound strange, weird, wild, wonderful, crazy, squeaky, deep, funny ........

Approaching Planet 2013...... fasten your seat belts......

Don't miss the fun! This Thursday, same time, same place. Space food provided.

Declan's gig

'Our' musician in residence, Decan Millar, is out and about gigging. Please support him if you can!

Maggie and Bill Johnson form the Beacon Acoustic club say:

Dec performed at The Beacon last night and I'm still searching for an adjective that would do justice to his 'butterfly' song - how amazing to write songs of that calibre when still only 15 years old....

 

Anyway, if you fancy hearing more of his work now's your chance:

 

On Tuesday December 5th, Glastonbury Assembly Rooms' regular folk night, "Fabulous Furry Folk" hosts its youngest ever headline act in an evening of rootsy folk with a community vibe, and an opportunity for floor spots to support the main act. Recent "FFF" gigs have included headliners Robin Williamson, Martin Carthy and Martha Tilston but the final gig of the year brings it all back home with a chance for a local musician to play in the magical acoustic atmosphere of the Assembly Rooms' stone hall. Declan Millar has earned his wings over 5 years of appearances at Fabulous Furry Folk (yes - it's been going since 2007 when Dec was only 10!) and various other Assembly Rooms gigs. Still only 15 years old, he has also shared stages with Eliza Carthy and Lau and has recently been working on his first CD, produced in Bristol by Patrick Duff of Strangelove, and featuring his sister Caelia on fiddle and Brendan Sweetman on keyboards. His music blends influences including classic folk-rock and psych-folk; Declan is truly one of Glastonbury's finest troubadors. This gig will launch the new album and give the audience a chance to hear some  of his latest material as well as earlier songs.Support will be from various floor spots; please get in touch to play. Admission £5 on the door - 8 p.m. for an 8.30 start.(Nathan Williams)

Heart Beats - lots of new things coming up soon.

What some people may not know is that Heart Beats is a project in two phases. We're excited that when we come back from our summer break there will be lots of things going on in the Heart Beats universe!

We'll be starting our autumn sessions on September 13th - usual place (Wells Museum) and usual time (6.00 - 8.00). Don't forget to come if you're part of our gang - or, if you're not, but you'd like to join us, email info@heartbeats.org.uk for some information.

We'll be welcoming our new trainees too - Elin and Ros.

One session this autumn will be run by James Brookes, from Somerset Rural Youth project, who has promised us a rock band workshop. And we'll be going to Jame's project, Soundscapes, to run a  workshop for them.

This autumn we will be running a 'little Heart Beats' project at Critchill school in Somerset, to reach some new participants - this will be an after school club.

Next year we'll carry on. In 2013 we'll concentrate on helping our Heart Beats crew to take turns to lead the music.
So - when 'phase two' starts, we'll be taking Heart Beats out on the road. Next summer we can offer music workshops with our own Heart Beats music leaders, in schools and communities across the SW region. Do get in touch if you'd like to book a workshop or you want more information.

Trainees

Iona

The Heart Beats team and crew will be very sad to say goodbye to Iona and Sophia, our trainees. You've both been so valuable, helping everyone feel at home and adding lovely music with viola and trumpet.

Sophia

We wish you much luck for the future, in your exciting adventures at the Guildhall and Royal Academy of Music.... and here's hoping you find opportunities to do more community music.
It's a shame we didn't get to work with you for longer, but hope you will drop in from time to time to see how we all are.
Don't forget to find time to have some fun, too.