If, like me, you are both surprised and a little dismayed that the plans for a new Baccalaureate Curriculum completely exclude the study of creative subjects – including music, as well as design and technology, drama and art – you should check out the Bacc For The Future website.
I’m sure you will agree with me that this is an important issue, and that education as a whole will suffer from the lack of creative subjects in schools.
I shall be playing piano with the Joe Ringer Band for this nostalgic concert series.
Find yourself transported back to those cool, easy listening days of the 50s & 60s when you will be treated to the hits of Frank Sinatra, Burt Bacharach, Dusty Springfield, Bobby Darin, Aretha Franklin and many more of your favourite artists.
Top vocalist Joe Ringer leads his 8-piece band through a selection of truly classic favourites to create a laid back, swinging night to remember.
So, if you ‘Just Don’t Know What To Do With Yourself’, grab your ‘Wives & Lovers’ and enjoy ‘Music to Watch Girls by’, with matinée and evening shows on 17th November 2012, at The Fisher Theatre, Bungay, and another evening show at Dereham Memorial Hall on 22nd February 2013.
Get tickets for the two performances at The Fisher Theatre on 17th November 2012 here. Tickets for the performance at Dereham Memorial Hall on 22nd February 2013 will be available soon.
Crystal Bats will be supporting UK chart-toppers Sam And The Womp when they come to Norwich Waterfront on 3rd December this year, as part of their UK winter tour.
Tickets cost £8, and can be bought from the UEA Ticket Bookings website here.
Thanks to a restructuring, and a change in the funding system for In Harmony Sistema, the continued existence of the project in Norwich was in some doubt, towards the end of last year. When its DfE Grant was cut, In Harmony Norwich was discontinued.
I found the decision to cut the funding to In Harmony Norwich unfathomable. It was a short-sighted and stupid choice, and one which I suspect was motivated more by money and “image” than by a genuine concern for musical education.
On a personal note, I was disappointed not to get to be involved with In Harmony any more – I had spent a whole year working on this exciting and ground-breaking project, and had seen first-hand what a positive effect it was having on the children and the schools involved. I had enjoyed my time on the project, and I felt that I also developed and grew a lot as a person during the course of that year.
But I feared that the much more damaging implications of axing In Harmony Norwich would be what happened to the children involved, when the rug was pulled from under them – in a music education sense. I couldn’t stand the idea that talented and motivated children, who had spent several years learning an instrument, playing in orchestras, and benefitting from all the wonderful experiences that ensemble music can provide, would suddenly – almost overnight – be left with nothing to show for that.
I am very excited to start playing keyboards in East Anglia’s most exciting and dynamic party and function band, the Joe Ringer Band. Playing an entertaining mix of classic party tunes and modern pop hits, with everything from swing and soul to rock and pop thrown in, these are going to be some very fun gigs indeed!
My gigs with the Joe Ringer Band start from the middle of October, and I’m looking forward to getting the ball rolling with them.
Crystal Bats are one of the acts selected to play at the John Peel New Music Festival – part of the annual Norwich Sound & Vision Convention – this year. I shall be playing keyboards with Crystal Bats at OPEN (in Norwich) on 13th October.
I have been a proud endorser of Pellwood Professional Drumsticks for six years, now – and now, for the first time, I am travelling to Čestice, in the Czech Republic, to visit the company, and see their operation in action.
I am really looking forward to meeting Ivan and his team at Pellwood, and talking shop with them, and seeing where the drumsticks which I use on a daily basis actually come from!
On 20th July, I am going to be playing piano in the gallery at Pellafort Press – a silkscreen and printing studio run by artist Scarlett Massel – to celebrate the official opening of the Press’ gallery and workshop.
I shall be providing an entertaining mix of light jazz and lounge piano music to complement the evening.
I am delighted to be playing keyboards and synth with local pop duo Crystal Bats. I’ve had a great time in rehearsals with them so far, and very much enjoyed the material – now I’m looking forward to playing live as well.
My first Crystal Bats gig will be at The Waterfront, Norwich, on 22nd July – hope to see you there!
Following on from the gig Witchers did at the Classic Rock Society, supporting British Prog acts Credo and Comedy Of Errors, we have also been interviewed by the Classic Rock Society’s own magazine. In this interview – appearing in the May/June issue of the magazine – we talk about going from a four-piece to a five-piece line-up, and the changes that has had within the band, and we discuss our plans for the new album (coming later this year) and what lies beyond.
You can order your copy on the Classic Rock Society’s website, by choosing the May/June issue of the magazine on this page, and paying with PayPal.
