Ivo Neame: passing on the baton
- Posted by
- Amy C at 7:43pm, Wednesday 26 October 2011
I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall at Southbank Centre over the past few weeks, as the three members of Phronesis (Jasper Hoiby, Ivo Neame and Anton Eger) have undertaken the task of teaching arrangements of their tunes to a 40-strong group of singers and instrumentalists. The arrangements have been created by Dave Maric – a very gifted composer in his own right, who also happens to have a vivacious personality, perfectly suited to instilling enthusiasm in the next generation of musicians. I won’t speak more about him. You can read it here. Also present for the first few workshops was Sachal Vasandani – who made a flying visit to London just over a week ago.
Ivo Neame kindly offered to write a few words for the blog, to give us a taste of the workshops so far.
Over to you, Ivo.
“As a newcomer to the blogosphere, I would hereby like to gain my blogging wings by relating to you some of the recent shenanigans that have been happening in my life.
As part of the band Phronesis, led by comrade Jasper Hoiby, I have had the good fortune to be involved in a series of workshops with young singers and instrumentalists. The aim of this project is to enable these musicians to develop their musicianship and creativity within the context of Jasper's music, eventually culminating in a Phronesis-plus-orchestra-and-chorus extravaganza at the South Bank. We have been fortunate to have on board the prowess and experience of uber-assured US vocalist Sachal Vasandani and maverick UK composer Dave Maric.
I've not had much experience leading workshops so Sachal has done most of the talking, and I have been extremely impressed with his “workshop etiquette”. It's at times like these I wish I had more of an easy-going American nature instead of my confounded British reserve (!), if, dear reader, you will permit the dreadful cultural stereotyping. By way of example, one of his lines was: “......How much do I love all of you guys”. It sounded totally natural and put everyone at ease. I think I'd probably need at least two and a half bottles of red wine to communicate a similar sentiment. Nevermind.
All in all, the students have turned in excellent individual and group performances, and I have been heartened by their commitment, open-mindedness and aptitude. It's reassuring that there are so many talented young musicians around, It's great that us miserable, old grouchs are getting the chance to perform with some fresh-faced neophytes - I think the combination should make for an interesting gig, so please, make an effort to come down and see the performance on November 20th.”
The workshops are part of Southbank Centre’s Soundbank project, and will culminate in a free performance at the Front Room (Queen Elizabeth Hall) at 6pm on the last night of the Festival (Sunday 20 November).
We’ve actually bagsied Ivo that evening. He’ll be playing piano with Hermeto Pascoal over at the Barbican. But as an audience member, you’re lucky enough to be able to see both.
Thanks very much to Cat Munro for providing us with the photos. And to Ivo for taking the time to send us a few words.
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