Pocket Songs -- Black Lives Matter Commissioning Project
I am part of the Natural Voice Network, (NVN) based in the U.K. This is a several-hundred member network of people who work with voice and song, and who believe that singing is everyone’s birthright, regardless of musical experience or ability. There are thousands of people who sing with NVN voice leaders.
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Last year, a small group formed inside the NVN called ARCHers, who were finding ways to practice Anti-Racism and Cultural Honoring as choral leaders.... and they had a brilliant idea to fundraise enough to commission 8 Black composers to write original works for our groups to sing.
When I proposed this idea to Pocket Song Singers, the response was enthusiastic and immediate... so here's how to participate! You can watch this 9 minute video, and/or read further below. |
This important project is run by 3 NVN members, Sian Croose, Kathy Bullock and Fran André. Its aim is to commission 8 black composers, 4 UK-based and 4 US-based, to write one song each for choirs/singing groups in the NVN. These songs will be learnable by ear, with sound files and scores to support your rehearsals, with a range of complexity from the straightforward, to the ‘takes more work but worth it!’
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Individual financial contribution is an intentional component of this project. It is a way of acknowledging and attempting to engage in a small but hopefully meaningful way with the economics of racism and inequality in music. As many of us know – and hopefully many more of us are waking up to – so much Black music has been appropriated, bought and sold with composers and performing artists not receiving proper remuneration and credit over the centuries. By making a direct contribution to this process we hope to highlight this issue, and do something practical and creative that raises our awareness of these transactions. NVN is asking for an average of £10-15 ($13-20) per singer involved.
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So far the project has raised enough to commission the first two composers - Lea Morris and Jennifer John. You can watch this 4-minute video of them, if you'd like further inspiration! Let's blow them away with our enthusiasm for this project!
With debit or credit card. The Paypal donate button above will take you to a secure online site; you do not need to have a Paypal account to use this; any standard card will work. It takes out a small percentage as a fee, but Tom and I have committed to covering all the bank charges for your donations and the cost of changing the $ to British pounds, so that you can feel sure your entire donation goes to the project.
With a Paypal account. If you have a Paypal account, you can send the money directly to me with no fee. Select "Send" to [email protected], Patricia Norton, and choose "Sending to a friend" to avoid fees. Please note that it's for the BLM project. Here's a Paypal Log-in link for your convenience!
By personal check. If you cannot make online payments, you can send a check made out to Patricia Norton at 1978 Academy Road, Thetford Center, VT 05075. Checks are extra work for me, so I trust you won't do that unless absolutely necessary!
All payments need to be received by March 15th, at which time I will take down this page, total up all the contributions, and send our full amount to the NVN!!!
With a Paypal account. If you have a Paypal account, you can send the money directly to me with no fee. Select "Send" to [email protected], Patricia Norton, and choose "Sending to a friend" to avoid fees. Please note that it's for the BLM project. Here's a Paypal Log-in link for your convenience!
By personal check. If you cannot make online payments, you can send a check made out to Patricia Norton at 1978 Academy Road, Thetford Center, VT 05075. Checks are extra work for me, so I trust you won't do that unless absolutely necessary!
All payments need to be received by March 15th, at which time I will take down this page, total up all the contributions, and send our full amount to the NVN!!!
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