Academic year-end round-up - AEC, ECSA, ORA, & Oxford, & CYM Composers/Songwriters

As the new academic year hurtles towards us at lightening pace, I am reflecting on how beautifully our last one tied up:

My two ORA Singers composition mentees - one of whom went on to win the audience prize - had their final concert in a packed Gloucester Cathedral (I think I must be the last person to realise Harry Potter was filmed there…)

A wonderful last-before-the-break session with my AEC-ECSA (European Commission) composition mentee, Liza Bec, saw us talking about a thing I often say to myself: ‘make it work’, something I stole/inherited off Diana Burrell - more on that in a later post.

Guildhall CYM’s singer-songwriter/composers enjoyed a fruitful workshop & recording with the Jazz Department. I’m still de-Anglicising the focus of my teaching & we now study pieces from students’ heritage; this (and the album this is off) was a favourite: https://youtu.be/mFRAGqHUEfQ

My octogenarian former Oxford student, Robert Lefever, had a wonderful concert at The Cockpit Theatre with their song cycle of self-penned sonnet settings formed the evening’s centrepiece.

And then… me… I’ve two more chapters left to go voicing and sound designing the audiobook I’ve been working on this good while. I carved some time this summer to continue booking my Joni Mitchell tour & prepping the book proposal associated with it, & set myself the challenge of recording an EP in 48 hours - more on that in another post too.

… Then the usual bits connected to industry and its associated NDA’s… of which we never speak ;)

… & wondering how to start this year on the same high I left the last one.