Open Mic Night

Mark Twain said, ‘Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.’ We encounter fear in all different forms. What is it about facing an audience, standing up on stage, behind a mic that triggers a sense of fear in most people? To be honest, I don’t know. But what I do know is that open mic nights are definitely great opportunities to gather courage, ‘master’ our fears and have a lot of fun at the same time!

At the Winter Festival’s Open Mic Night you will get to hear some great performers, have the chance to share your talent with the community, and help two great charities whilst having a wonderful time! You can even take a solo slot in support of the charities. Don’t forget to invite your friends and family!

More about the charities:

Streetwise Opera: ‘Streetwise Opera is an award-winning charity that uses music as a tool to help 500 homeless people per year move forward in their lives. They have a weekly music programme in 11 homeless centres across England and they stage critically-acclaimed opera productions starring their own performers! ’  You can read more about Streetwise Opera here.

Crisis Skylight: ‘Crisis Skylight London is an award winning education, training and employment centre for homeless and vulnerably housed people in East London. It offers practical and creative workshops in a supportive and inspiring environment together with formal learning opportunities that lead to qualifications and finding work.’ Find out more about Crisis Skylight here. Don’t forget to pop into the Crisis Skylight Café when you’re in the vicinity for some freshly-made tasty food.

Open Mic Night, Crisis Skylight Cafe, Thursday 15 December 7.00-9.00pm
Pay what you can on the night, booking required.
To book please contact our box office on 020 7377 1362.

Niharika Jain
Marketing & Communications Intern

Winter Festival photographs are here!

We had a fantastic time during the Winter Festival, and we hope those who attended did also. Here are a few photos of our favourite festival moments and events:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Photograph credits: Celine Smith and  Sabine Tilly

Less than a week to go!

Our Acting Executive Director, Sarah Macnee shares with us a selection of the treats on offer at this year’s Winter Festival.

This is my first Festival with Spitalfields Music, and I could not be more excited. Our Executive Director, Abigail Pogson, has just had a baby, and I have stepped into her shoes; being here for the Festival is one of the best parts of my temporary role.

I have yet to meet so many of the people who will be making the Festival a success, including all of the volunteer stewards – we couldn’t do without them. I am also beginning to become aware of the great work done by the temporary team who join us and manage the events to make them work technically, creatively and logistically, ensuring that the audiences have a wonderful hitch-free experience.

Now that we’re getting closer, I can ruminate on what I’m most looking forward to, although in truth I want to mention all of them!

There are five concerts featuring the work of Monteverdi, and our opener on Monday 13 December promises to be a great introduction to the baroque form with La Nuova Musica’s performance of songs from the Book Seven of Madrigals, illuminating the turning point from renaissance to baroque. We are also delighted to welcome a filetta from Corsica and Carmina from Iceland. I can’t wait to hear Carmina’s interpretation of renaissance polyphony in their performance of songs from two renowned Icelandic songbooks.

I have a deep rooted affection for fables of all kinds, so it is a great pleasure to be able to host the premiere of Fables – A Film Opera on Friday 17 December. The whole event, part film, part opera, is created by Streetwise Opera and promises to be a magical experience. I’m also looking forward to hearing other fabulous work from the composers involved with Fables, in Songs in the wires a couple of nights earlier.

The great thing about all Spitalfields Music Festivals is the way they mix great artists, amazing and diverse locations and engage the local community as participators and performers as well as audience members. I know that local primary school children, our young musicians and our community choirs have also been hard at work preparing seven fabulous free events. I’m particularly looking forward to Spitalfields Soundings where our winter stage will play host to musicians and bands performing in the market, enticing shoppers to stop and listen for a while.

Spitalfields Music Winter Festival
13 – 18 December & 5 – 7 January

Full listings here.

Book your tickets now!

[ A filetta photographed by J M Colonna ]

60 Seconds With…Matt Peacock

Today we have the next installation of our feature ’60 Seconds with…’! Over  the coming weeks we will be posting quick and quirky interviews with the people behind the music at the Winter Festival. There’s no hard and fast rule with what we ask – most questions come from members of the team – though if you’d like to contribute, leave your questions in the comments section. Enjoy!

This week, Streetwise Opera‘s Executive Director,  Matt Peacock discusses Blue Whales,  Britten’s operas and wanting to be a doctor!

Times or Guardian?
Guardian

Wine or Beer?
Both (especially real ale and white wine though not together obviously!)

What’s the most played track from your MP3 player/CD collection?
Video Killed the Radio Star, The Buggles (if I’m being honest, the most-played track is actually something from the BBC’s In the Night Garden but I decided to ignore that!)

What did you want to be when you grew up?
Doctor

Where’s your favourite place in London?
Natural History Museum. This is such a hard question – I love so many places in London: Kings Road at Christmas, the Southbank between the Royal Festival Hall and Tate Modern on a sunny day, the parks, St Christopher’s Place… But ultimately my first memory of London was looking at the Blue Whale in the Natural History Museum and now I’m taking my kids to do the same so it’s a special place for me

What’s the most memorable performance you’ve seen as an audience member?
Billy Budd at ENO with Simon Keenlyside in 2005. I was lucky enough to see a lot of opera in many different places when I worked for Opera Now magazine. For me it has to be a Britten opera because I love his music and he was at the top of his game when writing opera. This production stood out for me because the combination of the singing and the direction knocked me over.

Why did you want to work with Spitalfields Music?
The perfect integration between mainstream and community programming

What inspires you?
Surprising people with what they can achieve

Fables – A Film Opera premieres on Friday 17 December at Shoreditch Church (St Leonard’s) . For more information please visit www.spitalfieldsmusic.org.uk

What Makes a Great Fable?

What do you think makes a great fable? We asked a whole host of people involved in Fables – A Film Opera (composers, directors, workshop leaders and members of our team) exactly that! This is what they said…

Discover more videos on our YouTube channel!