Convo
From our Earth’s beginnings, to the connected world we live in today, music has always been a universal means of communication. Bird songs to love songs, ancient scores to film scores, Morse code to coding, ‘Convo’ explores how music gives us all a voice and our lives a soundtrack.
Convo Programme
See a PDF of the printed programme from the performance - DOWNLOAD HERE
Resources
All schools are able to freely access two bespoke-created cross-curricular resource packs designed to support teaching and learning in the classroom. These resource packs contain a wealth of information, teaching tools and engaging musical learning support.
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Convo Lesson Resource Pack - DOWNLOAD HERE
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Convo Teacher Support Pack - DOWNLOAD HERE
Photography
For Convo we engaged one main project photographer, Sheila, and a second photographer for the performance day, Pete. All photos are now available on the Music Hub Flickr page (HERE). There are separate albums for different aspects of the project, and separate albums for each photographer.
All photos are available for free download in low-res versions. High-resolution photos, for non-commercial use, can be purchased at £5 each, direct from either:
- Sheila Burnett Photography; sheila@sheilaburnett.com; 07974 731391
- Pete Jones Productions pete@pjproductions.co.uk; 07909 547336;
Please quote the JPG number for any photos requested.
Sheila Burnett:
- Convo performance (7th March 7.00-8.15pm) https://flic.kr/s/aHsmaWHM8k
- Convo daytime rehearsal (7th March, 2.00-5.00pm) https://flic.kr/s/aHskT9dDsC
- VIP Reception for School Head teachers and Invited guests https://flic.kr/s/aHsmzHBoc6
- *LBHF Massed Schools Rehearsal (4th March) https://flic.kr/s/aHskT9bxsq *please note we only had the budget to photograph one of the 3 massed school rehearsals.
Pete Jones:
- Convo performance (7th March 7.00-8.15pm) https://www.flickr.com/gp/triboroughmusichub/n829U4
- Convo daytime rehearsal (7th March, 2.00-5.00pm) https://flic.kr/s/aHsmzUiAKH
- VIP Reception for School Head teachers and Invited guests https://flic.kr/s/aHsmCmADW9
TBMH Ensembles:
- Sunday 3rd February daytime rehearsal at the RCM https://flic.kr/s/aHskPRAQPB
- Wednesday 6th March evening rehearsal at the RCM https://flic.kr/s/aHsmaWGAzt
Films
We have produced four separate films which can be accessed for free, online only (we are not producing DVDs). These are available via the Music Hub Vimeo account (HERE). The films are not available to download.
- “Hear Our Voices” lyric video. Using the audio from the 7th March 2019 performance, we present the final anthem "Hear Our Voices" with subtitled lyrics and footage from the past 18-months of rehearsals and preparations. https://vimeo.com/327671567
- The Making of Convo. Charting the development of Convo from inception to final performance, this mini-documentary features a range of interviews with key figures behind Convo. https://vimeo.com/327671073
- The full performance from 7th March 2019. https://vimeo.com/328673793
- The original promotion film when Convo was first launched https://vimeo.com/265352172
Participating Schools: Massed School Choir
Background
In March 2017, the Tri-borough Music Hub (TBMH), along with its Strategic Partners at the Royal Albert Hall and Royal College of Music announced details of their next large-scale project and performance event, ‘Convo’. Thanks to core-funding from John Lyon’s Charity and Children and the Arts, this ambitious project will saw young musicians from schools across Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, and Westminster working together on a new musical work written by composer Charlotte Harding which premiered at the Royal Albert Hall on 7th March 2019. Convo was led by the internationally renowned and sought-after conductor Ben Palmer.
A massed instrumental ensemble of c.120 TBMH young musicians played side-by-side with professional musicians, supporting a massed chorus of c.1000 primary, secondary and special school pupils. The performance was the culmination of an extensive two-year project of creative music-making and development across the TBMH which aimed to embed best musical practice as an essential part of school life, giving invaluable musical opportunities to all pupils in the area irrespective of their background.
Throughout the project, the TBMH, RAH and RCM worked with several Partner Organisations who were involved with both the creative development of the piece and the live performance. These include Sonic Pi (live music coding), Inspire Works (drumming and percussion), and the English Folk Dance & Song Society (folk music archive resources).
Creative work with school pupils and ensembles
Throughout the Autumn 2017 and Spring 2018, Charlotte devised, led and delivered creative research and development workshops in 8 Primary/Secondary/SEND schools and with the 5 Music Hub ensembles involved in this project. She was assisted by a team of RCM Student mentors and together they led the pupils through tailored musical activities which resulted in music that was included in the final score. This creative approach was integral to the process generating enormous amounts of content.
Performers
Convo involved over 200 pupils who played or sang in one of the Music Hub ensembles – The Young Singers; AKA Singers; Chamber Choir; Folk Ensemble; Youth Orchestra. It also involved almost 900 pupils from 39 schools forming the massed school choir. By Borough, massed school performers.
Structure
The piece is c.70 mins written for massed instrumental and vocal forces. It comprises three movements, chronologically exploring the history of music as a means of communication.
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I: Earth Calling – an exploration of the early beginnings of music as communication. Includes a bird song inspired choral piece, a conversational ancestral drum feature and a folk song.
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II: Pen to Paper – an exploration of the development of notated music, from the early cuneiform tablets of the Ancient Near East, through to Western orchestral and contemporary graphic scores.
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III: Devices – an exploration of the impact of technology, featuring Morse code, a silent film score and live-coding of electronic music.
What the Press had to say about Convo
Evaluation
The project was independently evaluated by Partnership First (Alastair Tallon and Katrina Duncan) throughout Year 1 of the Project and Year 2 of the Project.
Year 1 (2017-2018) Report HERE
Year 2 (2018-2019) Report HERE
Year 2 (2018-2019) Appendices HERE
Lead Partners