BIG love for little gigs!
November and December are usually pretty quiet for us. That’s why we chose November for our Ty Cerdd project. However, the universe had other plans for us!
Between November 24th and December 4th we had SIX gigs, including the opening of the Cardiff Canal Quarter, Monmouth Lantern Parade, our semi-regular fixture in the wonderful Porters, and gigs in three schools as part of the Little Gigs programme funded by Cardiff Council.
Normally, our audiences are either more or less inebriated revellers (as in Porters on Saturday the 2nd, WHAT a crowd!), families at community events (like at the LOVELY lantern parade in Monmouth on Friday the 1st) or random people who happen to be passing (like at the Canal Opening on Friday 24th). For these gigs, however, our audience were students at Woodlands and Ty Gwyn Special School in Ely and at Willows High School in Tremorfa.
The premise of the project was to engage with students who might not usually encounter live music, and we were asked to provide a scaled back version of ourselves for this end (30 of us may have been a bit much in a school hall!).
The Little Gigs were a real contrast to our normal shows, and an amazing and unique experience for us all – and we’ve asked some of the players who contributed to share their feedback!
Steve, one of our wonderful alto players, said: “There was something profoundly moving about communicating and connecting through music with those whose means of communicating are severely limited. To become, however briefly, a part of that caring environment felt like a real privilege’.
Ant, also an alto saophonist, said that “what stood out for me as the enthusiasm of the young audience”.
Catherine, on trumpet, said “It was brilliant today! Love doing gigs like these. It’s a privilege to perform to those pupils who really wouldn’t have much access to live music - and it was quite special that we were able to provide that. I gained a lot from just being invited into the school and then having the opportunity afterwards to spend some time getting to know some of the pupils’.
Derek, our stalwart bassist, said he thought the gigs “were all well thought out. I really liked mix of Brazilian guitar and percussion, then the Wonderbrass small band… I liked the impromptu walk around the children with the band members showing the children the feel and sound of the Saxophones and Trumpet. Then to play (at Willows) with N’famady - totally different from small band Wonderbrass - but the mix worked so well…Just Fabulous!”
I (Hannah, Bari sax, hi 😊) drove various members to and from the gigs, and the buzz in the car afterwards was palpable!
There was something truly unique about each of the three gigs, with the first including a lot of children with extremely severe limitations, whose interest in the sounds and feel of the instruments in the show and tell session afterwards was really touching. The second performance was just an absolute pleasure; with the students (and teachers!) dancing with such joy, and a total lack of inhibition!
If you want to hear more about the Little Ggs project you can follow the Cardiff Curriculum team on Twitter here
