I’m currently working on a music project, specifically, a singing project, Snapshot Songs. Run by Barbican/Guildhall Creative Learning and SHM Foundation, the project will see 150 participants come together with composer Stuart Hancock to write and perform a song cycle which represents London today (actually, London in April 2014, when the final performance takes place). To put your mind at rest, I am involved as a project manager, not as a singer (I sing, constantly, but rarely in tune).
The really exciting part of the project is that we’re going out all over London looking for untapped singing talent to build a choir of about 50 participants. As part of the search I’ve been visiting religious buildings and speaking to a range of different congregations about the project. I am not religious and as such I don’t attend any religious services. My mother is a Quaker so when I was younger I used to go to a downstairs room in our local Meeting House, eat biscuits and paint hard-boiled eggs, but I can’t now remember how any of that related that to God. Whilst attending a number of services across the last few weeks, I have found myself becoming increasingly envious of the sense of community built amongst religious congregations; I’ve seen people come together to sing Happy Birthday to complete strangers, send good wishes to Sister Maria’s third cousin once removed who’s recovering from a hip operation, wish Brother Richard a safe return from Tenerife and give a round of applause to welcome Sister Elizabeth who has come from the Barbican to talk to us about a singing project… (cue awkward stand and bow which was not at all called for). Whilst I maintain my non-religious beliefs, I do feel that I’m missing out on something.
That was until our first Snapshot Songs taster session. As part of the project we’re running taster sessions across September and October where members of the public book themselves onto a free singing workshop. We had our first one at the Barbican this month, and I can openly say that it was one of the most fulfilling days of my life. Seeing people of all different ages, musical backgrounds, areas of London, with different jobs, different interests, different ideas of what London is, what it might be in the future, sharing, listening to and valuing each other’s input was completely exhilarating. I would compare the sense of community created in that one workshop to the sense of community that I have seen and envied whilst attending religious services. Arts projects like Snapshot Songs show the power of a group of completely disparate people coming together as a creative force, and not in a tokenistic way, but in a process where everyone’s voice is genuinely heard. Leaders, artists and academics have been recognising for years the ability of the arts to create communities, but what about the ability of the arts to create a non-religious church (welcoming those of religious persuasion also, of course)? What about an arts project where people come together every Sunday to sing, share ideas and celebrate not a deity, but one another, on earth, in London, now. And if I sound like I’m about to start an arts cult, well, it wouldn’t be the worst idea.
www.snapshotsongs.com for more info on the project.
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