March 3rd 2005

Dartington Music Festival - Back Bigger and Better in 2005

The second annual South West Music Symposium is back again in 2005 and this year it's bigger and better.  Newly named South West Sound, this exciting, week long event builds on the successes of 2004 to support, develop and celebrate the region's music and musicians and includes keynote speakers, presentations, seminars, workshops, networking opportunities and live music.

South West Sound takes place at Dartington Hall in Devon from 25-30 April and is the definitive music event for people either working in music in the region or starting a career in music - including musicians, bands, promoters, agents, programmers, music educators and community musicians.

The event has three strands to its bow: symposium, workshops and lots of live music - giving the event a festival feel to it.  Each day focuses on a particular area of music - from Music Education to Rock, Pop and Dance Music - and starts with a keynote speech from experts and industry giants, including Eden Project founder Tim Smit and Marc Marot, the man who discovered Pulp, Massive Attack and Lemon Jelly.

Delegates can choose from a selection of inspiring presentations & case studies and practical workshops. There are frequent opportunities to share ideas, challenges and solutions with other musicians and industry professionals. The week includes live music by national and regional talent (including The Waterboys, Britten Sinfonia, Keedie Babb, Chartwell Dutiro, Seth Lakeman, Totnes Jazz Collective and Stephenson's Rocket, to name a few.

The new strand of practical workshops runs alongside the Symposium, adding another layer of learning opportunities. These include Songwriting Masterclasses with Julian Marshall, Live Performance Techniques with My Life Story frontman Jake Shillingford and One-to-One Music Law Surgeries with music industry solicitor Helen Searle.

Matt Griffiths, Development Director of Dartington Plus, says:

"We're delighted to be repeating the event this year, following the successes of 2004, when delegates strongly indicated the need for an annual event of this kind.  South West Sound is now even bigger and better and I am thrilled that the event has this year expanded into a week-long festival, celebrating music from across the South West region."

South West Sound places cost £50 and bursaries are available directly from the following organisations: Colston Hall (Bristol), Cornwall Youth Music Action Zone, Deep Blue Sound (Plymouth), Devon Artsculture, Livewire Saltash, Plymouth Musicians Co-operative, Plymouth Music Zone, Restormel Arts (Cornwall), Remix (Bristol & Glos), South West Gig Guide and Zebedees (Cornwall).

A sweet beautiful voice, yet powerful.
I bought this album straight away after listening to her voice on Webbers single 'I Believe My Heart'. Andrew Lloyd Webber was touched when he saw her performing one night and so he asked her to do the song for him and for good reason. Thankfully she accepted and this wonderful disc has been released.

There are more positive points about this album than there are negative. First off, Webber's song from 'The Woman In White' makes an appearance, hopefully to become her signature song. The rest of an album is a mixture of Pop, Classical and also a nod to New age (Similar to the style of Sarah Brightman who touches different types of music) with the cover of an Enya song 'Only Time' which, has more of a beat than Enyas original. There is also a cover of Madonna's 'You'll See' but I didn't see the point of covering it, it had nothing new or special to it. The great thing about this album is that it has original songs which other Classical Crossover artists are missing. She has two wonderful song writers in particular that understand her voice. Keedie even puts her two cents in for her debut by co-writing two interludes. One interlude (which is called Interlude) is frustratingly nice, it only lasts for a minute! 'Ave Maria' by Bach is completely reinvented and is given some English lyrics. Now I don't mean to spoil the surprise for you but if you listen to the last song of the disc and let it run for 8 minutes you are about to be spoiled; there isn't one hidden track, not two, but three hidden tracks on top of the other 17 tracks. If I remember correctly they are 'Laschia o' Pianga', 'The Flower Duet' from Lakme and 'Un Bel Di Vedremo' from Madame Butterfly. The latter two just so happen to be two of my favourite opera arias. They were very welcome.

Her voice: is astounding. She soars on her pop songs and adds some soprano touches here and there. Classical, sometimes soars. Her voice is absolutely beautiful however she can sometimes rely so heavily on vibrato. This is the only negative point I have. She puts such feeling into every song.

I have high expectations from Keedie in the future and I hope she follows the foot steps of Ms. Sarah Brightman on becoming varied and unique. I really recommend Keedie to you, she does have something new to give in terms of her classical pieces and with 20 tracks on one cd, Im sure that is for one point, your moneys worth and second point the odds are you will like some of them since there is so much variety. Give the lovely lady a go. If you don't trust me trust Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber.

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