Trolls, Tapestry and Tsoupaki - a triplet of Tees.

This work I have been working on a programme of music for an interactive children's concert (an interactive concert I believe, rather than a concert for interactive children..if you see what I mean) at Canterbury's amazing 'Sounds New' festival.
I am performing with my flautist duo buddy, the effervescent, energetic, extremely talented...yet down-to-Earth Lisa Nelsen. We have the challenge of putting together a concert that could be enjoyed by primary age children as well as adults, be interactive yet remain a concert and to work with the 'Baltic' theme of this year's festival - our day, Tues 24th May, focusing on Denmark in particular.

So, I have done my research. Denmark is famous for:
Trolls
Beer
Beer-swilling trolls
Water spirits - good and evil
Cave-dwelling monsters, elves and all other magical things.

NOT harp and flute music (apart from some contemporary hand-written stuff that had both Lisa and I - both massive fans of the new - squinting in confusion at the spidery score with the occassional squashed fly ink blob or pedantic suggestion to 'sharpen this sharp and then sharpen it again')

Anyhow, Lisa and I decided to focus on the beer-swilling, bog dwelling, botty burping Baltic troll Trog, our new best friend. Trog is a very depressed troll who takes a stroll through the Danish woods and encounters a Carlsberg-loving nymph, a Gollibog happy-go-lucky bog beast and an arrogant, supercilious yet critically out-of-work Owl actor, Hedwig from the Harry Potter films. It turns out that both beer and botty-burping-in-bogs are not the answers, but Hedwig has the answer to a happy Troll existence (or indeed a happy human one).

Of course, if you too want to discover the secret to happiness in or out of a Danish bog, you can join Lisa and I at 11am at St. Stephen's Hall, Canterbury for a mere £1 donation. You may have to bob down to get in, we're not quite sure, but it will be worth it!
Here's the link for more info: All for One Interactive Concert

I have even written a new piece called 'Troll Dance' especially for Trog.

ALSO this week I have been working on a new project called 'Tapestry', getting ideas together for that with weaver and weave pattern designer Bonnie Kirkwood. More to follow on that soon!

FINALLY, the third T, an email delivery from the Netherlands Music Centre of Calliope Tsoupaki's beautiful composition 'Her Voice' from 1994, written for Ernestine Stoop. I am thoroughly looking forward to getting stuck in to that, but not just now as I'm rather busy with other concerts, composition and teaching.

I'll keep you posted!

Ellie
Highly Strung