Sound is a thread that has woven itself consistently through my life and work. Sound to me is medicine, forever and immediate. Sound is a limitless toolbox to aid us through our life and holds within it timeless wisdom. Without this connection to sound in my life I can feel ungrounded and disconnected, forever searching for ‘real’ moments, feeling lost in a sea of consumer madness and pressures to live in ways that go against my common sense. To sing or use sound in a group of people provides an instant route to the heart of community and encouragement and fosters growth and healing. I feel sound is an ancestral right; a wholesome right and we should claim it.
My journey with sound started in Saudi Arabia hearing the mesmerising call to prayer being transported by the wind, I had no idea what the words meant but the voice was filled with heart and passion. As a young chorister in a England we sang mainly in Latin so the meanings of the songs were lost to me but the memory and impact of singing in a sea of voices harmonising has never left me. I believe this helped me develop a good ear for sound, I have never read music, everything I do with music whether teaching songs or making music is done by ear. I feel this method allows you to access the heart of the music, making the joys of sound accessible to all. The human body is a musical instrument and given the chance to explore our voice, sound can tune us into what we need to feel alive and thrive.
Through singing courses, world music singing groups and performing I aim to encourage others to find their voice and to weave singing back into our lives in a truly wholesome, shameless and medicinal way.