Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts

Friday, December 6, 2019

A Place To Call Home




A PLACE TO CALL HOME

Recorded at the London Coliseum, 30th October 2019

English National Opera (ENO) is pleased to announce that the single “A Place to Call Home” is released today (6th December 2019).

This astonishing new song by former BBC Young Composer of the Year Alex Woolf will help to raise money in aid of Shelter’s Christmas appeal. Recorded live at the London Coliseum, nearly 2000 Community Singers joined ENO’s brilliant Chorus and Orchestra, as well as opera stars Sir Bryn Terfel, Alice Coote and Lesley Garrett. It was conducted by the ENO’s Martin Fitzpatrick.

Ruth Rikowski was one of the Community Singers.

You can share these links to friends and family to ask them to buy the single, helping it to become the Christmas No.1:





A quick method to get it on Youtube is to go to http://www.youtube.co.uk and then search for: A Place to Call Home ENO – and then it comes up!

Please share, please donate to Shelter....please make a difference for the homeless: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/singforshelter



A PLACE TO CALL HOME

Music and Lyrics by Alex Woolf

Lyrics

I stumbled across
A figure unknown,
Alive but alone, lost in his dreaming.
I stumbled because
That figure alone
He must have known what I was thinking:
That’s no place to call home.

I’ve stumbled before,
And I’ll stumble again.
I wish I’d known then how to give shelter.
I’ll stumble some more,
But I’ll seize the day, then
We’ll see the day when it’s not much to ask for:
A place to call home.

Sure as home is where the heart is
Homelessness is heartless and cruel.
Home…
If the heart is where the home is,
Aren’t we all homeless too?

I stumbled again
On that figure now known,
No longer alone, secure and with shelter.
I stumbled and then
I saw how he’d grown
In a place of his own.

So if home’s where the heart is
Then surely it’s smartest to start helping figures unknown.
Then we’ll all have a place…
A place to call home.
A place to call home.

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski 
Ruth Rikowski @ Academia: http://lsbu.academia.edu/RuthRikowski

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

SIREN SONG


Handel

Siren Song
Saturday 20 May 2017
Performances at 5.00pm and 6.30pm
The Mulberry and Bigland Green Centre
Bigland Street, London, E1 2LG

This short performance is the culmination of an ENO Baylis Community Project inspired by ENO’s production of Handel’s Partenope

The project brings together adult women of all ages from across London, and takes the central female characters in the opera as a starting point from which to explore contemporary perspectives on being a woman. The performance will combine original text and music created by the group alongside extracts from Partenope.

The group will be joined by ENO principal cast member Patricia Bardon and female members of the ENO Baylis Opera Works programme, with lighting design by ENO lighting technician Christina Smith.

This is a free event and places are limited.

To confirm your place please RSVP baylis@eno.org by Thursday 18th April, stating your preferred performance time and the name of up to two guests.

We hope to see you there.
From the team at ENO Baylis.

Ruth Rikowski will be singing in both performances with the ENO Baylis Comunity Project

ENO Baylis 
Learning and Participation Team
+44 (0)20 7632 8484 | Baylis@eno.org
ENGLISH NATIONAL OPERA | St Martin's Lane, London, WC2N 4ES



***END***

‘Human Herbs’ – a song by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski 
Ruth Rikowski @ Academia: http://lsbu.academia.edu/RuthRikowski



Friday, May 20, 2016

Forest Voices Choir - Singing at the Gate



FOREST VOICES CHOIR
SINGING AT THE GATE

On 16th June 2016, from 6.30 to 8.00pm Forest Voices will sing at The Gate Library and Community Centre
4 – 20 Woodgrange Road
Forest Gate
London E7 0QH.

Come and join us for a free evening of song and enjoyment!
Light refreshments provided.

Funded by a “Let’s Get the Party Started” grant from the London Borough of Newham


Ruth Rikowski is a member of the Forest Voices choir, and will be singing with them at The Gate on 16th June.

***END***
‘Human Herbs’ – a song by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs
Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski 
Ruth Rikowski @ Academia: http://lsbu.academia.edu/RuthRikowski

Ruth Rikowski at Serendipitous Moments: http://ruthrikowskiim.blogspot.co.uk/


Saturday, December 12, 2015

Forest Voices Choir



FOREST VOICES CHOIR
Singing ‘Line-Up’ in Forest Gate

Forest Voices Choir that Ruth Rikowski is a member of sang 3 songs for the turning on of the Christmas lights event. The lights were turned on by Robin Wales, the Mayor of Newham, on 5th December 2015. Two of the songs were Christmas Carols and the other was a lovely song advocating peace throughout the world. It is called 'Line-Up' (by Helen Yeomans).

Here are the words for 'Line-Up':

Line up, line up
Wo oh
For your place in the peaceable kingdom
Yeh, yeh, yeh.

Line up, line up
Wo oh
For your place in the peacable kingdom
Yeh, yeh, yeh.

Line up, line up
Wo oh
For your place in the peacable kingdom
Yeh, yeh, yeh

Bring your songs of freedom for a brave new world

Let me hear you
Sing, sing now.

Line up!

The rich and the poor
The weak and the strong
The humble and the proud
Won't you sing out loud
The merciful of heart
The sinner and the saint
The forgiven and the wrong
Find your voice in song
No differentiation between black and white
Let the Arab man stand by the Israelite
There ain't no creed, there ain't no colour
But the blood that flow thru your sister and brother.

*Repeat lines up to 'Line Up'.

Ruth has loaded the video of the Forest Voices Choir singing 'Line-Up'  on to YouTube.
This is the first item that she has ever loaded anything on to YouTube! Hopefully, more will follow!


Glenn Rikowski
Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski 
Ruth Rikowski @ Academia: http://lsbu.academia.edu/RuthRikowski

Ruth Rikowski at Serendipitous Moments: http://ruthrikowskiim.blogspot.co.uk/


Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Forest Roots: Venue Change - Now at The Forest Gate Hotel!


The Forest Gate Hotel

FOREST ROOTS: VENUE CHANGE – NOW AT THE FOREST GATE HOTEL!

Change of Venue: THE FOREST GATE HOTEL (Function Room)
Change of Start Time: Now starts at 8.00pm

Dear Forest Roots Folk

Thanks to everyone who turned up last month to see the amazing Acoustica. It was a great night and a real pleasure to see so many familiar faces.
This month we welcome back The Hot Strings Review featuring Martin Wheatley on guitar and ukulele and Mike Piggott www.mikepiggott.com on fiddle. They are both incredible musicians and gave us a fantastic evening last time they were at Forest Roots. If you saw them last time you will remember Martin's mesmerizing performance of The Dambusters on the ukulele (check him out on YouTube) and Mike’s amazing jazz fiddle playing. These two are definitely not to be missed.
The Flats Family Band will be there as well as surprise guests and local performers. These include the Forest Voices Choir.
If you'd like to be one of them email us @ forestroots@googlemail.com.
So that's The Hot Strings Review at Forest Roots, The Forest Gate Hotel. Godwin Road, Forest Gate, London E7 0LW
Friday 27th November.

Starts 8.00pm sharp – due to the number of performers, Forest Roots will now start at 8.00pm!

Transport: Bus – 86, 25, 330, 58, 308; Overground – Forest Gate (TfL Rail) and Wanstead Park

Stay forever young
Jenny and Caroline
Forest Root: Country, Folk, Blues and Beyond

NOTE: Victor Rikowski will be one of the performers. Ruth Rikowski will be singing with Forest Voices.

***END***
‘Human Herbs’ – a song by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs
Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski 
Ruth Rikowski @ Academia: http://lsbu.academia.edu/RuthRikowski
Ruth Rikowski at Serendipitous Moments: http://ruthrikowskiim.blogspot.co.uk/

All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.com

Monday, November 2, 2015

Forest Roots - The Sir Alfred Hitchcock Hotel - 27th November


The Sir Alfred Hitchcock Hotel
Leytonstone
FOREST ROOTS – THE SIR ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOTEL – 27th NOVEMBER

Dear Forest Roots Folk

Thanks to everyone who turned up last month to see the amazing Acoustica. It was a great night and a real pleasure to see so many familiar faces.
This month we welcome back The Hot Strings Review featuring Martin Wheatley on guitar and ukulele and Mike Piggott www.mikepiggott.com on fiddle. They are both incredible musicians and gave us a fantastic evening last time they were at Forest Roots. If you saw them last time you will remember Martin's mesmerizing performance of The Dambusters on the ukulele (check him out on YouTube) and Mike’s amazing jazz fiddle playing. These two are definitely not to be missed.
The Flats Family Band will be there as well as surprise guests and local performers.
If you'd like to be one of them email us @ forestroots@googlemail.com.
So that's The Hot Strings Review at Forest Roots, The Sir Alfred Hitchcock, 147 Whipps Cross Road, Leytonstone, London E11 1NP on Friday 27th November.
Starts 8.30pm sharp

Transport: Bus (257); underground Central Line, Leytonstone

Stay forever young
Jenny and Caroline
Forest Root: Country, Folk, Blues and Beyond


***END***
‘Human Herbs’ – a song by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs
Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski 
Ruth Rikowski @ Academia: http://lsbu.academia.edu/RuthRikowski
Ruth Rikowski at Serendipitous Moments: http://ruthrikowskiim.blogspot.co.uk/

All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.com


Friday, October 16, 2015

All Saints Chorus & Orchestra



Beethoven

ALL SAINTS CHORUS & ORCHESTRA

The All Saints Chorus and Orchestra are celebrating their 20th anniversary concert season starting this year. Formed in 1994, the Chorus is a community choir. Membership is open to all and there are no auditions. The choir have a reputation for performing concerts of the highest standard in Newham, the area in which they rehearse and perform.
They have an extensive repertoire of music ranging from the 15th century to today. Included are the great works of composers such as Bach, Handel, Mozart, Haydn, Brahms, and Verdi. The chorus enjoys a good social life outside the rehearsal room and the annual weekend away provides the perfect opportunity to rehearse, socialise and relax.
The All Saints Orchestra is a mix of seasoned professional players featuring instrumentalists from many of the major London orchestras. Together with the Chorus and our dedicated group of acclaimed soloists they give a wide audience the chance to experience great music in the historic setting of West Ham Parish Church.

Next Event: West Ham Parish Church (All Saints), Church Street, E15 3HU
Saturday 21 November 2015
7.30pm
Vaughan Williams: Towards the Unknown Region, and Antiphon: Let All the World
Beethoven: Symphony No.7
Brahms: A German Requium

Margaret Feuvoir Soprano
Stephen Alder – Bass
All Saints Chorus
All Saints Orchestra
Jon Cullen – Conductor

Tickets: Adults £17; Concessions £10. On the door or in advance – Telephone: 07513 414665

***END***
‘Human Herbs’ – a song by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs
Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski 
Ruth Rikowski @ Academia: http://lsbu.academia.edu/RuthRikowski

Ruth Rikowski at Serendipitous Moments: http://ruthrikowskiim.blogspot.co.uk/


Friday, January 20, 2012

'The Lamb' by William Blake - set to music by Victor Rikowski






‘THE LAMB’ BY WILLIAM BLAKE – SET TO MUSIC BY VICTOR RIKOWSKI

Back when I was in Havering Sixth-Form College, at the age of 17/18, I remember setting this poem by Blake to my own song. Although I haven't played it since then, the tune always remains within my mind. This is a revisit to that song that I wrote 7/8 years ago now. This might not be exactly as it was then, but the opening tune is the one that stuck with me for all these years.

Victor Rikowski



Little Lamb, who made thee? Dost thou know who made thee?

Gave thee life, and bid thee feed

By the stream and o'er the mead;

Gave thee clothing of delight,

Softest clothing, woolly, bright;

Gave thee such a tender voice,

Making all the vales rejoice? Little Lamb, who made thee? Dost thou know who made thee? Little Lamb, I'll tell thee, Little Lamb, I'll tell thee:

He is called by thy name,

For he calls himself a Lamb.

He is meek, and he is mild;He became a little child.

I a child, and thou a lamb.

We are called by his name. Little Lamb, God bless thee! Little Lamb,

God bless thee!



Arrangement and performance by Victor Rikowski

It can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw3VloKBvZc

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk/
All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.com/

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon - Two New Tracks


COLD HANDS & QUARTER MOON – TWO NEW TRACKS

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon entered two new tracks on their MySpace site today.

These are ‘Stagnant’ and ‘Slaves & Masters’

You can listed to these new tracks at:
http://www.myspace.com/coldhandsmusic

There are various versions of ‘Stagnant’ now available:

Live at the Belle View, Bangor, north Wales:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLjxeHvvhJQ

Session in the basement:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StqTevvSQ_k

The Cold Hands & Quarter Moon Profile is at:
http://rikowski.wordpress.com/cold-hands-quarter-moon/

In addition, you can see ‘Daystar’, (an excellent video and song) by Will Roberts, who also plays in Cold Hands & Quarter Moon, at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6f_pA5XUPk

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
The Flow of Ideas:
http://www.flowideas.co.uk
The Ockress: http://www.theockress.com
Wavering on Ether:
http://blog.myspace.com/glennrikowski
MySpace Profile: http://www.myspace.com/glennrikowski

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon - 'Simon Says Get Out'

COLD HANDS & QUARTER MOON - 'SIMON SAYS GET OUT'

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon - Update 4th April 2010

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon have a new version of 'Simon Says Get Out' on their MySpace Profile, see: http://www.myspace.com/coldhandsmusic

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk
All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.com

Friday, March 26, 2010

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon - Now at MySpace

COLD HANDS & QUARTER MOON - NOW AT MYSPACE

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon are now at MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/coldhandsmusic

You can hear the band play 'Human Herbs', and the quality of the recording is much better than on YouTube. The band had access to some proper recording facilities for this version of 'Human Herbs'.

For a detailed profile of the band, see: http://rikowski.wordpress.com/cold-hands-quarter-moon/

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk
All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.com

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon - Update 28th February 2010

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon – Update 28th February 2010

Some recent live performances by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon play ‘Stagnant’ (composed by Victor Rikowski), live at the Belle View, Bangor, Wales:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLjxeHvvhJQ

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon play ‘Simon Says Get Out’ (compsed by Victor Rikowski), live at the Belle View, Bangor, Wales:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRtuqV_WpGY

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon play ‘Human Herbs’ (composed by Victor Rikowski), live at the Bangor University Cabaret:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlCPRekckVw

For more info on the band, see:
http://rikowski.wordpress.com/cold-hands-quarter-moon/

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
The Flow of Ideas:
http://www.flowideas.co.uk
All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski:
http://rikowski.wordpress.com

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Cold Hands and Quarter Moon


COLD HANDS AND QUARTER MOON

Introduced by Victor Rikowski

The band members:

Victor Rikowski – Guitar & Vocals
Alex Lowther-Harris – Guitar, Banjo, Accordion & Vocals
Louie Ashton-Butler – Vocals
Nicholas Frost – Violin
Jack Rennie – Bass Guitar
William J Roberts – Hand Percussion


In the autumn of 2008, Aaron Ledbury suggested to me that some kind of jam should take place between two musicians; namely, him and me. I knew he played the ukulele and he knew that I played the guitar and bass. A month or two later, Alex Lowther-Harris, who was a banjo, guitar & synthesiser extraordinaire, joined us. We began to do some general jamming, with me on the bass, Alex on banjo and Aaron on ukulele. It was around winter 2008/spring 2009 that we began to make it a regular thing. Sunday was our compulsory weekly jam. For the rest of the year we were trying to figure out what our band/music was about and what we wanted to get out of the whole thing. We recorded quite a few of our jam sessions on Dictaphone. We were working on a big repertoire of songs; songs without lyrics in a band without a singer. Most of the songs were a bunch of chords which Aaron would jam/improvise over occasionally, with Alex and me occasionally having our own time in the spotlight. In one song I played flute and Aaron played harmonica and Alex played guitar. We often swapped, switched and sometimes even modified our instruments. Our style was a kind-of bluegrass, jamming and, predominantly, blues style. But without any singer, lyrics or main melody for all of our songs we were stuck for where to go next. But we didn’t really care. We enjoyed playing music and having fun with it. Alex and Aaron wrote the songs/chords together and I wrote the baselines along with their ideas.

Late at night one day the three of us went down to the beach on the Menai Straight between Bangor and Anglesey. It was a stone beach with huge boulders and calm water. It was very dark and very cold but it was also very beautiful. We played for about half an hour before complaining about how cold our hands were. We carried on playing nonetheless. We then noticed that the moon was quarter full. It was in memory of that magical night that the band then became Cold Hands & Quarter Moon.

The academic year came to a close. Over the summer holidays I began writing songs again. I hadn’t written a song in years and it was nice to start again. I wrote them purely for my own enjoyment but when I came back to university and played a couple of them to Aaron he said he really liked them and that he wanted to work on them for the band. From then on the band had developed a whole new perspective. We were a band that did songs. The style of the songs maintained the original blues ethic, but also added in folk and even a few punk and country influences. The band line up began to change rapidly from then on. At the beginning of the year it was just me and Aaron in the band; me on guitar and vocals and Aaron on bass. Alex didn’t seem to like the new direction of the band, so then it was just me and Aaron.

However, Aaron and I both knew that we needed more musicians/singers in order to get the band to be how we wanted it to be. The next person to join the band was Nicholas Frost, who is a really good violinist and plays for the Bangor University Orchestra. He did a great job with the songs that we had. When Nick came to his first practice he brought along with him a guy known as Louie, who is a very good singer and recently (December 2009) performed a vocal solo in the Bangor University Winter Concert. I had been thinking for a week or two about finding myself another female singer but then suddenly it struck the band as obvious; why didn’t Louie join the band? We had a second singer.

Eventually Alex came back into the band playing banjo, guitar and, very brilliantly, the accordion. It was done: the band line-up was complete. Alex began to write songs too, and writing them very quickly. We began to practice regularly and for long hours of the day, much to our housemates’ annoyance. Just when we were getting pretty tight and ready to tour the pubs and open-mike’s of Bangor, disaster struck. Aaron was being thrown out of university because of his financial difficulties concerning last year’s rent. We had lost our bassist, the bassist who had learnt and written all the bass lines for the new songs by me and Alex along with the couple of cover songs we did.

We had to find a new bassist. Jack Rennie was the next person to join the band in autumn 2009 as the bassist. We began practicing again and re-learning the songs we had already done. Before too long we were performing songs in the pubs and Open-Mike’s in Bangor. First we performed in the ‘Bell Vue’ (which was my personal favourite), and the next one we did was at ‘The Underground’ or ‘The Venue’ on Bangor High Street. The next was Open-Mike at ‘The Greek’. We did a session in the recording studio soon after that, which I was using as coursework for my music degree.

For quite some time I was thinking about having a drummer and Jack Rennie had an electric drum kit. I knew how rare/difficult it is for a band to get a drummer and so this was likely to be the only opportunity of having one but, having realized that it wouldn’t suit the aesthetics of the band, I stuck with what we had. But I still wanted some percussion in the band. I went down to the shop and bought some bongos, a tambourine and an egg shaker. Soon after this William Roberts wanted to join the band as our percussionist. So now we’ve settled for the six of us and look forward to recording more songs in the studio and performing more folk/blues/country songs in pubs and open-mike sessions.

Victor Rikowski

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon

You can hear some of the band’s session on YouTube:

'Brown Shoes' composed by Alex Lowther-Harris: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5ijUrtSOzQ

'Traitor' composed by Victor Rikowski: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRIP6SyI1X4

'Human Herbs' composed by Victor Rikowski: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2h7tUq0HjIk

'Reverence' composed by Alex Lowther-Harris: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVLjpWJfHgo

'Stagnant' composed by Victor Rikowski: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StqTevvSQ_k

Posted here Glenn Rikowski
The Flow of Ideas:
http://www.flowideas.co.uk
All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.com

Friday, December 4, 2009

Michael Jackson, 1958-2009: A Musical Genius


MICHAEL JACKSON, 1958-2009: A MUSICAL GENIUS

Ruth Rikowski has written a substantial new article on Michael Jackson. She analyses the nature of his phenomenal talent, his personal life and personae and the social forces making for the tragedy of his ultimate demise. Ruth draws some parallels between the life and genius of Michael Jackson and Mozart.

You can read Ruth’s article on Michael Jackson at:
http://www.flowideas.co.uk/?page=articles&sub=Michael%20Jackson

To view the article better, go to the end and click on the ‘Print Friendly’ option.

Glenn Rikowski
The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk
All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.com

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Two New Christmas Songs - by Neil Southwell


TWO NEW CHRISTMAS SONGS – BY NEIL SOUTHWELL

It’s Christmas Time!

Neil Southwell has updated his music website for Christmas! He has written two new Christmas songs: one for the pre-Christmas period and another one for the post-Christmas timeframe. There is also the snow song from when we had the unusually large amounts of snow last February – which is a bit Christmassy too! One of the Christmas songs can be downloaded, and, obviously, you can listen to the others.

For details see:
http://rikowski.wordpress.com/2009/11/15/two-new-christmas-songs-neil-southwell/

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
The Flow of Ideas:
http://www.flowideas.co.uk
All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.com
MySpace Profile:
http://www.myspace.com/glennrikowski