The Films are Online! Project Finale - Thank you everyone!

We’re finishing our Women of Cornish Music project here with a final flourish - the online launch of our commissioned films.

A huge thank you to everyone who’s been involved with this project - researchers, filmmakers, volunteers, and supporters in all forms. We couldn’t have done it without you.

We’re still working with the Cornwall Music Service Trust to produce a recording of our wonderful winning composition - Covid allowing! So there’s more to come, and exciting times ahead for musical women.

Film Screenings at CAST

A great evening spent at CAST, Helston, screening our wonderful films which the filmmakers have been hard at work on during the project.

As we had to have a Covid-limited guest list, for their premiere we invited the filmmakers and their guests and contributors to watch the work, have a wonderful meal, and generally have a great time.

All 7 of the films from our Women of Cornish Music project were then screened on a loop to the public at CAST on the 30th and 31st July, so people could drop in any time for a taste of the work our talented creators have produced!

The films will be placed online soon if you missed out, watch this space…

Songweavers Launch

‘Songweavers’ is launched! Our new anthology on the musical women of Cornwall arrived dramatically mid-party, hot off the press. At 560 pages, it’s quite a sizeable monument to all the stories found and the hard work put in!

We spent the afternoon at Penlee Park, where our researchers were able to finally meet in person for the first time since Covid landed in our lives. We had a magical dry weather window in an otherwise very rainy July, and made the most of it with music, cake, and stories from our amazing researchers.

Huge HUGE thank yous to:

All our researchers – an amazing group who turned lockdown into an opportunity for creating such a wonderful book.

The musicians who volunteered their time to make today so special. It was the first live music many of us have heard for a very long time!

Book editors Hilary Coleman, who has led the research group so skilfully, and Florence Browne, who designed and has led the project.

Film Diaries: Ella Turner

After a year of delays I'm finally getting some shots for my experimental documentary on Martha Tilston. The film is going to be shot on camcorder, and so I've been trialling a few different setups to find the best fit for what I have in my head!

Film Diaries: Isabelle Morris

In Summer 2020 I set up shop in Annabel's Winnebago and started filming on the farm. We filmed around 3 scenes a day in the sweltering heat. A few scenes from the original plan have been either axed or altered and the interview has turned into an audio recording. COVID-19 has affected many aspects of this film, and the process of filming in general. It has caused me to work within tight confinements. Unforeseen circumstances and obstacles have caused me to make decisions without the advantage of an experimentation phase. Not only has the global pandemic affected my ability to experiment, but it has also taken its toll on my sense of creativity. The current situation for creatives is fairly bleak, but while making this film I have been able to put my skills and artistic intuition to use and make something I feel is beautiful. And to me, that is the most important thing about creativity.

@izybizy & @sealostate

Film Diaries: Chris and Joe

Chris and Joe of Bull and Wolf are creating a piece about the Stithians Ladies Choir.

These shots are from their shoot day at the end of April, when they interviewed current, ex, and original members of the choir at Stithians Church.

Film Diaries: Black Bark Films

The commissioned filmmakers for our Women In Cornish Music project are beginning to wrap up and finalise their pieces! We've asked them all for some behind the scenes sneak peeks and thoughts on their projects to share with you. Here’s an update from Holly and Jo at Black Bark Films:

The shoot: We arrived in Cornwall in mid-April alongside the heatwave, with a car packed full of equipment, covid tests to hand and a brewing excitement at meeting Vicky in person for the first time. We were warmly welcomed in a true Cornish manner, and proceeded to have a really intimate and honest shoot over 2 days with Vicky, in her house, in a penzance community garden seeing the choir returning for the first time since lockdown, and out on the rocks by the sea. It's fair to say we didn't want to leave, and that we feel we have met a friend for life. 

Next steps: The edit. We can't wait to review the footage to hear the beautiful sounds of the community choir on an early spring evening and Vicky's contemplative words - and decide if we need another shoot (or excuse to swim in the sea) over the coming month when the full choir is back in force. To be decided!

Women in Music: Zoom Debate/Discussion with Dobrinka Tabakova

We’re really excited to be sharing this platform with the Cornwall International Male Choral Festival, and shining a light on the many women involved both behind the scenes and in leadership roles in this very Cornish form of music making.

The Editing Begins...

Thanks to the amazing hard work of our volunteer researchers, we now have what is shaping up to be a very lengthy manuscript indeed for our project publication.

Hilary Coleman and project lead Florence are spending this month going through each submitted article and checking through photo copyrights, while our eagle-eyed group of proof readers (shout out to Nigel Browne, Philippa Smale, and Tina and David Wheeler) scanned for typos and checked historical details. It’s been great to see the work start to come to life, with articles from experienced researchers all the way through to people writing for the first time since school.

Here’s one of our featured musicians, the very skilled local composer and performer Pippa Drummond who lives in Mousehole and was photographed by Florence for our project this month.

St Piran's Day Celebrations - with Dobrinka Tabakova

The second of our workshops with the Cornwall Music Service Trust, aimed at anyone interested in what it’s like to have a career as a composer/conductor from a female perspective.

New Year Update

As the project looked cheerfully and hopefully towards 2021, another lockdown has once again halted any plans for a get-together for our volunteers and trips to archives.

However, there is still plenty to be getting on with! Hilary and Florence will be spending January editing all the work produced by the Research Group, ready for it to be archived and arranged into a new publication on women’s music-making in Cornish history - the first of its kind!

The Oral History group have also produced some wonderful work, managing to safely conduct interviews with their contributors over the autumn, guided by the very skilled Sarah from Storylines. They’ve learnt about ethnopoetics, a way to more truthfully present someone’s words and speech patterns in written form, which has resulted in some really personal and touching content. They’ve also got creative with collages to accompany their work and add another layer of meaning to the interviews - we’ll be sharing some of this online, and in the publication, which will be a lovely contrast to the historical content.

Our filmmakers are doing a fantastic job of adapting to the fluctuating restrictions. While we know that inevitably some of their plans may need to change, some have been able to start on their original ideas which is fantastic. Terry Binns and Eliot Alison, who are working on an immersive exploration of music therapist Ruth Boulton's work, have managed to begin the filming process. Below in this beautiful photo is pictured Ruth (left) with Terry, who says:

As Ruth explains, her work is uncovering new ways of harnessing non-verbal forms of communication as avenues of expression in therapy. We feel extremely privileged to have been invited into her process, further being trusted to find a way of communicating a perspective of her work in audible, visual and linguistic forms. What a joyous process it was!

Merry Christmas to Our Project Volunteers!

Our research group rounded off a year's hard work with a Christmas party on Zoom, and shared some of their favourite research highlights. They've produced research on over 200 musical women this year, almost all through online work with Zoom meet-ups, so we are incredibly lucky to have got such a dedicated group!

Our amazing group leader Hilary Coleman has done a brilliant job of guiding the researchers, and we've also been really pleased to welcome several great guest speakers too. Their findings will be shared next year with an event and new book - watch this space.

Congratulations to Our Composers

Huge congratulations to the winner of our composition competition, Caitlin Strike, and runner up Anna Freeman!

We were so impressed with the standard of entries, and it’s great to see such enthusiasm and skill in Cornish composing.

The winning composition is Caitlin's To Pastures of Peace, a beautiful, shimmering choral setting of words by the Cornish poet E.L.T Harris-Bickford, which is skilfully written and really impressed the judges. A worthy runner-up, Anna wrote Rain Will Come But It Goes, an atmospheric song for voice and piano. As Anna has already recorded her own lovely recording of her piece, we’ll be creating a professional transcription for her prize, while Caitlin’s piece will be recorded by a choir of young people in Cornwall.

We're really looking forward to sharing these pieces with you, and are working with the Cornwall Music Service Trust on an online event later in the project - updates to follow!

Composition Competition with the Cornwall Music Service Trust

We are excited to announce a call-out for new compositions as part of our current heritage project focused on women in Cornish music making.

As an organisation we are passionate about championing the achievements of women and girls, and during 2020 we have been drawing attention to the contributions they have made (and continue to make) to the musical heritage of Cornwall. However, on both national and international levels, compositions by women still make up an incredibly low percentage of music performed. 17% of orchestral music programmed in 2018/19 was written by women, and 83% by men - and that's just looking at contemporary compositions. The percentage of work performed by women can be as low as 1-2% with traditional repertoire.

For this reason, we are working with the Cornwall Music Service Trust to encourage women and girls to get composing.

Entries can be:
•       any genre
•       up to 4 minutes in length
•       written for either choir (SATB/SSA) & accompaniment) or solo voice/instrument and accompaniment

You must:
•       identify as a girl/woman, with Cornwall as your main place of residence / have a strong demonstrable link to Cornwall

To apply:

• submit either a Sibelius score, or a PDF score with synthesised recording, and send to: gchurcher@cornwallmusicservicetrust.org. We are open to accepting recordings without scores, but please get in touch first with details.

• Please include your name, age, address, and any information you’d like us to know about your composition

There will be two categories, one for under 18s and one for over 18s, and you can submit a maximum of two compositions.

The closing date is the 31st August 2020, and our two winners will have a professional recording made of their composition. Good luck!

About the Cornwall Music Service Trust:

‘The CMST offers high quality music and performing arts education and related opportunities that support the aspirations of children, young people and adults in Cornwall and beyond. Our qualified and skilled staff offer high quality instrumental, vocal and curriculum tuition at all levels in a variety of educational settings; our teaching encompasses all styles and genres, and adopts a holistic approach. We provide leadership in ensembles and workshops, and can deliver bespoke training.’

To learn more about the work of the Cornwall Music Service Trust, visit their website.

Our Commissioned Filmmakers!

We are thrilled to announce the selected applicants for our Women of Cornish Music Short Film Commission. 
An amazing variety of ideas were submitted and whittling the list down to the final eight was not easy! Our finalists and their subjects:

Sky Neal will be focusing on the musical women of Helston's Flora Day:

This film is told through the lens of three musical women from three different generations bound together by their love of Flora Day. Flora day, Helston, is a living celebration that shifts and changes over time, and the songs, music and dances are the beating heart of the festival. We will gain a unique insight into the power of Flora Day, and see how it reverberates meaning through its generations. We will also see how the festival is itself a dynamic space that can be challenged and reshaped by these musical women. A colourful and experiential film that will evoke myths, history and magic to highlight women's key roles in this rich and vital heritage. 

Terry Binns and Eliot Alison will create an immersive exploration of music therapist Ruth Boulton's work:

Our film celebrates Ruth’s unique influence in using music therapy to support client health in Cornwall. We hope to provide viewers with an immersive introduction into some of her techniques through a musical and verbal conversation between practitioner and viewer.

Isabelle Morris is planning an experimental documentary exploring the life and music of Annabel Hockey-Smith:

Caravan Graveyard will explore the life and music of Annabel Hockey-Smith, the front-woman to the band Hockeysmith and co-founder of the label Eel. The film will consist of a glimpse into Annabel's daily life followed by an interview with the artist. Set against the sublime backdrop of Falmouth and its rolling countryside, Annabel's story is one of harmonious existence. She lives amidst the natural beauty of Cornwall on a bus, and creates powerful and engaging electronic music. 

Ella Turner will work with the singer-songwriter Martha Tilston for her film ‘Staying Here’:

Focussing on singer songwriter Martha Tilston, this film considers the intense scrutiny of women in music alongside Martha's own experiences on what it means to create and perform music today. 

Jo Barker and Holly Black will:

Follow the 'accidental' choir mistress Vicky Abbott, and explore the role that her choirs bring to Cornish communities.

Jonny Dry will focus on the craft and daily life of Penzance-based luthier Hannah Sedgwick:

From her Penzance-based workshop, Hannah Sedgwick continues the town's long line of luthiers; those who take battered instruments and turn them towards a new lease of life. Through a web of conversations and sound, this project reflects on the meaning of craft, showing a woman working with her hands, and listening to the interactions that make up her daily life.  

Chris Smith & Joe Turnbull will explore:

What does 'for the joy of music and friendship' mean to the Stithians Ladies Choir?

Biddy Lloyd will be working on ‘My Mum - a life in music’:

A short animation about the life of a community pianist, her relationship with music, the village, family and the passing of time.

We'll be checking in with our filmmakers over the coming months and bringing you updates on their projects, and we've all got our fingers crossed that it won't be too long before they can get going! 

March Update - A Slight Change of Plan!

Well we didn’t see this coming! In a very short space of time, the group meetings and events we had planned have become unthinkable amidst the outbreak of Covid-19. Inevitably, the current health crisis will change the way this project unfolds, but we are planning to press ahead as much as we can.

For the Research Group, group leader Hilary Coleman is formulating a cunning plan for making the most of online resources over the next few months so that volunteers can work from home. Volunteers can request a phone or Skype call with Hilary to talk over research ideas or get an idea of where to start if this is something that’ll be new to them. Here’s an introduction from Hilary herself:

We are also looking at how we can deliver the planned workshops digitally, including Tehmina Goskar’s session planned for the 4th April. More updates on this to follow once we’ve identified the best method!

Our Oral History group is being encouraged to carry on their training remotely, and this month they have been tasked with interviewing contributors over the phone or via Skype, to give them material to work with and also providing some much-needed distraction for people stuck at home during isolation.

Hilary Coleman Joins the Project & First Music Workshop Announced

Hilary Coleman, Penzance musicians (Credit: Lee J. Palmer) & Dr Tehmina Goskar

We are very pleased to announce that musician & researcher Hilary Coleman has joined the project as Research Group Leader! Hilary co-founded the ground-breaking Cornish bands Gwaryoryon, Sowena and most recently Dalla, and was heavily involved in researching and arranging Cornish traditional music for these bands. This has led her to the Shout Kernow project and producing various publications, along with Sally Burley (who is also in our group - aren't we lucky!). It's difficult to sum up everything Hilary's been involved with, so here is a link to her website for some more reading : https://shoutkernow.wordpress.com/

If you’re interested in joining the research group, which will be meeting (usually) on Saturdays once a month throughout the year, contact Hilary: hilary-fenten@hotmail.co.uk

Coming Up:

We have our first music workshop on the 4th April, led by Dr Tehmina Goskar:

Women and Cornish Traditional Music will explore what we know about the history of women who composed, performed and shaped the identity of the Cornish traditional music we know today. Participants will find out about what Cornish traditional music is, what kinds of music it comprises, how it compares with other forms of 'trad music' and how it is perceived. We’ll have the opportunity to listen to some of this music while discussing the women historically and currently involved in developing this genre.

More information and booking here. Places are free thanks to the amazing National Lottery Heritage Fund, but please let us know if you need to cancel!

February Update - Research Group Gets Going and Oral History Training

We’re thrilled by the interest in this project, and have had a great response from volunteers keen to carry out new research into historical musical women in Cornwall. On the 25th January we had our first Research Group meeting, and we welcomed an enthusiastic group with a wide variety of experience and interests. Over the next month they’ll be working by themselves to find their starting point for research online, with a meeting planned for March.

If you’d like to join, email project leader Florence Browne (florence@hypatia-trust.org.uk) for more information - no prior experience needed, and you’ll be very welcome!

We’re also excited to be working with Storylines to offer a three-part Oral History Training Course, with dates in March, April and May 2020, for those looking to develop and consolidate oral history collection as a new skill. The sessions will equip you with the skills to plan, record and present someone’s memories around the project theme of women and music. By the end of the sessions you will have conducted your own recording, and transformed this into a written story with accompanying visuals. More information.

Women of Cornish Music: Past & Present - Project Launch!

The contributions of women to Cornwall’s musical heritage are to be uncovered and celebrated in a new Hypatia Trust project for 2020-21. ‘Women of Cornish Music: Past & Present’ has secured a £33,600 National Lottery grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and further funding from the Cornwall Heritage Trust and Screen Cornwall to work to rebalance the awareness of women’s roles in Cornish music-making past and present.

Like other areas of Cornish heritage, mainstream ideas of the region’s music remains rooted in male figures and traditions such as male-voice choirs and brass bands, but women have always been active in leading and shaping Cornish music. Dr Tehmina Goskar, director of the Curatorial Research Centre and an active researcher into Cornish traditional music, explains:

‘The work of musical women in Cornwall past and present has been astonishing, for example, the founding of early operatic and orchestral societies was very often fronted by a woman. The composition of the earlier version of Trelawny—Cornwall’s unofficial anthem—was by a woman. The revival of Celtic-Cornish instrumental and sung traditional music and carols has also been significantly led by women, such as Hilary Coleman, Frances Bennett and Sally Burley. Without their skills in capturing, recording and sharing since the early 1990s we just wouldn’t have our rich traditional repertoire.’

Over the course of the 15 month project, which is the first of its kind, we’ll be hosting a programme of events to explore and celebrate music of various genres in our region through a female lens. A volunteer research group will be recruited to delve into archives around Cornwall and discover the stories and music of historical women. Composing and conducting workshops aimed at building girls’ confidence in these male-dominated areas will be delivered in partnership with the Cornwall Music Service Trust, a charity committed to supporting the aspirations of young people in Cornwall through music education.

Gareth Churcher, Head of Service, says: ‘Cornwall Music Service Trust is delighted to be supporting the Hypatia Trust in such an important and exciting project. Musical culture in Cornwall is something that should always be celebrated but to highlight women is a focus that is long overdue. Congratulations to the Hypatia Trust on securing the funding and we very much look forward to working with them on this innovative project.’

Short documentary films will also be commissioned, telling the stories of modern women who are both achieving great things and supporting others through music in their community. Florence Browne, who is leading the project, says: ‘We’re thrilled to have been awarded this funding and we hope that this will create real opportunities for musicians, filmmakers and researchers, and strengthen links creative links within Cornwall and beyond. If you’d like to get involved with the project we’d be very keen to hear from you’.

We’ll be recruiting and training volunteer researchers in January 2020 and begin the programme of workshops and commissions shortly after. For more information about the project and joining the research group, contact Florence Browne: florence@hypatia-trust.org.uk.

More information about our brilliant funders:

National Heritage Lottery Fund

Cornwall Heritage Trust

Screen Cornwall

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