Singing for confidence, well-being and connection

Fri, 13th May, 2016 from 9:00 AM, in London

An exploration of what singing together can teach us about working together in groups.

As people committed to your own long term personal development, we would be delighted to welcome you at our next London event.

Music making in groups enables us to relate in freer and more expressive ways than we are often able to in our regular, verbal lives.   We all have the capacity to respond to music, although we are not always conscious of just how vital and central the role of music is in social interactions and rituals the world over.  It can uplift and comfort, channel and reflect our most difficult and our most joyous emotions.   Less known is the facility of music making to hold up a mirror to group behaviour – enabling more insight, awareness and empathy between us.

Why singing?

Singing is physical, emotional and energising. The voice is the musical instrument we all own and can learn to use for our own enjoyment and well-being.     It encourages good breathing, listening, teamwork and responding with sensitivity – it generates energy and a sense of community.  We can all relate this to how we motivate ourselves and engage others in the workplace.

During this workshop we will:

•  Explore some basic singing techniques to build confidence and take you from self-consciousness to self-awareness;
• Work in different group formats, using music from around the world to think about the connections between the way we sing and relate in them today and our regular working environments;
• Share the exciting experience of building a choir in a single morning – we will end with a performance by ourselves, for ourselves!

You do not need any previous experience of singing or any musical knowledge to take part in this day.  If you do have experience Claire can challenge you further!

The workshop will start at 9:00am and complete by 12:30pm for lunch. There will be a light breakfast available from 8:30am.  Kay, at the Amadeus Centre, cooks a lovely lunch which costs £20 and our experience is that lunch provides a lovely opportunity to connect and reflect.  When you book, please would you book according to whether you would like to join us for lunch or not.  Lunch is likely to take about an hour.

Claire Kitay will lead the workshop. Jeremy Keeley will moderate.    Currently Claire works as an HCPC registered music therapist, piano teacher, accompanist and ABRSM examiner.  She has worked in music for 30 years, starting her career as a professional organist, retraining as a music therapist 20 years ago.  Claire has extensive experience of working in many formats – from solo performer to therapist in the NHS.  Choirs and singing have played a part throughout her life from childhood.  Claire’s original musical inspiration came from singing in choirs – from there she went to conducting my college choir; accompanying and working with cathedral choirs, running a children’s choir and working as choral animator for Hertfordshire Music Service delivering Sing Up projects in primary schools.