Why there's 'No Place Like' Ten Pieces for Kerry Andrew
A range of free teaching resources for the next phase of the project, Ten Pieces III, are available.
Once of the new pieces includes a song by British composer Kerry Andrew that has been commissioned specially for the project.
Written for a cappella voices, No Place Like showcases the amazing range and power of the musical instrument all of us are born with – the voice.
The song takes inspiration from words contributed by children, giving young people the opportunity to contribute to one of the Ten Pieces for the first time.
Kerry explains what it was like writing a piece based on children's submissions from across the UK.
Tell us about the theme of No Place Like
'No Place Like' explores the idea of home! It's about where we are all from, how we are connected, the homes we live in, and our hometowns and the sounds there.
How did you go about selecting the words and putting them together?
I got so many words! Hundreds of kids around the country sent me their responses to my questions about home, and the first thing I did was select (hundreds of) my favourite lines. I do loads of writing, too, and so I made a really long poem. From that, I had to choose just a few really strong, evocative lines for my piece - lyrics that wanted to be sung. But ALL the contributions have totally inspired the content and feel of the piece!
Were you surprised by the contributions that you got?
I was really moved by the responses. Putting them together as a big poem made me understand the country, from rural villages to big cities, from the kids' point of view. It's like a portrait of the UK in words and sounds!
Were there any that stood out in particular?
My favourite things to read were the really individual sounds that kids wrote about - sounds you could only hear in the place where they lived. Everything from 'the call to prayer at my mosque' to 'the test bell at the ICI factory on Tuesday nights' to 'people shouting at a shinty'. I also loved how important pets, games consoles and pizza seemed to be to a lot of kids!
What do you hope to see from schools in response to the piece?
I am so excited to see what schools do with the piece. I'm looking forward to hearing how they make the sounds of their own hometowns come alive, am hoping it allows them to use their voices in fun ways and to explore the sounds of their local area through recording, composition and visual art. I am sure that lots of schools will surprise me by thinking outside the box!
What are you up to next?
Loads! I'm planning to make a couple of albums this year, including one exploring folk songs and fresh water; I'm working on my second novel; singing around the country with juice vocal ensemble; and I'm working a piece inspired by participants in care homes around the UK with Live Music Now.
