Blog
Zoom a cappella sessions starting January 2021
Happy New Year, and greetings from Blau Schnorkel Studio in Sydney — and I hope for all of us that 2021 is less challenging a year than 2020. Last year I ran Zoom tutorials every Tuesday night, focussing on my usual repertoire: black gospel, South African gospel, but...
2021 Workshops in NSW north coast: Byron Bay & Sawtell
OK, back on the road in 2021 — with luck. Sadly, no Summersong this year, but I'm offering the air-conditioned splendour of Kulchajam in Byron Bay for a weekend workshop January 23-24 : https://www.trybooking.com/BNLZT and after a week or so of R&R, we go to the...
HLQ’s new album
After 23 years, the Heavenly Light Quartet has finally got around to recording more of their favourite songs from their favourite genre. We got together in 1996 to explore the intricate, rhythmic and fiery songs by such seminal groups as the the Dixie Hummingbirds,...
NEW: the disturbing hedge
In my giddy & impressionable university years I doted somewhat on musique concrète & Stockhausen, and even once played guitar in a Victoria University Music Department performance of Aus den sieben Tagen. I spent many hours home alone with a couple of tape...
Patreon page now live
In these weird times, you’ll all be aware that group singing has been largely demonised—who thought a benign and healthy form of expression could suddenly become public enemy number 1?— and I find myself working on music at home alone and needing more of an outlet for...
Rehearsing For Heaven tutorial recordings now online
My double CD gospel set was popular enough to finally sell out — but now the nine songs where I teach the parts are now available as digital downloads on my website: Each song title includes four separate mp3s to teach the SATB parts, and ends with a complete...
New Release: IN THE SPIRIT songbook
My new songbook In The Spirit is a collection of 14 songs that I originally wrote for the Café of the Gate of Salvation. From that description you may gather that they’re inspired by the black gospel tradition, but because I’m so undisciplined I can’t help but be...
Singing Up The South Coast
I’ve just returned from the NSW South Coast, where many generous souls & wonderful singers collaborated with me in a series of free workshops for the community. My good friend, Jules Maxwell, initiated this adventure as way to offer some uplifting respite &...
Last post for 2019
Just back from a beautiful round of workshops in Victoria – a session in Melbourne with the sensationally organised Yarra Gospel, then a weekend workshop in Melbourne (special thanks to Annemarie Sharry & her fabulous South of the River Choir for raising the roof...
Making Music in Mercatello
A week after leaving the Northern Territory (red dirt, beautiful chasms, fly-nets over our heads) we find ourselves in Italy (beautiful stone buildings, prosecco, casual elegance) meeting up with a new bunch of singers from all over Australia & NZ in the charming...
Singing to the Heart 2019
This remarkable & unique singing journey up through South Australia and the Northern Territory (via some breathtaking terrain and vivid cultural interactions) came to an end came to an end June 1. That night, at Aboriginal artist Kathleen Buzacott’s gorgeous...
From the Tiki room
From the Tiki roomSpending a couple of weeks in Napier inbetween NZ workshops – I’m staying in the tiki room at Fane Flaws’ wacky abode, and as one would expect we’re working on We Disappear, our long-delayed recording of songs we’ve made from Sam Hunt poems. Anton...