Failure is the Key to Success

It’s coming up to the end of the school term and there are concerts all over.

This afternoon, my son and about 90 other children from local schools who were learning string instruments, went to a Fiddle Fiesta at a local middle school where they spent the afternoon practicing 6 pieces together. At 6:30 this evening they put on a concert for the parents.

On this Saturday morning and the following Saturday morning, Dunstable Music Centre are having their end of term concert. At various times we will all be taking part, my daughter and I only on the first Saturday.

Continue reading » Concert Season

Tags:Dunstable Music School,Hayley Westenra,Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain

That is the title of this post, which should by all rights have been written yesterday.

Following the Music Centre Concert on Saturday morning, the kids went back with Jo’s Mum and Dad to stay overnight. This left us on our own, so we went kids free shopping in the afternoon.

Then in the evening we were picked up by some friends and all went to the Friends of Dunstable Music Centre Christmas meal. It was held at at The Old Farm Inn in Tottenhoe again, the same venue as last year. Some of the group are regulars there, singing and playing music on Monday nights. There were 13 of us in total, there should have been 14, but one of our friends dislocated his knee while carrying an amp out at the end of the concert.

Continue reading » Sore Head

Tags:christmas meal

It was the last day of the term at Music School today and this morning was the end of term concert.

There were a couple of alterations to the programme, the first of which was the location. Normally the concert takes place at Manshead Upper School, where the classes take place. However, the school hall has been set out for mock exams starting on Monday, so it wasn’t available. Manshead shares the same campus with a middle and lower school, so the concert moved to Streetfield Middle School.

Continue reading » Music Centre Christmas Concert

Tags:concert,music centre

I restarted my laptop this evening and when I did, Trillian signed in automatically. On my blog contact page and on my profile page on cre8Buzz I have my Plugoo widget which appears as a contact in instant messaging and allow anyone to chat with me when I am online. If I am not signed in, it allows a message to be left for me and I receive this when I next sign in.

Anyway, I don’t think I have signed into Trillian for the last few days, so when I signed in this evening I had a couple of messages.

One was from ex Mediaeval Baebes member Karen Lupton providing me updated information. This was totally unexpected; I know there have been several views of the Mediaeval Baebes post and the links from it, but I wasn’t expecting any Baebe or former Baebe to visit. I have updated Karen’s information on the original post. Thanks Karen.

I thought I’d have a look at the Mediaeval Baebes website this morning before we see them at the Joust in a couple of weeks.

I knew it had been a while since I checked their site out, about the time of my post about Musical Taste back in April. So, it was a bit of a surprise to be greeted by a new picture and realise that I didn’t know some of the faces. It appears that 3 of the members including 2 of the founder members had left in May.

The other thing that was disappointing was to find that they had played in Milton Keynes, about 25 minutes away, at the beginning of May. I know that I should have checked the site, but I’ve got so used to RSS feeds, that some of the old sites I visit have been forgotten.

I first came across the Mediaeval Baebes in December 1997, when their first album Salva Nos was getting a lot of airplay on ClassicFM. I instantly became a fan.

We first saw the Mediaeval Baebes live at the Joust in 2005, where they signed a copy of their album Mirabilis.

There have been several changes in lineup over the years, I have tried to include all.

Current Baebes

Katharine Blake.

Founder member of Mediaeval Baebes in 1996. Born in London, Katharine is Musical Director of the Mediaeval Baebes. She was the lead singer in goth-rock band Miranda Sex Garden.

Katharine’s page on Mediaeval Baebes website

Emily Ovenden.

Joined the Mediaeval Baebes in 2003. Born in Cornwall, Emily has written and published her first full length novel in 2004.

Emily’s page on Mediaeval Baebes website

Emily Ovenden’s website

Claire Rabbit.

A friend of the Baebes since their formation in 1996, Claire joined in 2005.

Claire’s page on Mediaeval Baebes website

Melpomeni Kermanidou.

Melpomeni joined in November 2006. Melpomeni studied Musical Composition in Melbourne, Australia and has been a nomad since.

Melpomeni’s page on Mediaeval Baebes website

Maxine Fone.

Maxine joined in March 2007. Maxine started her professional career at 18 years old as a Contemporary Dancer and Choreographer, mainly working with Matthew Bourne.

Maxine’s page on Mediaeval Baebes website

Sofia Escobar.

Sofia joined in May 2007. Sofia was born in a cold November day in Portugal. She was the Portuguese voice of Jasmin in Disney’s DVD “Aladdin”.

Sofia’s page on Mediaeval Baebes website

Bev Lee Harling.

Bev joined in May 2007. Bev Lee Harling is a writer, composer and performer of songs from many different genres, forming a rich tapestry of subject matter.

Bev’s page on Mediaeval Baebes website

ex Baebes.

Karen Lupton.

Founder member of Mediaeval Baebes in 1995 and stayed till 99 (last gig - the eclipse). Is now a teacher in Glasgow’s East End, married to Ted Garcia (former guitarist, Feline, Horsepower)

Sophie Evans.

Member of Mediaeval Baebes in 2000

Nicole Sleet.

Founder member of Mediaeval Baebes in 1996 until 2000

Nicole Frobusch.

Founder member of Mediaeval Baebes in 1996 until 2000. Nicole has her own range of children’s clothing.

Claire Ravel.

Founder member of Mediaeval Baebes in 1996 until 2002. Spending time with her family in Texas.

Carmen Schneider.

Founder member of Mediaeval Baebes in 1996 until 2002. Carmen left to pursue her ambition of designing her own range of aromatherapy treats and live in New Zealand.

Ruth Galloway.

Founder member of Mediaeval Baebes in 1996 until 2003.

Dorothy Carter.

Founder member of Mediaeval Baebes in 1996. Dorothy was born in New York in 1935. It was her love of mediaeval instruments that inspired the formation of the Mediaeval Baebes, where she was instrumentalist and is credited with the arrangement of several of the songs. She died of a stroke in 2003.

Teresa Casella.

Founder member of Mediaeval Baebes in 1996 until 2005. Teresa was born in Hamilton, Ontario in Canada. She moved to London in 1989 and played bass guitar in the band The Lost Virgins in Space. She joined Miranda Sex Garden in 1995.

Rachel Van Asch.

Founder member of Mediaeval Baebes in 1996 until 2006. Rachel was born in New Zealand and spent much of her childhood travelling with her mother’s glam rock band Ragnarock. She moved to England in 1985. She launched her fashion label Sacred Clothing in 2001 and relaunched it in 2003 as Van Asch including a much wider range of garments.

Marie Finley.

Founder member of Mediaeval Baebes in 1996 until March 2007. Marie has written for television and has credits for Banzai and Smack the Pony. She was the leading lady in Ken Russell’s movie Fall of the Louse of Usher.

Marie’s page on Mediaeval Baebes website

Audrey Evans.

Founder member of Mediaeval Baebes in 1996 until May 2007. Born in Brussels, Audrey has a degree in child psycology and when not being a baebe, can be found teaching in a nursary school. She sang in the band The Naked Goat.

Audrey’s page on Mediaeval Baebes website

Maple Bee.

Joined the Mediaeval Baebes in 2003 until May 2007. Maple Bee has release two solo albums, was the bassist in her sister’s band Queen Adreena and vocalist/guitarist in the band Vertigo Angels

Maple Bee’s page on Mediaeval Baebes website

Maple Bee’s website

Cylindra Sapphire.

Founder member of Mediaeval Baebes in 1996 until May 2007.

It will be interesting to see what the change of lineup has done to the arrangement of some of the songs. It seems from their guestbook that everyone is quite happy with the results. I wish the departing baebes all the best with their future endevors and look forward to some good weather for the Joust.

They are touring cathedrals this year. They performed at St. Leonards, London last Friday and will be at Coventry Cathedral and Ely Cathedral next Friday and Saturday. The remainder of the tour will be in November and December, it’s a shame that none of the locations are closer. Something like St. Albans Cathedral would have been great.

[Edit 7th September 2007] Update from Karen Lupton Garcia via my plugoo widget: ‘[Karen Lupton Garcia] UPDATE FOR YOU! > “Hi Ian, started Mediaeval Baebes 1995 and I stayed till 99 (last gig - the eclipse). I am now a teacher in Glasgow’s East End, married to Ted (former guitarist, Feline, Horsepower) lawyer -Pinsents” ‘
Thanks for the update Karen.

Tags:mediaeval baebes

OK, so my good intentions were about as far as a return to regular posting got. Here is the post that should have been on Saturday.

It was the end of term concert at Dunstable Music School on Saturday morning. It only seems 5 minutes since I posted about the last one. During the last term, I have been taking my daughter along to the Early Years sessions and she has been really enjoying it. We were starting the concert this time and she was a bit nervous about going on stage, but she did really well.

Only one more session now until September.

Tags:concert,music centre