I’ve been meaning to create this website for some time now, so it’s a relief to have it up and running!
A major motivating factor was the number of enquiries I’ve been receiving recently about the music workshops, resources, CPD etc, and so there is an emphasis here on this side of my work.
Of course, before investing the time to listen to my ideas and opinions about teaching with music, you need to know why you should bother! That’s why I have included a Theatre as well as an Education biog – it’s good to know the background of anyone giving advice and opinion so that you know its coming from sound experience other than off the top of their head or straight out of a text book.
I have enjoyed collating information for the “research” section. There is such a wide range of information about music and its benefits available on line, and not all of it is rigorous, relevant or indeed interesting. I have spent a considerable amount of time trawling libraries and bookshops, as well as the internet to find and understand the best information out there. I’ve even knocked on many academic’s doors…often with very positive results. This section of the website will be developing over time.
I’m also hoping to upload more music samples soon. Working in theatre often means jumping from one job straight into another, and there is seldom any time to edit, re-arrange or catalogue the music you’ve just produced. In my case, I have a shed full of unlabelled cd’s, mini-discs and even DAT tapes that I only occasionally have time to sort out. I’ll upload more music from old shows (as well as from education projects) as I find it!
Something I have not included in the site is a section of endorsements/ glowing comments or other forms of heavy sales pitch for the work. Although all the work I do in schools is quite rigorously evaluated and I have boxes full of enthusiastically completed questionnaires, I am quite cynical when out-of-context comments are used to endorse this type of work. Let me know if you disagree!
So – for me this process has been a great spring-cleaning exercise – at last stuff is getting neatly filed in one place! I hope it is of interest.
Best wishes
DT
engagewithmusic 