Wedding

THIS PROJECT IS NOW REDUNDANT. It started Jan 2016, sponsored by the very kind Magda Mayes and Jeremy of the Neue Musik Schule Berlin, and

gratefully administered in a place called "cafe connections".....it then "devolved" after one year to a studio in Wedding, which I had to leave eventually...

anyway read on if you choose

I have been doing this project with refugees now since January 2016. It started at cafe connections in Schöneberg, Berlin.

It has been very rewarding. Some started guitar from scratch, some are experienced, so the real trick was to get them all playing musically together. There were generally two classes: the first for beginners, the second for more advanced. But each class could observe the other, to maximise the overall learning.

The majority attending, so far, have been Syrian. I keep the class "open"..anyone is more or less free to observe or get involved. We did, throughout this year, a variation on the James Bond soundtrack, some Spanish music, some Arabic music, greensleeves, and other music.

Some of the cons I came across is that the guitars are not very good quality, but the two which caused a few problems were fixed quite easily.

The pros was all the help I got from everyone to help make this possible: Larry and Natascha for providing space and helping with organisation, and Magda and Jeremy from the Neue Musikschule Berlin, who provided funding and guitars.

Also, an anonymous Irish person donated a violin! Who is this unsung hero!? And where did the violin go!?

The most interesting aspect has been listening to their own language and culture. Arabic and Iranian are fascinating languages, and the music I have heard them sing and play is very inspiring.

I have photos from a small concert we had yesterday, before the whole class moves to Wedding. These should be going online here soon.

At the concert, they played Happy Birthday in 4 different languages! And we played some christmas music with Forest, a guitarist and teacher, who is now teaching at cafe connections, and joined in with us and was really inspiring.

As already stated, this project is now continuing on at the studio where I teach, Ravenestr. 9, Wedding.

The first date of 2017 is January Friday the 6th. More information shortly. If you would like to fund a refugee, get in touch, it costs the german minimum wage for an hour long lesson, of which 6 euros 50 cent or more can be paid for by the sponsor. Refugees are encouraged to pay if they work/have money, for obvious reasons. For the full details of funding, please see the "Sponsor Music Lessons for Refugees" section of my website.