- rebetikocarnival@gmail.com
Community Work
Residential visits
Rebetiko Carnival’s mission is to widen participation and bring music closer to people for whom live shows in music venues are not easily accessible.
We hold interactive performances in spaces such as hospitals, prisons, and care homes, which provide people with the chance to listen to and actively take part in music-making activities. A typical visit starts with an informal concert held in the main room, where people also have the chance to try the instruments; we then encourage participation by teaching everyone the lyrics, the melodies, and where appropriate and possible, the dance. Most importantly, we dedicate part of the visit to getting to know our audience, by sharing our stories, and inviting people to tell us about their own lives and their experiences with music! For those unable to join us in the main hall, we visit them individually in their rooms to chat with them and play musical requests.
Over the past ten years we have made approximately 200 visits to schools and residences and built wonderful relationships with our partner institutions. Currently, we are looking for more organisations to work with.
Learning a song!
Education
Encountering music from around the world is a wonderful way to learn about different cultures and gain the intercultural and interpersonal awareness needed to work in a group with others – while honing musical skills, through listening, improvisation and dance.
We run workshops for children and young people aged anywhere from three years old up to Sixth form and above. We work with both Greek schools and British schools, bringing either our own workshops or looking at GCSE and A level curriculums with the schools and working on the world music modules with them.
Pavlos Carvahlo conducting
a children’s choir and orchestra
at a workshop
Pavlos Carvahlo conducting
a children’s choir and orchestra
at a workshop
Testimonials/case studies
Among our proudest successes was a one day workshop which brought together thirty young instrumentalists from multiple schools, with a local community choir of sixty people aged from six to eighty years old! After a full day of workshops learning songs, looking at improvisation and creating their own arrangements of music, they were joined by a ten piece band of professional Greek musicians to perform in an evening concert together.
Partner schools and groups include Asterakia, Oathall Community College, St Joseph’s pre-school in Haywards Heath and Queenswood school in Hatfield.