**April Adventures - New Album & Road to Peace DVD Launch**

April Adventures

April was the 2nd month in the Roman Calendar, dedicated to Venus or Aphrodite, which came to replace the Old English fertility Goddess Eastermonað - known also as Eostre, Astarte, Asous.  So, in the Northern Hemisphere, April ushers in the beauty of fresh flowers emerging, the bursting of Nature into Spring Song and the advance into abundant new adventures, projects and connections.

Allowing the waters of our dreams, passions and yearnings to flow abundantly is the gift of these Easter Goddesses, whose songs call us to rise from the embers of winter and recreate ourselves afresh.

April is full to bursting with sonic adventures - I invite you to come and sing your spring song with me

*** NEW ALBUM - Empty Cup - NOW AVAILABLE***

“Rose’s own clear fountain of a voice... ripples through every nook and cranny of these narratives, casting each plain pebble as a glistening jewel” - Stephen Hunt, fROOTS Magazine

I wish to offer my sincere thanks to everyone who supported the album launch, which raised over £744 for WaterAid’s life saving projects providing clean water and sanitation for people in Ghana.

12 weird and wonderful tunes wrapped up in a rose spiral, sustainably packaged by We-Wow, with a special PDF booklet about all the songs and stories of the album.

£1 from every album will be donated to WaterAid.

*** Road to Peace - DVD Launch at Union Chapel - 5th April ***

I feel immensely honoured to be part of this amazing event which will feature a screening of the film, Q&A with Leon Stuparich & Thupten Samdup, HH The Dalai Lama’s representative, music from Tim Wheater, Joshua James Field plus chanting from Lama Lobsang and the monks of Kagyu Samye Dzong.

Please click here for a sneak preview of the special live arrangement of my piece ‘Love and Compassion’

* * Other Events * *
 

Sanctuary of Sound- Fortnightly Sound Bath - April 7th & 21st

Finding stillness through sound - A Special Sound Immersion Experience

Immerse yourself in chant, song and mantra from global traditions and float away on the soothing sound waves of gongs, singing bowls, flute and tampuri.

The Little Escape 4 Paxton Mews, Off Westow Street, SE19 3RW.  5.45-7.15pm, £15

Juicy Spring Day Retreat with Beverley Drumm -  April 14th

* 10am-1pm - Kundalini Yoga * 2-3pm - Sound Bath with Katie Rose

* 3.15-5.15pm - DanceIn2U Workshop

* Early Bird / Full Rate Whole Day: £50/£65 * Kundalini Yoga Workshop only: £30/£35

* Sound Bath: £8/£10 * DanceIn2U: £15/£20

The Factory, 407 Hornsey Road, N19 4DX

Women Walk on Water

@The Islington, 1 Tolpuddle Street, N1 - 7pm, 15th April, By Donation

Performances from a collective of Women Songwriters - Annalouise Oakland, Cam Ringel, Jessica Burnett, Bex Marshall, Kath Best, Nia Ninn & myself.

Garden of Roses -  Light Petals - April 23rd

A evening of sonic light spirals featuring MissMagikal Love & Wiggzaro Vise

Inspiral Lounge 250 Camden High Street, London. NW1 8QS -  7.30-10.30pm, Donations

Forest Hill Singing Group

Super easy super chilled chanting, singing & voice stretching.

Next sessions: April 24th & May 29th, 7.30-9.30pm, £15, SE23

Individual Sessions

Love Your Voice  & Sound Therapy

If you’d like to journey to the next frontier of self expression or take a sonic trip in a special one to one Love Your Voice/Sound Therapy Session, please contact me.

Wishing you a beautiful, bountiful Easter

Women and Water - Flowing Together to Create Change

Women and Water -
Flowing Together to Create Change

“One stick will break soon. But five sticks combined can’t be broken easily.  Therefore bound together as a group, we can do similar work. Nobody can break us.”
Kuntala Behra - member of a women’s self-empowerment group set up in the slums of India, WaterAid video Women: Agents of Change

'Water, water everywhere, only if we share - Megha Kumar, India - World Water Day Slogan for 2013

As I approach World Water Day and the launch of my new album, after a powerful week of celebrating Women with International Women’s Day and Mother’s Day, I’m continually reminded that no matter how big and overwhelming issues are on a personal and global scale, small daily actions and collaborative ventures can make a big difference.

On International Women’s Day I had the honour of performing, ‘Raise Your Voice for Change’  with Dawn Ellis and Tom Morley of Instant Teamwork at the top of a very misty City Hall. Their song was written originally for UN Women and will be part of a special UN Women’s walk on Saturday 16th March and no doubt many future events.  I was so grateful that I had a space to raise my voice and make a contribution with like-minded singers - it was so uplifting and empowering.  For me, the experience of action in collaboration is absolutely magical and inspires me to carry on.

My new album, Empty Cup contains the songs of many women - a woman shot accidentally by her lover who returns as a ghost to forgive him, a woman who escapes from abduction using the power of her song, a woman left behind when her man is taken to war, a woman who saves her lover from death, a woman who holds to the truth of her love to the death in the face of slander, a seal-woman who returns to the sea, and Oshun, Goddess of Water Within the vulnerability of their stories, there is an Oceanic Female Spirit which carries them through their trials and is truly wonderful to behold.  Their enchanting songs have captivated, inspired and encouraged me as they touch on the stories and themes of my own life.

The courage of the women in these songs is the same courage of the women whose lives are daily impacted by lack of clean water - those who damage their bodies, miss out on education and risk assault carrying water for miles for their family, those who are forced to give dirty water to their children knowing it may kill them, those who are raped when trying to find a safe place to use as a toliet, those who face illness and deformity from water-bourne diseases, those who are married off underage because their families are too thirsty to take care of them.  Their cup is empty.  But their stories are not going unheard.  

WaterAid is working with women in the world’s poorest communities to empower them to take those daily small actions that build taps, pumps, toliets and new hygiene practices. Women are forming self empowerment groups and are courageously setting out to educate their children, spouses, neighbours and communities, demonstrating that lives can be saved when water is used mindfully.  They are showing that the power of collaboration changes lives and in doing so they are becoming empowered, confident decision-makers in their communities.  They are being acknowledged by governments as having a key role to play in the future of their countries.  

Currently the shocking statistics are that 1 in 3 women will be raped or assaulted and that violence causes more death and disability for women than war, cancer, malaria or traffic accidents. Women earn 10% of the world's income for doing two-thirds of the world's work, own under 3% of the world's wealth and form only 17% of the world’s governments. Two-thirds of the 780 million illiterate people in the world are women and 19 girls a minute will be forced into underage marriage.  Despite these epic challenges, women everywhere are joining together to sing their song and share their stories - whether it’s the No More Page 3 campaign in the UK, the campaigns to change the law in India after the recent gang rape of a young woman on a bus, the success of Grace Amy-Obeng fighting skin bleaching in Africa or the women working with WaterAid to bring clean water to their communities - women are joining to change the world from the inside out.  Their collaborative spirit, which flows in, out and around struggle, demonstrates the magic that becomes possible when we join together with a shared intent.

Please join with me to help fill the Empty Cup on March 21st.  It costs only £15 to give one person access to clean water for life, so every penny helps.  You can join the party either in person at Inspiral Lounge from 8-10pm and/or by making a donation to  WaterAid on my JustGiving Page.    

Here is a video invitation to the event, donated generously by Simon Paul Sutton of Conscious Media.

Wishing you the wonderful flow of collaborative, magical, life changing action

All at Sea - Voyages of Voice - February News

* All at Sea - Voyages of Voice *

I must confess to having been in the creative space of being ‘all at sea’ for much of February, which has once again allowed me to realise that it is the sound current- the deep unending wave of primal sound, pulsing at the very core of existence - which floats my boat.  

I’ve appreciated more profoundly the healing effect of uplifting dialogue with dear friends - not just the words that are exchanged but the emanation of beloved voices beaming beautifically to me over the telephone/ Skype/ virtual airwaves.

This amazing voice of the deep, which resides within all of us, encourages me to keep rowing and making my way across the wide, wide water.

I am honoured to hold space of deep listening for the deeper voice in individual sessions and it’s truly amazing to witness the breakthroughs that emerge from simply allowing it to be heard.

***
 

So March finds me washing up on a new musical shore, with a new album to share with you all and invite you to collaborate with me in sharing a vision of filling the Empty Cup for those who are thirsty by joining me at the Launch Party at InSpiral on 21st March and donating to WaterAid.

 

A wonderful wave of poetry has also arisen in my life recently, and I am delighted to be part of the premiere performance of Fathieh Saudi’s poems Prophetic Children on March 1st at St Ethelburgas.


 

I’d also like to give you a special advance invite to an amazing event on 5th April - the DVD Launch of the film Road to Peace, in support of the Dalai Lama’s message of peace and the cause of the Tibetan people.  I am honoured to be singing alongside Tim Wheater and the monks of Kagyu Samye Dzong.  You can enter a competition to win tickets on the Road to Peace Facebook Event Page.


 

Equinox weekend marks the birthing of a new sound group at The Little Escape in Crystal Palace - I’ll be offering an introductory taster session as part of their First Birthday Celebration Weekend on 24th March.

 

The Garden of Roses is springing up with wonderful new musical flowers - following a truly love soaked evening of sound and silence with Illumina, Andy Cooney and Simon Sutton’s presentation of Global Love Letters - I look forward to welcoming glorious Goddess Esther Austin and Apollo’s Mob on March 26th at InSpiral.

Do let me know how your own Voyage of Voice is proceeding.

Wishing you the transformation of worry into wonder as you surf the waves.
Looking forward to seeing and hearing you!

PS - I have a New Facebook Page
- please pop over for a cup of virtual tea, Listen & Like! :)

 

I'm all at sea
Where no-one can bother me
Forgot my roots
If only for a day
Just me and my thoughts sailing far away
- Jamie Callum - All At Sea

 

For Full Listings of Sound Happenings across London please

click here