The Hiawatha Sessions

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was a Croydon resident and could be perceived as the Stormzy of his day - a hugely popular musician who, at the age of 25, was championing diversity and equality issues at the Pan-African Conference in London in 1900 and up until his death in 1912, at the age of 37.

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The Hiawatha Sessions challenges young people in Croydon to recreate Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s ‘Song of Hiawatha’ for a modern-day audience. Our winner and best runner-up producers will be in the running to win a £50 Amazon voucher and the chance to perform their piece in front of a live audience at a Beats & Eats event, held at Stanley Arts in South Norwood on Friday 21st October.

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This competition is open to all young people in Croydon to use the music of Samuel Coleridge Taylor and the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to inspire their own music or spoken word production. Each track needs to be between 1 and 5 minutes in duration.

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Our goal is to inspire young people in Croydon with his story, not just highlighting Coleridge-Taylor as an inventor of music, but also as someone who pioneered activism which culminated in a response from Queen Victoria. We want to give people the belief in the power of creativity and invention - through the skills they pick up at Legacy Youth Zone music sessions and the confidence they get from performing to a live audience.

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The competition is now open for submissions and budding producers are invited in to attend the following Music sessions held at Legacy Youth Zone.

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• Juniors (8 to 12 years old) - Tuesday 13th and 20th September - 4pm-8pm

• Seniors (13 to 19 years old) - Friday 16th and 23rd September - 4pm-10pm

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(Non Legacy members will have their membership and music sessions paid for by Stanley Arts - contact us for more info).

 

Book your session here: https://legacyyouthzone.org/book-a-session/

Or contact us to join up as a member.

Music files and guidance notes are available to download on the link below (70mb file) in addition to attending additional bookable sessions at Legacy Youth Zone.

Take on the challenge now, have your track played at Stanley Arts and be in with a chance to win a £50 Amazon voucher! The last day for entries will be Friday 14th October 2022.

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Please send your audio file to us using the form below. If your file is over 15mb please use WeTransfer and send the download link to croydon@beatsandeats.org. 

 

Add your name and contact details so we can get in touch with you to let you know if you have won.

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Click here to download your files and instructions and get started!