Tag: Arts

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The Pilgrimage

I have quickly discovered that driving to DC from NH the week before pennsic is perhaps not the best thing I could have planned. To be fair, I didn’t think Pennsic was in the cards this summer. Oh, what a fool I am.

After already being exhausted from the 9.5 hour drive each way + additional tops and working a convention for 4 days, I came back to speed pack and finish up procrastination projects that needed to be done for pennsic. I know this is a new concept, but hey. #speedfinishgarb, #finishgarbforking, #learnnewmusic, #finishtokens.

Friday am, Husband and Consorts Bard hit the road at 6 am and drove straight to Slippery Rock. Ahhhhh, more poor choices. We got on site just in time to set up the rain fly on our tent and the heavens opened up. I am lucky husband was with me, even though this was his first pennsic, he is no stranger to setting up camp effectively. As the skies opened, I shrugged, closed the trunk of my SUV and took a nap. It was a glorious couple hours. I have learned that in a pinch, my car can be comfy enough to stay in for a couple days.

Around 10 pm, Collette the Bard graced Mermaid’s Song with their presence and we did a quick run through so not everything was fresh on Sunday. Not my best, but it had been over 3 years since I’ve sang harmonies with another human.

Saturday was fairly open and the only thing on my agenda was Opening ceremonies. This will probably be the only time I get to head up the line, but it was fun! Pomp and circumstance-y. Walking with my friends, fancy-ish garb and feeling important in our game.

Sunday was probably the biggest highlight for me. We met around 3pm to rehearse for our 6 pm concert. There were multiple reasons. First and foremost, I have been dreaming of singing with my very skilled friend since I met them. Also, typically, I am running the choirs or singing solo. Getting to not be the center of attention for once was super nice. I love being the supportive role. Many go “But Solveig, don’t you have a soloist voice?” Ah ha! If you are a skilled singer, you know how to blend with other singers, change vowels and vibrato density and be a unit, not just a soloist. Below are some of the tracks I was honored to be able to sing in.

By The Rose

Music to Me

On Allisoun

Needle and Thread

Siren Song

Vocalists were Collette the Bard(Collette le Trouvere), Bird the Bard (Julianna Bird) and Aibhilin inghean Daibhidh.

That night, I had been invited to VDK Bardic by Caoilfhionn inghean Fhaoláin, 3 time past queen of the east, warrior and passionate performer. I was honored to be able to even join. It’s amazing what weird ideas humans can have about one another. Many years as we have been passing ships in the night, it was assumed that each of us hated one another. This could not have been any farther from the truth. I tried to put on my brave girl pants and chat with her further to see if I could find out why there was stress on our relationship, but instead, I treated her as if there was none. This was probably the best option I could have done. We commiserated over our children, life events and bonded. It was beautiful and I am so glad that we got to strengthen our friendship further. I decided to open up with my new song, “The Spark”, which I had been gushing to Caoilfhionn over, which is what pushed me over as she seemed excited about the concept. Caoilfhionn was also having a rough time with her voice due to exertion from melees… which is to be expected. Someone requested her to sing “We are the East”. She advised she couldn’t remember the words. I happened to be opened up to that very page in my bard book and offered to sing with her so she had the opportunity to perform. We may have sang in unison, but it made my heart happy to finally join voiced with this amazing human. Soon after my husband whisked me away for dinner since it had been 11 hours since my last meal. Woops.

Monday was shopping day with husband. He had been spending a good amount of the time at the range. We had lunch and a shopping date. Before we met up, I found a singular bass gemshorn which I snapped up quickly. This was my new precious. If you haven’t seen this instrument, it looks very much like a drinking horn. Keep this in mind for court the next day. At night, we hit Pirate Bardic and Chalkman. I don’t normally get to sing Sea Shanties/Maritime Songs or do belty chest voice. This is where I just let it loose. I still had to be careful with Wednesday coming and the A and S Warpoint.

I woke up super late on Tuesday, unsure why. Guess my body was angry. Still getting used to calorie intake and such. However it was EK Court time. It was exciting as always to see folks get recognized. There were a few well planned shenanigans and it made my heart swell with joy. I did, finally, get the nerve up to do my “job” in court. I brought my gemshorn to court and played when there was time between calling recipients. The best response I received was from those who had never seen a gemshorn before. I received such responses as “Did… did you just whip out and play a drinking horn?” followed by, “Didn’t you just buy that yesterday… and you already know how to play it?” That was the highlight of court for me.

Wednesday was the big day for me. I was asked by Sefa to serve as an A and S alternate for the war point. This was huge for several reasons. 1) I would be the first performance for the A and S warpoint in the History of the Pennsic War. 2) I have only competed in A and S twice and neither time did I have anything beyond 1 page of documentation. This time, I had 9 pages of documentation, a piece of music that is 100% period and I even dressed in garb that was appropriate for time time period, composer and world location. Although I did not actually get to compete for points, I was excited to be included this year. I was excited to meet performers from other kingdoms. I was excited to show that performance is not just “Learn a song and sing it pretty”. The best part was sharing my passion and knowledge of music with others and explain things in a way they could understand. Music can be scary and intangible for many. I had atleast 3 separate folx who told me that I taught them something that many others had tried and had not succeeded before. My heart gushed. Later that evening I had the pleasure of hosting the East/Mid Bardic Showcase. Every year the East and Mid alternate hosting it. This would be the first year back at Pennsic in 3 years, so it was weird. It was supposed to be hosted by the Mid, however, the mid has no current royal bard. Also, their stand in, Jolicia, happened to have other commitments that night, so I took it over. I made sure to introduce the circle, provide a warm space for all to perform, make sure every performer was gifted a token for their effort simply enjoy. All in all, I found this to go well.

John Dowland “Flow, My Tears”

After that was over and the temperatures had dropped, I dragged my husband to see Volgemut so he could understand the majesty and awesomeness that they are and then off to visit with the Kingdom of Acre. They are SCA adjacent. I made friends with the soon to be King of Acre, Nico several pennsics ago and promised I would stop by. I whipped out my ladino song because it makes my heart happy and I wanted to sing of my love for Nicco and husband. When I was done, I received several “Wow” and “Oh shit” and that made my heart glow.

Thursday I ran and facilitated the EKCOP Meeting. Lots of good stuff coming this year! Check the EKCOP page for minutes. After I ran to the 1 act short plays and got to play Hermes and the Greek Chorus. This gave me another idea for classes to bring back to the East for more classes for those who performance is new/scary and make it a safer place for them.

Friday… home….. the worst. We split up the drive and now I am le sad. So… here we are.

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New Beginnings

If anyone knows me, they know that music is the number one priority in my life. Whether I am singing or playing instruments or encouraging others to perform. I know the power that music can hold and I want nothing more than to make sure that others have this saving grace in their lives as well.

A few years ago I was very involved in a choral group called “Voce di Sonata”. These were all volunteer vocalists from Malagentia. We would run through pieces and work on them. Eventually we would get to have other performance experiences as well. However, after running it for 2.5 years, it was time for my life to explode and I simply couldn’t organize it again at that stage of my life. Life happens.

Even without formally running it, I would have folks approach me and ask for group singing and soloists to perform at their events (and weddings). I would gather ad hoc groups as needed as well as find appropriate soloists. In addition, those vocalists in the group would come and say, “Solveig, we would really love to sing with you”. My heart couldn’t say no, but I just didn’t know when.

In addition, I was also involved in the Malagentian Players. From a solo member as well as a member of their troupe. However, through discord and life, it too mostly went the way of Ol’ Yeller.

This broke my heart.

A few months ago I moved to the Riding of Giggleswick. It is a small riding but with some fiery and passionate hearts. I have a stable place to live and partner. I love my new job. Emotionally, I am in a good place. It was time.

Last night was the first meeting of the Giggleswick performing arts group.  I had 6 people show up! That’s huge for our little riding. There is promise for more to show as well. We had very new performers telling their first story in public, more seasoned performers working on newer pieces. We had rounds. ROUNDS GALORE. Folks who claim they don’t sing, sang with us! It was beautiful and harmonious. We even had a few repetitions of singing through “O Magnum Mysterium” which is no small feat. It was beautiful. The feedback was positive and I am ready to do this again in 2 weeks.

The plan is to have folks perform their pieces. Should they want feedback, they will ask. If not, no feedback is to be given. I am hellbound on making sure this is a safe space for all to perform. There will be workshops and classes to come as well.

For now, a new beginning, like a fresh layer of snow.

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Paneling Arts and Sciences as a Bard

I find that there is a very large divide in the world of Arts and Sciences between those who create and have a half life and those who create and their art is fleeting. I fall very much into the fleeting art. I love to re-create music that has already been written and perform it in it’s period style. I find that I can compose in a decent manner, but my passion is the recreation. As I mentioned in my previous post, getting out there is difficult. I don’t have the money to get good recording equipment to get out reproduced tracks so I perform at as many events as I can

With that said, at Stonemarche’s winter feast celebration, I brought the handsome Aegir to his first event he’d be performing at. Aegir, ever since we started our relationship, has been very adamant that he wanted to sing with me as well as solo. I had him attend one of my classes on beginning stage presence, but he’d need to get out there to get comfortable. Stonemarche is a very relaxed group with very positive individuals, so this joyous event would be a good place for him to get his feet wet. We’d be the background music. The Event Stewart, Astridr, had contacted me a couple months prior, asking if I’d perform at the feast. I, of course, agreed. She not only asked because I am always performing at their events, but because my family is Jewish. The feast this year was a completely Jewish based feast so they wanted songs in Hebrew and Ladino. Also, we were staying away from traditional holiday music as well.

Aegir and I had a mixture of songs, from Hebrew to English, and some to banish the cold winter away. By the end of the day, his confidence about performance has been boosted and I also got in my need to sing.

Before the day was over, the current champion of Arts and Sciences had asked me if I would be providing anything for the Arts and Sciences competition. I hadn’t put in any thought to it, but I did keep my documentation of my works on my handy dandy smart phone. I am also stupidly organized in my personal life. I have folders for my folders, so I could readily find the documentation and art work to go along with a couple of pieces that I had composed.

I had produced my songs Ah weh and lullaby for the queen. Besides presenting my physical documentation, I was asked to perform them as well. (TWIST MY ARM). These were pieces I had written in a Norse fashion using skaldic poetic style and typical Scandinavian composition patterns. Singing was not the problem, it was talking about my work. It’s very personal to me. I had never sat down in front of a panel and had to equate why my work was good enough. On top of that, I felt like I was speaking a foreign language to the panel. Musician’s speak their own language.

The panel was kind and warm. All in all, I feel like this was a step in the right direction for the fleeting arts.  I don’t feel like I won, as I don’t feel like my work was as adequately prepared as my fellow artisans, but I do feel like with some tweaking, it could be.