A new venture has started between Newton Dee Camphill Community and Tara Leiper Music. Since the opening of the Phoenix Centre in Newton Dee in 2012 we have been intending to open our doors to the wider public. 

So, every second Saturday of the month we put on a free concert event in the Paul Allen Auditorium from 5 to 6 pm. 

On the 10th of October it will be the 5th month for this free event and I do not think that people realise yet what exciting performances are happening during this time. We had two great male singers last month who sang song cycles from Schumann and Quilter. There are many amazing songs that exist in this world, songs which are mostly performed only by professional singers – and they are right here on our doorstep!  

On the 11th of July we heard female opera and art song. The whole venture started with a ‘Come and Sing Event’; a happening where you sing the whole afternoon and learn new songs and then there is a concert/performance to finish.  

Maybe it is good to hear how Tara was brought into this collaboration. When I still lived in France I told Ulrike that I would love to have, once in my life, some singing lessons. We arrived in Newton Dee on the 1st of October, 2006 and after two years of settling in, I finally got a list of singing teachers from the music shop ‘Top Note’ in Aberdeen. I pondered over these names quite a bit but the name Tara Leiper stuck in my mind and I decided to phone her.   At that time she still lived and worked from her home in  Aboyne.  Since then I have had singing lessons with her, and it was during these that we started planning the Saturday free concerts. Tara has been performing, teaching our Foundation Course students and helping me with the choir over the years here in Newton Dee. The main thing that impressed me in Tara’s lessons and performances is her enthusiasm and the help she gives to anyone to gain control of their voice and release their creative potential. 

We also made cards with the help of Simeon in the Craft Studio to distribute all over Aberdeen, so we would attract a bigger audience into the Auditorium. 

So, I want everyone to come and listen to a variety of concerts/happenings every second Saturday of the month!! On the 10th of October there will be three sets of vocal duets (of which I am singing in one!!). Soon we will publish the next cards with the next six months’ concerts and themes. An event in January which is already planned is called ‘Funk and Junk’: new compositions with brass and percussion. In March there will be again ‘Opera and art song’ and you might see two faces (and hear two voices) there which you might know (Hilary and me).