Surf and Turf 2010 is nearly here! Schools from the Stowmarket and Thurston clusters are getting ready to go! To get the creative juices flowing, we’re starting with a small slideshow of Stowmarket past and present. Look out for new photos as the website is updated.

Poet Dean Parkin wrote poems especially for this project which you will find by following the first two links below. Dean also worked with young people from year 6 at Colneis Primary School writing new poems which featured in the concert at Landguard Fort. Click through the other links to browse through these poems.

We were delighted that My Bedroom by  Chester Tooke was a winner at the Suffolk Young Poets competition. Old House by Poppy Yeo, and Beach Mishaps by Jessica Ellery were both highly commended. Well done Chester, Poppy and Jessica!

Poem of the Clock and Song of the Button Boy, by Dean Parkin

Five Haiku (To be Sung by the Sea) and What You Remember, by Dean Parkin

The Sea Lies

Surf and Turf poems by young people from Colneis School

Surf and Turf solo and group poems

Here is a snapshop of the fun we had at Landguard Fort in Felixstowe at the beginnning of July. The weather was extremely good to us, and local people flocked along the new coastal path to see  the performance. Groups from Colneis Junior School along with Deben and Orwell High Schools created brand new music with workshop leader and composer Fraser Trainer, poet Dean Parkin and London Sinfonietta musicians.  Musicians Simon Haram (saxophone) and Bruce Nockles (trumpet) played fanfares across the battlements whilst guitarist Steve Smith, singer Ben Hulett and flautist Alex Jakeman provided a more gentle musical experience - excerpts from Takemitsu’s Toward the Sea and songs by Luke Bedford and Benjamin Britten.

Photographs by Paul Coghlin www.paulcoghlinphotography.com

If you press play, you will hear the recording we made of the performance at the Shipwreck. Young people from Shotley Community Primary School with London Sinfonietta musicians. Sit back, relax, maybe press play on the photo slideshow below, and you can see photos of the performance at the same time!

This project in Shotley culminated in 2 fantastic performances at the Shipwreck pub at Shotley Marina. Have a look through this slideshow to see some great images of the people who took part.

Photographs by Paul Coghlin www.paulcoghlinphotography.com

Just a few photos from the workshops leading up to the performance at the Shipwreck. A few blurry action shots so those tambourine arms must have been working hard!

2 sell-out concerts, we were so thrilled! Thank you Shotley for making the London Sinfonietta so welcome! Young people from Shotley Community Primary School, with London Sinfonietta musicians, composer Fraser Trainer and poet Dean Parkin, performed 2 truly great shows. We have pictures and a sound recording of the whole event which we’ll be sharing with you very soon, so do keep a look out!

Toru Takemitsu wrote a piece for flute and harp which will feature in both the Shotley and Felixstowe performances in June and July. Follow the links below to hear short clips of this haunting piece. It is in 3 movements:

i) The Night

ii) Moby Dick

iii) Cape Cod

(These clips will open in a new window)

Pupils from Colneis Primary School have written poems about their local area. Click on the four images below to read these vivid depictions of life by the sea.  We’re delighted that Colneis yr 6 will be working with poet Dean Parkin, creating even more new work for Surf and Turf.