Wiltshire Music Centre offers an intimate 300 seat auditorium with lots of free parking right outside. To find out more, or to book tickets, visit Wiltshire Music Centre's website or call Wiltshire Music Centre's box office on 01225 860100.

The Nook for two £125 (Two people)
This is not your average tent experience - cramped, damp and musty. Instead with 2 meters of standing space, a sleeping room that is spacious, airy and a large living area to enjoy, this will be a very luxurious and comfortable festival experience. Did I mention the self-rolling windows? Sigh…
And another feature:
The changing bedroom(s)- where you can either have one grand space, or two separate roomy doubles.

The Nook Plus £210 (Four people)
Bring friends or family in on this deluxe camping deal to share the experience and spread the cost. With the option of turning the sleeping compartment into one huge area or two separate doubles you can share midnight snacks and compare your WOMAD day whilst cosied up in your sleeping bags. Alternatively, you can catch up and relax in the grand live-in area.
Options, options… And check out those self-rolling up windows...

The Hive £315 (6 People)
The Hive Plus £420 (8 People)
The Festival is stirring and people are crawling out of their wee tents to welcome the start of a new day. In this generous weekend dwelling you and your buddies can enjoy the morning stretch in your lofty rooms, walk out into the living area for breakfast and chat about your day ahead.
This five roomed palace can hold 6 or 8 people, depending on your party and whether you want to have a spare room for card games, drinks room, play area etc. Oh and both of these options come with self-rolling windows. You just cannot go wrong!

The extra comforts
Double air bed £18
What could be better when you reach your new weekend getaway than to have a freshly pumped up airbed to flop down on? This will be kept pumped up by the enthusiastic crew at the reception over the weekend.

Sleeping bags £25
One less item to carry would be the bulky sleeping bag, essential but heavy! We will provide you with lovely warm sleeping bags, which you can take home with you after the festival or leave with us. We will make sure that those left behind reach a charity of our choice.
Any queries please contact the box office on 0845 1461735 or email us at sales@womadshop.com

A mission should you choose to accept..
The person with the best photograph of their WOMAD glam camping experience will win a pair of weekend tickets for next year. Please send all entries into womadcamping@womad.org We will announce the winner in the newsletter and on the website news section on Friday 1st October 2010.

Welsh record label Red Eye Music to release album of Haitian Voodoo drumming in aid of the Haiti earthquake disaster.

The devastation that surrounded the recent Haiti earthquake has inspired many people around the world to dig into their pockets to help those affected by the disaster.

Cardiff record label Red Eye Music will release Haiti Vodou: The Voodoo Drums Of Haiti in order to raise money for the disaster relief efforts in Haiti. 100% of the profits from the release will go to charities working in Haiti.

In October 2002 Welsh musician Christopher Rees and Cultural Concerns director Steve Garrett travelled to the Caribbean island of Haiti on behalf of The Haiti Fund (a charity set up in Wales in 1996 to help the people of Haiti through educational initiatives).

After working with schools in the north of the island introducing new teaching methods incorporating the use of music, they returned to the capital Port Au Prince to research and record the sound of Vodou drumming. Vodou, commonly known /Anglicised as 'voodoo' is a widely misunderstood religion practised by over half the population of Haiti. Often shrouded in mystery and misinterpretation the religion and its music acts as the heartbeat of the nation providing people with the spiritual strength to survive their daily challenges.

Recorded over two weeks in down town Port Au Prince, Petionville and El Shaddai, Haut-Limbe, Haiti Vodou: The Voodoo Drums of Haiti presents a raw and riveting introduction to the world of Vodou drumming (the sacred rhythms of spirit possession) via authentic field recordings in the tradition of the great Alan Lomax who himself visited the island back in 1936.

The phrase 'mind-blowing' is often over used in music journalism these days but it can be justifiably employed here when describing the relentless energy and intoxicating intensity captured during the Vodou ceremonies. Haiti Vodou presents an exhilarating insight into the world of Vodou and will appeal to a wide range of percussionists, Caribbean music enthusiasts, scholars, and those interested in Vodou or neo-African religions.

100% of the profits from the release will go directly to the disaster relief efforts in Haiti.
Disasters Emergency Committee www.dec.org
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) www.msf.org.uk
Avaaz www.avaaz.org and The Haiti Fund (Wales).

For further details please go to www.redeyemusic.co.uk

]]> HAITI VODOU : THE VOODOO DRUMS OF HAITI

Welsh record label Red Eye Music to release album of Haitian Voodoo drumming in aid of the Haiti earthquake disaster.

The devastation that surrounded the recent Haiti earthquake has inspired many people around the world to dig into their pockets to help those affected by the disaster.

Cardiff record label Red Eye Music will release Haiti Vodou: The Voodoo Drums Of Haiti in order to raise money for the disaster relief efforts in Haiti. 100% of the profits from the release will go to charities working in Haiti.

In October 2002 Welsh musician Christopher Rees and Cultural Concerns director Steve Garrett travelled to the Caribbean island of Haiti on behalf of The Haiti Fund (a charity set up in Wales in 1996 to help the people of Haiti through educational initiatives).

After working with schools in the north of the island introducing new teaching methods incorporating the use of music, they returned to the capital Port Au Prince to research and record the sound of Vodou drumming. Vodou, commonly known /Anglicised as 'voodoo' is a widely misunderstood religion practised by over half the population of Haiti. Often shrouded in mystery and misinterpretation the religion and its music acts as the heartbeat of the nation providing people with the spiritual strength to survive their daily challenges.

Recorded over two weeks in down town Port Au Prince, Petionville and El Shaddai, Haut-Limbe, Haiti Vodou: The Voodoo Drums of Haiti presents a raw and riveting introduction to the world of Vodou drumming (the sacred rhythms of spirit possession) via authentic field recordings in the tradition of the great Alan Lomax who himself visited the island back in 1936.

The phrase 'mind-blowing' is often over used in music journalism these days but it can be justifiably employed here when describing the relentless energy and intoxicating intensity captured during the Vodou ceremonies. Haiti Vodou presents an exhilarating insight into the world of Vodou and will appeal to a wide range of percussionists, Caribbean music enthusiasts, scholars, and those interested in Vodou or neo-African religions.

100% of the profits from the release will go directly to the disaster relief efforts in Haiti.
Disasters Emergency Committee www.dec.org
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) www.msf.org.uk
Avaaz www.avaaz.org and The Haiti Fund (Wales).

For further details please go to www.redeyemusic.co.uk

]]> http://womad.org/news/guo-yue-workshop-journey-with-wiltshire-schools Mon, 15 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000 WOMAD http://womad.org/news/guo-yue-workshop-journey-with-wiltshire-schools Musical Journeys - Untold Stories is a partnership project between Wiltshire Music Centre and the WOMAD Foundation.

Master musician Guo Yue from China, now living and working in the UK has been leading workshops this week in a number of schools in Wiltshire including:

Malmesbury C of E Primary, Malmesbury
All Saints CEVA Primary School,Salisbury
Durrington Junior School, Durrington
Bishops Canning Primary School, Devizes
Rowdeford School, Devizes

Musical Journeys is working with artists who for a variety of reasons have decided to make their home in the UK. We wanted to look at the different reasons they may have had for choosing to come here and how living and working away from their home country impacts on the extended family as well as the immediate family. How do we inhabit our family histories and how does music connect us to our past and provide a conduit to the future are just two of the questions we have been asking.

This week children in Wiltshire have become part of Guo Yue's journey. He has shared his music and the remarkable experience of being brought up in China during the Cultural Revolution. In his inimitable way he recounts both the small and the monumental happenings that have shaped his life. These are embedded in the fabric of his music and from the feedback we have had this week we are sure that his encounters with children and teachers have left a lasting impression and provided a starting point for further study of the culturally rich and complex country that is China today.

The children were really inspried by Guo Yue:

"Yue talking about dreams made me feel like I can achieve anything!" Ben Smith Yr 6

"I told Yue that my dream was to see an angel and be an artist when I'm older"

"Listening to Yue, I'm totally inspired to keep practising my music"

"Yue's story has made me realise how free we are." Natasha Yr 6

• Wiltshire Music Centre's website
• More on Guo Yue at realworldrecords.com

The application form is no longer available due to the closing date for Traders applications for Charlton Park WOMAD 2010 was on Friday 5th February 2010.

• more on The One Show

Guo Yue will be bringing over 15 exquisite flutes (including a rare flute made from white jade) to The Wiltshire Music Centre on Friday 5 February at 8pm. Through his performance and against a background of striking images, Guo relates his own experiences of growing up in Beijing during the Cultural Revolution. As this moving and personal story of life and death unfolds Guo reveals how he turned to nature to find meaning and truth.

The Centre offers an intimate 300 seat auditorium with lots of free parking right outside. To find out more, or to book tickets visit Wiltshire Music Centre's website or call Wiltshire Music Centre's box office on 01225 860100.

• Wiltshire Music Centre's website
• More on Guo Yue at realworldrecords.com

As of midnight tonight ticket prices will return to their usual £125.

• Buy Your Tickets Here

Peter Gabriel will release his 'Scratch My Back' album project on February 15th 2010 on Virgin Records. The album is the first part of a series of song exchanges in which Peter and other leading artists reinterpret each others songs. In this first installment we hear excerpts from, and the stories behind Peter's recordings of Heroes, The Boy In The Bubble, Mirrorball and Flume.

• subscribe with iTunes
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• Download the mp3 file

• WOMAD Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 2009
• Casa Africa at WOMAD Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

The biram is an ancient sacred instrument barely known outside of Niger. It is a sound that may soon become extinct unless more young musicians take up the instrument. Mamane and Oumorou's visit to the south west of England, included a workshop at St Stephens School, where the musicians played for an assembly and introduced students, not only to the biram, but to a range of percussion from Niger. Mamane, previously a teacher, was entirely at home with a classroom full of eager children, telling them stories from his home country, about his culture, way of life, and the fascinating story of his apprenticeship learning to play this instrument.

For more information on the WOMAD Foundation or to enquire about bringing the WOMAD Foundation to your community contact:
foundation@womad.org

Reasons to buy an Earlybird WOMAD ticket:
As an original christmas pressy for that hard to buy for friend (there is always one)
As an incentive to get through the wet days that are becoming our winter
Simply as a treat for surviving another year or managing a Saturday of Christmas shopping

• Buy Tickets online

In glorious songs like Edem Chanté (Listen To Us!), The Creole Choir celebrate the history of their Haitian descendents enslaved to the Caribbean from West Africa. The Creole Choir's ten remarkable singers come from Camagüey, Cuba's third city, down towards the eastern end of the island. They grew up and studied music in this old colonial town, designated a UNESCO World heritage Site in 2008 for its colonial architecture. They have nurtured music passed down in their families since the early 19th century, gradually adding modern Haitian sounds.

• more at The Society of Sound

• Experience Kamel El Harrachi's favourite dishes.

Now on and in full swing at Sadler's Wells, Svapnagata Festival of Indian Music and Dance has already had rave reviews and incredible performances from the likes of Nitin Sawhney and U Shrinivas.

Still to come in the festival is Nagamandala, a play that weaves together traditional folk tales which is performed in Punjabi with English subtitles. The play is directed by Sangeet Natak Akademi and Award winner Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry who is described by The Hindu as "One of the finest theatre directors in India"

Also featured in the festival is the inimitable Trilok Gurtu Orchestra, who very recently performed at WOMAD Abu Dhabi, with saxophonist Jan Garbarek. Famed by his burning sense of rhythm and his compositions, this evening will see Gurtu collaborate with seven Western musicians, using an eclectic mix of instruments ranging from French horn, trumpet and violin to the santoor and didgeridoo.

• For information on the festival and to be in with the chance of winning a trip to India, visit Sadlers Wells website.

If you're heading to the Southern Hemisphere for March 2010 or are already there then there are great things in store for you at WOMADelaide and WOMAD New Zealand.

• More information on WOMADelaide 2010
• More information on WOMAD New Zealand 2010

• Buy Charlton Park tickets