The tour would be similar to that in Japan in 2009 where we presented My Secret Heart and worked with groups in the region. In Tokyo My Secret Heart featured at SuperDeluxe in a club night and we are taking to the organisers about replicating this event when SuperDeluxe comes to the Sydney Biennale at Artspace. The provisional date for this is 26 June.

Around this club night we will be working with the world-famous Choir of Hope and Inspiration through workshops and a ‘Sing-posium’ invovling other organisations in the arts and social welfare field. We will also be delivering artists training for artists working with vulnerable adults and giving seminars about the work of Streetwise Opera.

The award was presented at an event in London hosted by BASCA (The British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors), the Performing Rights Society and BBC Radio 3. Listen to a programme broadcast on Radio 3 about the awards here.

The award panel described My Secret Heart as ‘transformational’.

In early 2010 the installation will be in Newcastle for two exciting presentations. Firstly we’ll be at the Discovery Museum from 9-15th January in the Great Hall. Then we are in final discussions with Northern Stage about presenting the installation as part of their 40th anniversary celebrations in February.

The presentations of My Secret Heart were only part of the story – the British Council helped us to run workshops with homeless people and artists in Osaka and Yokohama, sharing our model of work and helping to grow and develop the community arts movement. The British Council had also made links with a huge array of social entrepreneurs, artists, support workers, policy-makers and academics to help spread our work as widely as possible. 

The two areas we were working in – Kamagasaki in Osaka and Kotobuki in Yokohama are very isolated areas of homeless and disadvantaged people. Over 90% are elderly men although more and more young people are also living in these areas. With the help of some inspirational social activists (Kanayo Ueda from Cocoroom in Kamagaski and Tomohiko Okabe from Koto-Lab in Kotobuki) we engaged with residents of the area. There was an existing theatre group called Musubi in Kamagasaki and we worked with them to introduce music into their work and to write a song with them which will fit into their new play. We performed this together at the Aqua Festival in Yokohama.

We have felt enormously privileged to be involved in this work – although the community arts movement and the support infrastructure for homeless people is less developed that in the UK, the work on the ground is exceptional and it was an honour to be part of this. A massive thank you to all those we worked with, especially the British Council in Japan for making it happen.

Then last week from 12-14 Feb we had the first leg of the installation tour at the Light Night Festival in Notts. Huge thanks to the Notts group for coming out to take part in the discussion we organised (particularly for your speech Kevin). Then the installation was run for 3 days and a few hundred people came. It looks so awesome when it is playing in a dark room – in this case a church. Amazing. I’ll load some photos onto this site

I’m so proud of what we have achieved and what the Streetwise performers have produced. It is fantastic and so are you!

Next date in the diary is a screening at Tyneside Cinema on 7th March. More info to follow!

Matt

There are so many people to congratulate and thank – the creative team, back-stage crew, office staff, volunteers, support workers, workshop leaders – but most congratulations must go to the performers. You were all so professional, patient, courageous and kind. Many of you travelled huge distances and came to London for the first time, put your bags down and went into 9 hours of rehearsal and performances! I can’t thank you enough for all your energy and warmth.

We’re all really looking forward to the next stage when we tour the installation and we’re cooking up plans to bring it to all the towns in which we work. So see you soon!

Thanks to each and every one of you

Matt

PS We’ve had some brilliant reviews which is the icing on the cake. Check out this cracker in the Guardian (4 stars!) http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/dec/06/review-secret-heart

Lovely article – hope you like it everyone!

The taster video has had around 9,000 viewings in about 2 weeks! The December show sold out in just over 2 weeks! What is going on?! Here are some amazing comments about the taster video from the public on another site http://vimeo.com/2131989

Matt