Guo Yue Workshop Journey with Wiltshire Schools

15th February 2010

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