Our other projects
Choirs
Shortis and Simpson run a world music choir, Worldly Goods.
WORLDLY GOODS is a 60-voice community choir open to all comers. The repertoire is world music. No music reading skills or previous experience required. The joy of singing is the important ingredient.
Worldly Goods was formed in 1998, and has performed at conferences, as part of festivals, in large community arts projects, and at their own concerts. The choir represented the ACT at the Bendigo Gospel Music Festival in 2002.
An active workshop program is part of the Worldly Goods calendar, and workshop leaders have included Tony Backhouse, Frankie Armstrong, Margret RoadKnight, Nino Tsitsishnili and Joseph Jordanian.
Worldly Goods is currently working on Kevin Hunt’s Woodlands Suite, to be performed at Bungendore Woodworks on Sat Nov 15. Then work starts on preparations for the choir’s role in the opening of the Multicultural Festival in Feb 2004.
The choir meets each Monday during school terms at the Bogong Theatre, Gorman House Arts Centre, Ainslie Avenue, Braddon, ACT. All welcome. Fees are $65/$60 concession.
CAN BELTO is an acappella group specialising in world music, particularly the spine-chilling harmonies and rhythms of traditional Eastern European folk music.
The group grew out of Moya’s voice workshops, and 7 years on, regularly perform their wide repertoire of songs at a variety of venues, including the National Gallery, the Hall of Memory at the War Memorial, the National Archives, Old Parliament House, National Folk Festival, Sydney Acappella Festival, as well as conferences and private functions.
They have also been involved in a number of theatre and dance productions including Neil Cameron’s The Dreamkeeper, Emma – Celebrazione! as part of the 2000 Street Theatre Season, The Universal Lake for the Weereewa Festival, and Candid Canberra for the 2001 Canberra Multicultural Festival.
Can Belto have produced their first CD, and have worked regularly with international voice teacher, Frankie Armstrong.
They recently completed then first stage of Dischord, a devised piece of work that presents their song repertoire in a theatrical setting.
They are currently working towards a performance with Kevin Hunt at St Phillip’s Church Bungendore on Friday Nov 14. Then work starts on preparation for the opening of the Multicultural Festival in Feb 2004.
“…they are capable of singing with precision, songs with sublime, sometimes quite close harmonies, complicated dynamics and rhythms…..”
Muse Magazine, Feb 1999
“…..sings Bulgarian songs as well as this reviewer has heard non-Bulgarians sing them…”
Canberra Times, Dec 1998
‘The Celebrazione Choir,… is a pleasure to watch and listen to. Consisting of members of the Italian community and Moya Simpson’s group Can Belto, they give a strong performance…..’
Canberra Times June 2000
Courses
Voice workshops
Moya Simpson’s voice workshops create a joyous, humorous and safe environment for vocal exploration ,harmony and improvisation. Participants experience the delight of singing with others, using calls, chants and songs from a variety of cultures around the world. They can be for advanced singers or those who sing secretly in the shower. She also works regularly with established groups and choirs on their vocal sound and repertoire development.
Songwriting workshops
John Shortis’s songwriting workshops cover the craft of lyric and melody writing, scanning, song form, rhymes, hook lines, use of computers and home equipment, copyright. Often these workshops involve a group-devised song that is then recorded, produced on CD and launched. John has recently conducted these workshops with Canberra Youth Theatre and Queanbeyan City Council.
Conferences and launches
Shortis and Simpson perform at many conferences in the ACT and interstate. From their enormous repertoire they tailor their performance to suit the needs of the conference. They usually do between 20 and 40 minutes in a situation like conference dinner, exhibition opening etc. They have often created a song specially for the occasion.
Their act is lyric based and requires audience attention.
Past performances have been at conferences related to politics, education, history, law, financial planning, engineering, food and wine, and at launches of exhibitions, festivals etc.
For more information contact John or Moya on 02 6230 4868.
Other projects
Shortis and Simpson have directed numerous community arts projects including The Outback Children’s Spectacular in Dubbo in 1988 in which 3000 school students from outback NSW wrote and performed their own show in front of an audience of 30 000. Other projects include Candid Canberra (2001), a federation Centenary project based on Canberra’s history, and Changes in the Ranges for Dandenong Ranges Music Council (2003).