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Dates: b. 1978

Nationality: British

Period: 21st Century

Genre: A Capella

Key Musical Elements:

• Timbre

No Place Like is a brand new commission written specially for Ten Pieces by Kerry Andrew about home and place. The song takes inspiration from words submitted by children, giving young people the opportunity to contribute to one of the Ten Pieces for the first time. Resources include:

• A performance from the Ten Pieces Childrens Choir
• A film with the choir, Kerry Andrew and poet Lemn Sissy
• Lesson plans
• MP3 Downloads
• Choral arrangements

Resources available for:

• EYFS, Key Stage 1, Key Stage 2, Key Stage 3 - England, Wales and Northern Ireland
• Early years (P1- P4), Second Level (P5-P7), Third and Fourth Level (S1-S3) - Scotland

The story behind No Place Like

The piece was created from words sent in by Ten Pieces students who completed a literacy exercise asking them to think about their home.

Kerry Andrew used the words they sent in to create a which then formed the basis for No Place Like.

Written for a cappella voices - which means singing with no musical accompaniment - No Place Like showcases the amazing range and power of the musical instrument all of us are born with – the voice.

Listen out for: The middle section which has a wide range of overlapping sounds from everyday life – can you identify what they are? This musical collage of free flowing sounds is called a soundscape. You can have a go at creating your own soundscape of your area by listening to the sounds around you and either recording them or recreating them yourself!

Also listen out for how the voice can be used to create different sounds. Apart from singing, the voice is also used to create different sounds from everyday life. Here the composer uses the instrument of the voice to sing and also for effect using different types of vocal timbre.

Who is Kerry Andrew?

Kerry Andrew is a composer, performer and writer. She was born in Britain and studied composing at York University where she completed a PhD.

She is perhaps best known for her work with voice; she specialises in experimental voice and choral music, music theatre and community music.

She has written massed choir pieces for 600 performers using their voices and bodies, a 'wild swimming opera', a work performed by 25 ensembles around the UK and a piece to fight for the NHS.

One of her most famous works however is called The Song of Doves and was written to remember victims of the July 7 London bombings.

She has won several awards including three British Composer Awards (one for Community or Educational Project in 2014).

Alongside composing she sings in a vocal group called Juice who have released two albums, You are wolf - an alt-folk group, and DOLLYman – an 'anarchic jazz/ classical/ rock collective'. Kerry has even found time to write a novel which was published in 2018.

MP3 music downloads

Lesson plans and resources

Choral Arrangements

• - for children's voices. Includes performances notes and composition tips
• - for children's voices plus SATB voices. Includes performance notes

Please get in touch with the Ten Pieces team if there are minor adjustments you would like to make for your ensemble.

You can also download the No Place Like piano backing tracks as MP3s - the tracks are split into two so you can add your own soundscape of home town sounds in the middle:

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