MUSICAL NOTES
What do you do for PMZ?
I coordinate the Knowledge Exchange project with Plymouth University.
Do you play any instruments?
My specialities are Ghanaian Drumming and Latin Percussion, these involve being proficient playing a wide range of percussion instruments, I also play guitar, ukulele, bass, drum kit and piano. I have been known to pick up a Gaffophone from time to time but the less said about that the better.
What musical instrument would best describe you as a person?
Crystal Baschet, it’s one of a kind, it’s weird and it does things in its own unique and somewhat awkward way.
What has music done for you in your life?
I didn’t speak until I was 3, I couldn’t decide if I was left or right handed, to this day can’t spell. Music was the first thing I was ‘good’ at. In primary school I became top of the class at playing recorder and music showed me that I could succeed.
What’s the best bit about working at PMZ?
I’ve never worked somewhere before where I’ve looked forward to going into work every day. I’ve never worked somewhere before where I have believed in what I am doing. I’ve never worked anywhere before that has been so fun, challenging, rewarding, silly, serious, kind and just generally amazing.
What’s the first record/CD you ever bought?
I’m going to go with the first record I bought because I can’t really remember what the first CD was, and if I could it would no doubt be embarrassing. After being given a record player for Christmas by my girlfriend (now wife) in 2006 I went out and bought the soundtrack from 2001 A Space Odyssey which has been a hugely important musical influence throughout my life.
MUSICAL NOTES
What do you do for PMZ?
I coordinate PMZ’s events throughout the year, including our Summer Singalong in Devonport Park and Tea, Tinsel & Tonsils, as well as supporting people in the community to raise funds for the wonderful work PMZ gets to do. I’m also a Music Leader with the lovely Sensory Sounds group.
Do you play any instruments?
My main instrument is the piano, which I’ve played since I was 10. Since working at PMZ I have mastered three chords on the guitar (!) and although I wasn’t born to sing, I give it ago – albeit for the encouragement of others!
What musical instrument would best describe you and why?
As a lover of 80’s music (my childhood!) I’d have to say a good old synthesizer! Axel F anyone??
What has music done for you in your life?
Music has supported me through every possible emotion from the saddest to the happiest times. It has helped to build my confidence and to express myself.
What’s the best bit about working at PMZ?
Seeing the genuine difference PMZ’s work makes to people’s lives. I’m so proud to be a part of the team.
What’s the first record/CD you ever bought?
I remember buying the first Now That’s What I Call Music album on cassette or possibly a Bucks Fizz record!
MUSICAL NOTES
What do you do for PMZ?
It is my job to love and care for the building in which PMZ is based and to support the operational efficiency of all we do. That care also extends to the equipment used by music leaders and participants and to making sure everyone works like clockwork supporting the core team to do what they do best.
Do you play any instruments?
Unfortunately I do not play any instruments but I do a bit of singing in an acoustic duo.
What musical instrument would best describe you as a person?
A Gibson Les Paul but with a couple of broken strings and probably out of tune.
What has music done for you in your life?
One of my earliest memories is of music, “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” by Marmalade on a sunny day in the back garden of my parents first house and as long as I can remember music has been a constant. It has lifted me, moved me, filled me with awe and made me feel blessed. Music has helped me sleep, relieved a lot of boredom and when it is great I can think of nothing better.
What’s the best bit about working at PMZ?
The fantastic people and the atmosphere of warmth and creativity.
What’s the first record/CD you ever bought?
First album was The Beatles 1962-1966 the one with the red sleeve. The first single was probably a theme tune something like ?Dr Who? or ?Blake?s 7?.
Read some of Anna’s blog posts here.
Listen to some of Anna’s own compositions here.
MUSICAL NOTES
What do you do for PMZ?
I lead Plymouth Music Zone’s work with research partners and help to share our learning. These partnerships to date have included working alongside Plymouth University’s Institute of Education and Exeter University Medical School.
I develop and deliver training at PMZ, bringing the extensive and unique experiences within the organisation to more people through skills-sharing and training events. This includes creating new resources, helping with fundraising and reporting the impact of our work. I am also a Music Leader, working across a range of settings, making use of my voice, technology and instrument skills to help support people on their musical and creative journeys.
I lead workshops across a range of settings, making use of my voice and instrumental skills to help support people on their musical journeys. I also use music technology alongside acoustic musical instruments to help provide access to music in different ways. My other role is to develop and deliver training for PMZ bringing the extensive and unique experience within the organisation to more people through skills-sharing and training events. I also help with the creation of new resources, fundraising and reporting the impact of our work.
Do you play any instruments?
It’s quite well known within PMZ that I have a bit of an instrument-collecting passion/fixation! Aside some weird and wonderful sound-making gadgets and machines, my main instruments are: Bassoon, Piano, Saxophones, Flute, Guitar.
What musical instrument would best describe you and why?
My Bassoon and I are very similar – it’s an instrument of many colours and sounds?
What has music done for you in your life?
I can’t imagine my life without music. It has always been part of my whole journey. It’s determined many of my friendships, brought me comfort, happiness and deep connections with other humans, many of whom I would never otherwise met. It helps me explain myself to others when words don’t work. It has helped me make sense of the world and has never failed to bring me resolution and understanding in the most unexpected of ways: grief, joy, love, friendships, sing-songs, being silly, sad times, work, play, travel, goodbyes – music is always there amplifying the experience, making me who I am and always teaching me something new.
What’s the best bit about working at PMZ?
People! And being surrounded by music. I am privileged every day to witness some amazing transformations, however small – the unfurling of spontaneous creativity and developing self-worth in people who often had no idea it lay within themselves, is beautiful, powerful and not comparable with any other life experience. I’m really proud to be part of such a passionate and committed team.
What’s the first record/CD you ever bought?
Tracey Chapman’s ‘Fast Car’. When I was 12. My first CD album was R.E.M. Automatic for the People.
MUSICAL NOTES
What do you do for PMZ?
Finance, administration and making sure we’re measuring the impact of the work we do in the best possible way…and anything else that needs doing.
Do you play any instruments?
Keyboard .. the computer keyboard that is!
What musical instrument would best describe you and why?
Haven’t a clue but I wouldn’t mind being a harp, they look very grand.
What has music done for you in your life?
Made me happy, made me exercise, even helps me do housework (Nirvana being favourite at the moment), made me remember people and events, given me a job I enjoy with and for people I more than like!
What’s the best bit about working at PMZ?
Seeing that PMZ does make a difference – every day, all day.
What’s the first record/CD you ever bought?
I would love to plead the 5th amendment but I reckon it may well be Free’s single All Right Now. Mind you, I was very mean and would madly record everything off the radio at a very young age. This would be using tapes and electricity!
MUSICAL NOTES
What do you do for PMZ?
I?m the Music Programme Director which means I get the amazing job of setting up and managing all the music making activities that take place. I also look after our team of incredible Music Leaders that put the difference into Music Making a Difference.
Do you play any instruments?
Yes, I play guitar, bass guitar, drums I sing and I tend to terrorise any other instruments that get in my way.
What musical instrument would best describe you and why?
It’s an obvious one, but I would have to say the guitar because just like me it can be just as much pretentious, loud and in your face as it can be gentle, quiet and unassuming.
What has music done for you in your life?
Music has changed my life, without it I’d be a very different person. It has been my life’s plaster always there for me, a shoulder to cry on as much as a friend to celebrate with. I’m indebted to music, it’s given me my job, my friends, my lifetime of experiences and most importantly a meaning to who and what I am.
What’s the best bit about working at PMZ?
Being a part of something that truly makes a life changing difference is an astonishing feeling. But for me it’s also about the small things, that add up to those life changing moments. It’s an overwhelming feeling being a part of the empowerment people get from music allowing them to smile (maybe for the first time in a long time), feeling confident and full of energy to speak, sing or play an instrument, giving them a voice and an opinion and most importantly just allowing people to feel able to have fun and express themselves.
What’s the first record/CD you ever bought?
The first record I was given (by my Mum for Christmas) was Michael Jackson’s Bad and Paul Simon’s Graceland. But, just watch my credibility sink through the floor…However, the first album I BOUGHT was America’s Least Wanted By Ugly Kid Joe; I was thirteen and I bought it on tape the day it came out from what was then Plymouth’s best (independent) record store Rival Records.
PMZ Chief Executive
You can link to some of Debbie’s posts here
MUSICAL NOTES
What do you do for PMZ?
My job is to lead the team down the right road and hopefully inspire them in the process! They certainly inspire me. I’ve been here 19 years – including 10 years as CEO – and still not a day goes by when my heart doesn’t burst with the sheer pride and joy of working in a place that is all about making things happen for people.
Do you play any instruments?
I play guitar in a manner of speaking. Compared to everyone else at PMZ I’m terrible. Compared to my mum I’m fabulous.
What musical instrument would best describe you as a person?
I feel because I’m Scottish I should say the bagpipes. But I fear people might say it’s because I’m an old bag that makes a bit of a racket if you don’t play with me properly. And I’m obviously nothing like that. Honestly.
What has music done for you in your life?
I hail from a large Irish immigrant family of singing, guitar playing drinkers in Glasgow who spread their love of country and western music in the wee small hours by keeping me awake on many a night as a child. Patsy Cline was my bedtime story. Music has been my therapy ever since.
What’s the best bit about working at PMZ?
The best bit is seeing people find their voice especially those who’ve never quite been given the chance before, it’s witnessing the extraordinary power of music to change the world, a little bit at a time.
What’s the first record/CD you ever bought?
I bought two at the same time. Yes Sir I Can Boogie by Baccara and Daddy Cool by the Darts. Then forced my brothers to dance to them while I stood and switched the light on and off disco style.