Harold Sanditen Open Mic

 

I was so excited to be asked to contribute a song to Harold Sanditen's Open Mic party this month. The full evening's entertainment was exceptional, and well worth a watch! The youtube video is above. If you want to skip ahead to the mash up of On The Street Where You Live and Don't Get Around Much Anymore I performed with my pianist Matt Wakefield, just click the facebook link below!

https://fb.watch/1mhJkcRL1x/

Watford Fringe Festival 2020!

Since 2017 the Pump House has hosted the Watford Fringe Festival, and each year since its inception the festival has grown in size and significance. 

This year for the first time I've created a reviewing blog which hopes to provide a platform to archive and reflect on the wonderful creativity inspired and supported by the the Watford Fringe Festival. My reviews obviously reflect a personal opinion, but I hope they also offer a chance for people to continue the conversation around the myriad and marvellous performances the Watford Fringe provides space for. I won't be able to review every show, but I will review as much as I can. Please do click the link below and have a read!

After a tumultuous few weeks and months of updated protocols, new legislation and unclear messaging from central government, it's a genuine delight to see that the Watford Pump House team have managed to rally together through all the pandemic pandemonium and keep Watford Fringe Festival 2020 on the road! So a massive thank you is due to the Pump House and Fringe Festival teams, as well as all their volunteers and supporters, for making the seemingly impossible possible and keeping the fringe alive this year. It has, I'm sure, required a huge effort to ensure all safety requirements have been adhered to and multiple online platforms generated to allow us to come together as a town and celebrate creativity in this way. On behalf of the entire Watford creative community, THANK YOU!

Much love, Alex

https://watfordfringereviews.blogspot.com/p/home.html

Watford Celebration Sacred Space 2020

 

Hi Everyone! Hope you're well :-)

I was delighted to be asked once again to join in the Watford Celebration Sacred Space discussion as the Humanist representative. It's something I've done a few times now, and the conversations which emerge are always interesting, engaging, respectful and eye-opening. This year we were unable to meet in person because of social distancing, but we did go manage to go ahead by meeting on Zoom, the upside of which is we could record the conversation and share it with those who couldn't join us on the day. If you fancy a watch, the video's above! The question this year was in paraphrase: How can we use our faith and belief to help us through difficult times? Hope you enjoy it!

Much love, Alex x

Jonny Peat Interview

Last month I was interviewed by Jonny Peat, an alumnus of the Penguin Books Write Now project. It was a really fun conversation and a great chance to talk to another writer about what inspires us to write and how we overcome some of the perennial barriers to sharing our work more widely. Do have a listen if you get a chance, goes nicely with a cup of tea and a Jaffa cake! Much love, Alex

You Can't Lock Us Down!

In June 2020, George Floyd was murdered on the street by police in the USA. Having spent weeks I lockdown, trapped at home and social distancing when not, the overwhelming emotional response from the public sparked protest marches around the world. This painting entitled 'You Can't Lock Us Down' was my response to that moment. I shared the image on Facebook and have had a flood of positive responses, thanks to everybody who sent me a message or clicked like. For me, the inspiration for this image was not the heinous act of inhumanity itself, but the life-affirming public response, hence the sense of colour and vibrancy. My partner then shared the image on Twitter, and The Black Lives Matter movement contacted me to ask if they could place the image in an archive of artistic responses to this historically important moment. I was honoured to be asked and delighted to give permission. It's simple acrylic on cardboard, which just goes to show you don't need fancy materials to paint something meaningful, we can all have a go and find new ways to express ourselves in these turbulent times. So while The Dial Up is on hiatus I hope you're managing to keep your creativity alive in whatever way is meaningful to you. As ever, much love!

-Alexander Williams 15/6/20

The Lost Children is now available to buy online!

Delighted to announce The Lost Children Original Musical Theatre Soundtrack is now available to buy online! If you want a sneak peak head to the videos tab where you can watch a 15 minute version of the story with a few songs thrown in which I performed for The Dial Up last year! But if you already know you'd like to hear all the songs, then here are the links to follow! 

Much love xx

To buy the soundtrack visit:

Apple Music

Google Play

Deezer

World Book Night Video

Calibre, a charity which provides audio books to people with visual impairment, asked me to record a video for their celebration of World Book Night 2020. Here it is for anyone who fancies a quick intro to my books!

Humanist Teacher Network lockdown message

Hi Dial Up family!

It's been a difficult few weeks with many lives being turned upside down, others feeling like they've been put on hold, as a result of Cornoavirus and the ensuing lockdown. Many of us are missing The Dial Up and the space it created for all of us to share, enjoy and celebrate community and creativity. I'm delighted to see how many online spaces have opened up to keep people connected and creative.

In my role as Present of the Humanist Teacher Network, I wrote a message to my members a couple of weeks ago and felt many of the themes might chime with what regular Dial Uppers are feeling at the moment. I've copied it in full below for those who fancy a read. I hope you're all coping well with lockdown. Stay well, stay safe, stay creative and much love. Alex xx

Dear Members,

  

Firstly, I hope you're all well and safe in these turbulent times. Covid 19 has changed the way we have been working over the past few weeks in quite remarkable ways. So few of us would ever have imagined at the start of the year that by April we would have become experts in remote teaching and learning, employing new digital technologies to try as much as possible to provide high quality education, motivation, and quite frankly a bit of normality in the lives of our students. I hope you've all felt able to cope with the radical changes that have been expected of us, whatever your educational context.

I've been particularly pleased with how powerfully the message about relying on science and scientific advice has been expressed by the government and politicians at large during this time. Humanism advocates evidence based decision making, and we don't have to look too far into the past (or indeed too far across the globe) to find examples of superstition taking a more prominent place in the public debate. This is a wonderful learning moment for our students if we're able to bring it to their attention.

These have been difficult times, and there have inevitably been moments of confusion, anxiety, and uncertainty in all of our lives. But one thing is certain: we're rising to the challenge. And we're doing so by relying on one another, by strengthening our human connections, exercising our human resourcefulness, and wherever possible extending kindness to friends, family, neighbours, and strangers. I've been touched each day by stories on the news of people looking out for one another, from restaurants setting up schemes to provide free meals, to our brave NHS workers, to communities clapping for carers at 8pm each Thursday.

I'd like to take this opportunity to clap for you, as teachers and educators, for all you're doing to keep your students learning, inspired, and well supported. Please remember that the Humanist Teacher Network is here to support you, too. Our education resources are free to download and so might provide interesting activities for remote learning. Our free online courses might also help to keep you busy during lockdown: they are a great way to develop your subject knowledge of humanism and engage in social learning with other learners from around the globe. Feel free to email me on teachers@humanism.org.uk if you have questions or points you'd like to raise. If we can help we will. 

It's important we keep talking, keep exercising, keep striving to be the best we can be, and keep humanism visible even in our new educational contexts. I wish you all the very best during the next few months. Stay safe and stay well.

Yours, Alex Williams

President, Humanist Teachers Network

Chasing Dreams: Cancelled due to corona virus

Thank you to everyone who came to support our February Love Songs Dial Up, we had more duets than we'd ever had before, it was a brilliant night! It's great to be back monthly at WPT for our open mic celebration of community and creativity. 

Our March Chasing Dreams open mic is cancelled due to corona virus following government advice to restrict public gatherings. Obviously the situation is constantly changing, so do check back here once a month for news about when our next Dial Up will take place. Until then, stay safe everyone, and hopefully see you back at The Dial Up very soon! Much love, Alex xx

The Dial Up Love Songs @ WPT 6pm Saturday 22nd Feb

And we're back! Thank you so much to everyone who came to support our January event; it was a huge success and we're now back at the Watford Palace Theatre EVERY MONTH for our open mic celebration of community and creativity!

The theme for Sat 22nd February is Love Songs, but as ever feel free to interpret it (or ignore it) as you choose! Slightly later start time of 6pm this month.

Early bird tickets are £5 online, available in unlimited number right up to the week before the event. After that they're £7 so please do book early! Tickets available here

Really looking forward to another great event! Message me ideas for themes and sing-along songs, and don't forget there are lots of photos of the event taken by the brilliant Tony Birch on our Facebook page. Much love, Alex xx



Ricardo, me and Neil performing I Love Paris

The Dial Up @ Watford Palace Theatre Sat 25th Jan!

This year The Dial Up returns to the Watford Palace Theatre! 

Join us on:

Saturday 25th January, 3pm, 5.30pm

Saturday 22nd February 6pm- 8.30pm

Sunday 29th March 5pm- 7.30pm

for Watford's friendliest and freshest Open Mic! Tickets and more details available here. Hope to see you there and much love! xx