BE THERE - support young people during coronavirus

It’s been a wonderful time as ever at World Heart Beat with community events in Nine Elms, eye-wateringly good fundraising success, the launch of our Latin and South Asian Online Programme and even performing in the annual Lord Mayor’s Show on a horse-drawn bus performing to a crowd of more than 500,000 spectators!  

First and foremost, we are delighted to announce an award of £800,000 from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund (LUF) towards the creation of a vibrant new music education centre and concert venue in Nine Elms, to launch in Autumn next year.  Just one of six grants awarded in London, the funding is an endorsement of the project, which is situated in an area of major regeneration and will help benefit thousands of young people, many living in disadvantaged conditions in neighbouring estates, across the wider borough of Wandsworth, and beyond. 

The public concert hall, the first to open in London since 2008, will programme an exciting mix of emerging, professional and international headline artists performing music from across the globe. To reach our target, we have now launched the final phase of our fundraising campaign, to raise the last £600,000 to enable us to fully realise our vision. Anyone interested in supporting can find out more  by visiting www.worldheartbeat.org/embassygardens where you can also find the ‘shopping list’ and how to donate.  

A Wandsworth Council spokesperson said: “Securing £800,000 of the Levelling Up Fund is a huge milestone for Wandsworth Council and World Heart Beat. As ‘cultural anchor’ partners, this money will go towards cementing a musical base into the very fabric of Nine Elms, a place that is fast becoming a destination for arts and cultural organisations. We look forward to continuing the fantastic work that World Heart Beat are already doing in the Nine Elms community to reach new audiences and bring music to our vibrant neighbourhood.” 

We have taken part in an abundance of community events in Nine Elms to introduce and help strengthen our presence in the area before we open our second venue next year. Oli Savill, Basement Jaxx percussionist led two drumming workshops for World Heart Beat at St. George's Thessaly Church on the Patmore Estate; young people and families in the area took part and were encouraged to join in the fun by learning Afro-Cuban beats.  

At the end of August, we took part in the Latin Jam Festival, a free, family-friendly weekend event with live music and dance which took place at the Black Cab Coffee Company, a riverside piazza venue overlooking the inlet dock and the River Thames in Nine Elms. World Heart Beat put on Brazilian Rhythm workshops and a performance for young people led by Charlles Andre Souza De Almeida (known as Charlles Junior) and his Samba Band. 

At the end of October, we took part in the Line of Light Festival, a weekend event to celebrate the communities living above the extension of the new Northern line tube, taking audiences across a 3.2km walking route between Battersea Power Station and the Oval with projections across buildings, accompanied by soundscapes. Our gig band musicians performed to an evening crowd at New Union Square, Embassy Gardens, one of two Festival hubs with other free family friendly community activities, including arts workshops and street theatre. 

In mid-November, courtesy of the Rotary International, our New Orleans Band second line band took part in the Lord Mayor’s Show, enthusiastically joining in the celebrations of 800 years of pageantry.  Our musicians made their way through the City of London whilst performing on an open top, horse-drawn bus to a crowd of over 500,000 spectators! 

Last month, we launched our free online music programme, World Heart Beat Online, four curated music courses honouring Latin American and South Asian music and their communities, for young people (aged 7-25 years). Internationally acclaimed musicians Alok Verma, Pepe Barcellos, Almir Pessoa and Jonathan Mayer are leading the introductory and specialist courses, with sitar and caipira  instruments available on loan for free. There's still time to sign up, so please share if you know anyone, or any communities, who may be interested in taking part.  

If you are a cinema-goer, look out for the latest ZEDRA ad featuring our young musicians and our Jazz programme Leader trumpet-extraordinaire, Byron Wallen; they were invited to be part of ZEDRA’s  #HeroesWorkHere ad campaign, to shine a light on its true heroes, including those at our academy! 

We wish everyone a very happy festive period and prosperous 2022! We would like to say thank you for all your support, which is invaluable in helping make the dream of World Heart Beat a reality.  

It's been an eventful summer for World Heart Beat with the return of live music performances as well as continued online activity after a difficult covid influenced, lockdown year. 

In May, two of our young musicians, Ava Joseph and Carla Flores produced and presented their first ever virtual concert ‘Operation Forest’, a follow up to ‘For the Struggle’ concert held earlier in the Spring. The concert highlighted the need for global awareness of racial injustice and equality for all – as well as the need to protect our planet.  

The young musicians came up with the concept during lockdown. Since they were no longer able to meet in person and in light of Black Lives Matter, they came together virtually with fellow Heart Beat musicians to express themselves as well as giving something back to the academy, in recognition of the support they’ve received over the years. Many of the students involved also learn at the Julian Joseph Jazz Academy (JJJA) - both academies help to secure the shared enrichment and creation of more well-rounded musicians, who thrive through learning and performing together.   

Highlights included Jazz vocalist Cleveland Watkiss, MBE – a mentor who provides masterclasses at the academy featuring in the centerpiece composition with ‘Oh Freedom’, a post-civil war African American freedom song by galvanising all the musicians to sing as an a capella choir, as well as BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year Deschanel Gordon performing Duke Ellington’s classic ‘Come Sunday’, from his highly celebrated suite of 1942 entitled ‘Black, Brown and Beige’. 

Another highlight over the summer was our Congrego! Festival (Latin for gather/join) which provided a vibrant and danceable showcase of Latin energy and culture at this year’s Wandsworth Arts Fringe Festival (WAF). This year, World Heart Beat, one of this year’s grant awardees, showcased a fiesta of stunning curated performances providing a much-needed celebratory date for the diary that brought musicians, dancers and the community together after so much time apart.  

Taking place in the ‘outdoor’ iconic Big Top Tent, Internationally-acclaimed Cuban violinist Omar Puente directed and performed with World Heart Beat’s young musicians in a programme of Cuban, Venezuelan and Brazilian music, as well as everyone’s favorite tracks from the Buena Vista Social Club repertoire and a performance from his own Cuban band.  

From the excitement of Salsa and the wonderful rhythms of the Cha Cha Cha, Mambo, traditional Rumba and Son to the blood-racing energy of Latin Jazz the dynamic, high energy professional dancers from The Salsa Cabana Show brought the warm 'Rhythms of Cuba' to accompany the music – it certainly was an evening to remember! The energy and vibe from the festival was such a hit that Omar will be introducing a new Latin Music course for our young people starting in September, we can’t wait! 

 World Heart Beat also presented its online livestreamed American Cultural Concert as part of a jazz inspired education and performance programme, funded by The American Embassy. Musical performances spanned a whole host of music genres including New Orleans 2nd Line Band, blues, jazz, soul and R&B. 

The academy has taken part in many workshops and festivals (as well as performing piano recitals to local Southfields’ residents queuing for their covid vaccinations) in the Nine Elms area, a great opportunity for the local community to find out more about World Heart Beat before its second venue opens in Spring 2022. Musicians and volunteers took part and helped show that everyone can take part in music learning – no matter the age, experience or background.  

Events included the community-led Happy Streets Festival organised by Wandsworth Council, exclusive 2-day percussion workshops learning Afro-Cuban rhythm for families and young people led by Oli Savill (Basement Jaxx percussionist), as well as taking part in the Latin Jam 2 Festival– a weekender of Latin music and dance –  by holding Brazilian rhythm workshops for young people (aged 6 –25 years) plus a performance by Charlles Andre Souza De Almeida (known as Charlles Junior) and his Samba Band, as well as World Heart Beat ‘one to watch’, Ava Joseph. 

Finally, we are so pleased to be able to get out once again into the community and to share our broad genre of music, from Jazz to Latin to South Indian to Classical with so many young people. We look forward to what the next quarter holds, and have some interesting projects in the pipeline to tell you about in our next update! 

Until then, thank you as ever for your continued support.