British Gospel Arts

British Gospel Arts presents The Dynamic Duo: Stephanie and Ayce – key tutors for 2010

In any game of cards, Ace trumps all. In the game of life Ayo ‘Ayce’ Oyerinde easily follows suit, uniting talents for keyboards, B3 Hammond organ, and DJ-ing in a mould not dissimilar to that of George Duke, Ray Charles and Billy Preston, all of whose influences can be heard at the helm of his masterful strokes.

Stephanie ‘TPie’ Oyerinde (nee Meade) has been singing and composing songs since age three much to the delight of her father Revd Bazil Meade, principal of Britain’s celebrated London Community Gospel Choir. She hit the public stage with her own blend of gospel, soul and jazz at age thirteen. Now in her twenties Stephanie has more than 10 years experience in the music industry.

Both Stephanie and Ayce have grown up on the affluent landscape of the Pentecostal church, flourishing to become amongst the UK's foremost musical minds. They both work at the top of the music industry: Ayce who recently completed extensive touring duties with record-breaking songstress Duffy, has a résumé that reads like a who's who of music, sharing stages and studios with Lulu, Leona Lewis, Estelle, Terri Walker, The Gorillaz, Lemar, David Sneddon, Sinead Quinn and Westlife; Stephanie has been a backing vocalist for Celine Dion, Conner Reeves, Ms Dynamite, Shaggy, Westlife, Will Young and toured the UK and abroad with Westlife, Natasha Bedingfield, Lemar, Faithless, Daniel Bedingfield and Jamelia.

Universally lauded by peers and critics alike for having revolutionised Europe's premier inspirational music outfit - The London Community Gospel Choir - where they reside as Musical Directors, Ayce has cleverly managed to fuse a Soulful House music, layered with Stephanie’s skills with vocal harmonic arrangements, with their spiritual conviction to bring a contemporary dynamism to traditional arrangements, as can be heard on their latest groundbreaking release 'The Edge of LCGC – Keep Moving'.

Also noteworthy songwriting talents, Ayce and Stephanie founded T'Ayce of Pie in 2005, providing Songwriting, Programming, Production, Vocal and Piano Tuition to artists of all genres. More recently Ayce has released the club bangers 'Hold On' (with Stephanie), 'One

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EXTREME GOSPEL | an LCGC accredited academy for gospel vocals and musicianship

Introduction
British Gospel Arts was established in 1999 as the education arm of London Community Gospel Choir to promote and develop gospel music in Britain and Europe through education, employment, performance and research. Over the past ten years it has become a quality lead player in pioneering and providing gospel sing workshops for schools, youth organizations, business sector, churches, health organizations, choirs and adults in general public.

London Community Gospel Choir founded by its Principal Revd. Bazil Meade and colleagues in 1982, has stood the test of time as the UK’s first and foremost concert gospel choir. With an impressive performance CV from Guadeloupe to Japan, from prisons to palaces and from the Opera House to Glastonbury, Revd Meade has put his inimitable stamp on the sound of the choir.

Extreme Gospel
Gospel singing and music education has reached the stage of its development where there is a demand for a course of study that is credible in the professional marketplace.

It is not possible to truly accredit talent, however we believe that we can determine whether the singers that come through our academy have the best possible knowledge and training in:

The socio-political historical context of gospel music and song
The anatomy and physiology of the voice particularly as it is used to create gospel singing techniques
The understanding of gospel music: song structure, choral arrangements, chord movements, style and format as it relates to the gospel voice
Understanding gospel vocals within the context of comparable singing styles: Western European opera, Eastern European folk, American musical theatre, African traditional, Caribbean calypso and reggae, Indian Vocals and Middle-Eastern Arabic-Jewish vocals.
Gospel repertoire from traditional spirituals to contemporary songs
Understanding rhythm, use of body in singing and performance and choreography/movement.
Performance skills as a soloist, a lead singer, a choir member and a choral director
Career advice and the business of music.

Logistics
Extreme Gospel, scheduled to start in April 2010, will run as a 12-month course and is open to semi-professional and professional singers across the UK and Europe. The course is designed as a monthly intensive weekend commencing Friday at 6pm and concluding on Sunday at 6pm, each month.

If you are interested please contact info@britishgospelarts.com as soon as possible.

A package including accommodation and travel can be arranged for overseas EEC/EU students.*

*Notes for OVERSEAS PARTICIPANTS
For EEC/EU residents (non-UK) and out of London participants: Our short courses run during holidays, half-term and weekends. We can provide information on local accommodation, sightseeing and travel if required.
For non-EEC residents: We cannot provide visas or permits but are happy to register you on any course once you are in the UK.