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Trixi Field at the piano

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I was one of those lucky individuals that grew up surrounded by music, spending most of my spare time in childhood making music together with my siblings. Trained in classical piano, I was something of a rebellious little elf. I drove my piano teachers crazy, never sticking to the printed music, memorizing everything as soon as possible so that I could develop my own version.

As a teenager I sang a lot, in choirs and as a soloist, singing pop, country, blues and some standards I'd hear on the radio. I did the rounds of summer festivals, parties and functions in and around the County of Cheshire, with my brother Hans.

Some years later Hans rang me up to say he was in a jazz trio, and did I want to sing with them. I'd never sung jazz before so I got my hands on as many recordings as I could: Ella, Billie, Dee Dee, Betty Carter, Astrud Gilberto, Blossom Dearie, Norma Winstone, Lee Gibson to name but a small handful that attracted my attention. These wonderful individuals opened the way to a whole new world of possibilities. Our first little gig was a great success. We filled a hall and the seeds of my career as a singer and composer were sown. Hans and I have since gone our separate ways and developed differently but it was this experience that first helped me to discover and delight in the repertoire available to the jazz singer. I am unashamedly fond of songs and I love that exciting moment when another one makes my spine tingle, and I know I just have to add it to my repertoire.


Solo gig, Cardiff

I took up writing my own songs again (tunes and lyrics) in 1997 and tried them out in my first quasi-solo gig in front of an international audience in cafes in Munich, organised (and sometimes accompanied) by Hans, who moved there. The performance went down well and I took this to be a strong sign to take the plunge, give up my day job and go professional. So that's what I did. Trixi Field & Friends started gigging around the Oxford area; I wrote songs and recorded some of them on my first album "Green" with a motley crew of musicians including top UK trumpeter Steve Waterman, double bassist Paul Moylan and pianist Martin Pickett, and released it in early 2000. The next couple of years were a busy time gigging for private functions and publicly around Oxford, London, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff and Greece.


Greenwich, London - with Greek jazz guitarist Andrew Hatjimanolis. Duo for hire!

In 2001 I decided to go back to school and joined Trinity College of Music in London for a year's individual study, and enjoyed voice training with Trudy Kerr and Anton Browne, jazz piano with Nick Weldon and composition with John A Thomas.

My compositions have also started to reach a wider audience. I've written music for a DVD game for the DreamWorks "Shrek" DVD which was released in November 2001. The game (and my music with it) has now also been included on the American edition of Newline Cinema's "Goldmember" and Stuart Little, Bare Naked Ladies, Girls Aloud CD (summer release), and the CD Roms Videohit I, Videohit II, and Movie-Karaoke American Pie (US only). One of my blues canons for choirs "Blue Brother Jake" from my book of canons "Blues All Round" was included in the prestigious Festival of Voices, and performed at Dorchester Abbey and Wembley Arena in front of audiences of around 2000.

I have received certificates of honour in the prestigious John Lennon Song-writing Competition for my songs, ("Chance") and ("Harry's Waterside Bar", from my "Green" CD).

Currently I'm spending more time working on compositions and music for children, and developing a solo repertoire as a singer/pianist, but I've had the privilege of working with some wonderful musicians, including Steve Waterman, Dave Cliff, Dominic Ashworth, Lee Gibson, Trudy Kerr, Anita Wardell, Paul Moylan and Charles Brereton amongst others.


On the piano with London jazz pianist, Charles Brereton...duo for hire!

Teaching

I taught classical piano from 1983 to around 1988, resumed teaching (jazz) piano in 1998 and took up teaching jazz voice in 1999, rapidly building a healthy practice. Now I teach piano, voice, composition, and lyric writing and offer support for students taking GCSE and A level music, and for jazz singers who can sing well but are still developing the skill of leading a combo and developing repertoire. Whilst I was living in the Oxford area I was a member of the Oxford School of Music group of teachers. I regularly work as a voice workshop facilitator for the Skyros company on the beautiful island of Skyros, where I also perform a mixture of my own songs and standards. Recently I have begun to run workshops also for Liberato on the island of Agistri and Yoga Plus on Crete. In the UK too, I regularly run voice and song-writing workshops for children, young people and adults and have worked as Musical Director for Musical Youth Company, an Oxford-based company of 60 or so very talented young singers, where I helped them prepare for their annual summer show.

As a result of my experience as a workshop leader I have written three books of part songs for groups of singers/choirs/schools: "Blues All Round!" "10 Simple Summer Songs" and "Gospelesque". These were originally written specifically for Skyros participants but they are popular with school groups, groups of young singers and in the UK-based workshops too. Since the inclusion of my canon "Blue Brother Jake" in the Oxford University Press publication "Junior Voiceworks", I recently completed a set of children's songs for possible publication.


Hosting Singers' Night at the Doghouse, Frilford Heath, near Abingdon
 

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