Blogs

This book took quite a few years to write. It is about tracing my Aunt Relly who had been married to one of my uncles. She survived Auschwitz, he did not. She was one of the most extraordinary, wonderful people one could every hope to meet, and she welcomed me as her 'long lost niece'. I found her in Sydney, Australia, in 1998. Between 2000 and her death 2010 I visited her five times. The book describes both my personal and the logistic journey of tracing her.

I've written a song expressing my alarm at the swing to the Far Right in England after the Referendum in 2016. Many of us are still fighting to stop the disaster which is Brexit. This song, 'Tea for the Devil (Down an Old English Lane) can be seen in YouTube, on facebook, and can be downloaded from digital music platforms such as iTunes and Spotify. But the best place to order is from Bandcamp: rosemaryschonfeld.bandcamp.com. This site gives more per sale to the artist. iTunes and Spotify give peanuts.

Sound Art Radio, the Totnes station, live online or 102.5 FM if you are local, are giving me a two hour slot on Wednesday morning, 3 May, from 10.00 to 12.00. I'll be singing a few of my songs, including my new ones, reading some of my poetry, and chatting. Tune in if you can.

These two are new songs of mine, inspired by current political events/upheavals.

On October 15th, at 19.30, I'm doing a fundraising gig for Combeinteignhead Village Hall, a lovely local venue which has begun to host touring musicians and small theatre groups. The tickets are £8.00, or you can get them in advance for £7.00 by calling 01626 872266/872268.  I'm being supported by the country-rock singer/guitarist Lee Carter-Brown. I'll be playing my own songs plus a few country-rock-blues covers, and performing some of my humourous poetry.

I am increasingly doing more music with people with Alzheimer's. I was actually doing this kind of stuff back in the 1980's, and the benefits were self-evident. However, as with most things, there has to be clinical evidence before such benefits are taken seriously. Music for Life have been developing their programmes for nearly fifteen years. There is a fascinating e-newsletter Neuromusic News to which one can subscribe (free).

Thanks to the speedy work of Jigsaw Designs, my Workshops page is back.