Maya and the Willow Tree Match Fund
Donation protected
Hello everyone! I am Victoria (Tori-Jane) Leith and I have a plan to bring beautiful music to babies and young children in unlikely places such as hospices, hospitals and homes. I love the idea of the world working towards something positive collectively so by you pre-ordering the album, will mean that we can record and get this lovely music to you soon! I didn't get awarded a grants from the Arts Council so we are now going to record this ourselves which means the cost will be cut considerably! But... we still have costs to cover so if you are willing and able to share my page, I would be so grateful! And you WILL get something in return:)
This is a music project with a big difference and a lot of heart:)
The name of the album is Maya and the Willow Tree and is a musical experience... songs and soundscapes interwoven to calm, soothe, nourish, delight and bring peace to little hearts.
I have been working with children for over 20 years and was the music director in Kiddie Keep Well Camp in New Jersey, spent nine months in China working with 3 year olds with a large focus on music for language development and to explore virtues and positive behaviour, spent ten months in Africa working in a village school with children from 4-11 singing and learning and writing new songs and I have been a teacher and practitioner in schools across the UK as well as presenting at NAME conferences and training teachers in schools.
Music is a big part of my life!
I wanted to make the 'big time' and get known for my songs.
And then one day... something changed. I was in a televised competition (huge one!) where I was persuaded to sing and dance at the same time. All my friends thought it was great! The judges were not so keen! I felt as if the world was watching and that I wanted to crawl in a hole. I wanted to come away from music and the whole industry.
Then a light in the darkness was offered to me. I had the chance to volunteer in Cynthia Spencer hospice in Northampton, singing to the people there who were resting, some of them in their last weeks, days, hours and moments.
It changed the way I sang and wrote music forever.
I realised, through singing here twice a month for two years the extraordinary power of music.
How it can work as a tool to heal, soothe, calm and bring peace to a troubled mind and soul.
Singing in people's rooms, with their family gathered round their bedside, waiting for them to breathe their last breath... being honoured to be in such a sacred space enabled me to see a higher reason for writing and sharing music with others.
Nothing else mattered now. I knew I had a gift. And that it needed to be shared... just in a different yet highly needed capacity!
After the birth of our first baby girl, I wrote some beautiful lullabies. After the birth of oursecond baby girl, I wrote some more beautiful lullabies!
These songs soothed our babies to sleep and brought them peace.
It was then that I connected the dots. I wanted to sing and share these lullabies with many more children.
Children who were spending a lot of their days bed-bound in hospices. And hospitals.
And also prisons.
And schools, communities and Sure Start centres.
I also wanted the children to experience the sound of beautiful melodies AND harmonies. Our children have always had the opportunity to listen daily to beautiful music and to hear the intricacies of delicately woven voices and instruments.
The listeners of this album will be taken on a journey and whether they are babies who cannot make sense of the words and the stories... or older children who have days left on this earth, I want to use my talents and skills to bring happiness and joy and a sense of calm to these little ones.
I would like this project to extend afterwards with a tour of schools and where possible, prisons, hospices and hospitals. Where we cannot get to, the CD can! But I am hoping that we will be able to give the children a live experience of the album whereever possible.
Every single contribution will be gratefully received and I will update contributors every step of the journey so you can be a part of it with me!
If you would like to donate a larger amount than is listed here and are a company who would like to support this ventures, please do either contact me at [email redacted].uk or you can still donate via this site.
Not a penny will be wasted!
And I have some FABULOUS exchanges for everyone who donates!
Thank you for listening.
And thank you for choosing to donate to THIS beautiful project!
Because space would not allow I want to say that every single person who donates will receive a personal email from me with a fun mini-poster of us recording the album with the words 'I helped make a beautiful dream come true!
Victoria Leith is a qualified teacher and has been singing and working with children for over 20 years in the UK, America, Africa and China. She has two daughters and lives in Kent, UK with her husband Tom.
To get an idea of the sweetness of this project, you can hear Victoria sing a cover here and visit her artist's page on Facebook here , which features live videos and updates on her musical projects.
Victoria's main site is www.mamababado.com
This is a music project with a big difference and a lot of heart:)
The name of the album is Maya and the Willow Tree and is a musical experience... songs and soundscapes interwoven to calm, soothe, nourish, delight and bring peace to little hearts.
I have been working with children for over 20 years and was the music director in Kiddie Keep Well Camp in New Jersey, spent nine months in China working with 3 year olds with a large focus on music for language development and to explore virtues and positive behaviour, spent ten months in Africa working in a village school with children from 4-11 singing and learning and writing new songs and I have been a teacher and practitioner in schools across the UK as well as presenting at NAME conferences and training teachers in schools.
Music is a big part of my life!
I wanted to make the 'big time' and get known for my songs.
And then one day... something changed. I was in a televised competition (huge one!) where I was persuaded to sing and dance at the same time. All my friends thought it was great! The judges were not so keen! I felt as if the world was watching and that I wanted to crawl in a hole. I wanted to come away from music and the whole industry.
Then a light in the darkness was offered to me. I had the chance to volunteer in Cynthia Spencer hospice in Northampton, singing to the people there who were resting, some of them in their last weeks, days, hours and moments.
It changed the way I sang and wrote music forever.
I realised, through singing here twice a month for two years the extraordinary power of music.
How it can work as a tool to heal, soothe, calm and bring peace to a troubled mind and soul.
Singing in people's rooms, with their family gathered round their bedside, waiting for them to breathe their last breath... being honoured to be in such a sacred space enabled me to see a higher reason for writing and sharing music with others.
Nothing else mattered now. I knew I had a gift. And that it needed to be shared... just in a different yet highly needed capacity!
After the birth of our first baby girl, I wrote some beautiful lullabies. After the birth of oursecond baby girl, I wrote some more beautiful lullabies!
These songs soothed our babies to sleep and brought them peace.
It was then that I connected the dots. I wanted to sing and share these lullabies with many more children.
Children who were spending a lot of their days bed-bound in hospices. And hospitals.
And also prisons.
And schools, communities and Sure Start centres.
I also wanted the children to experience the sound of beautiful melodies AND harmonies. Our children have always had the opportunity to listen daily to beautiful music and to hear the intricacies of delicately woven voices and instruments.
The listeners of this album will be taken on a journey and whether they are babies who cannot make sense of the words and the stories... or older children who have days left on this earth, I want to use my talents and skills to bring happiness and joy and a sense of calm to these little ones.
I would like this project to extend afterwards with a tour of schools and where possible, prisons, hospices and hospitals. Where we cannot get to, the CD can! But I am hoping that we will be able to give the children a live experience of the album whereever possible.
Every single contribution will be gratefully received and I will update contributors every step of the journey so you can be a part of it with me!
If you would like to donate a larger amount than is listed here and are a company who would like to support this ventures, please do either contact me at [email redacted].uk or you can still donate via this site.
Not a penny will be wasted!
And I have some FABULOUS exchanges for everyone who donates!
Thank you for listening.
And thank you for choosing to donate to THIS beautiful project!
Because space would not allow I want to say that every single person who donates will receive a personal email from me with a fun mini-poster of us recording the album with the words 'I helped make a beautiful dream come true!
Victoria Leith is a qualified teacher and has been singing and working with children for over 20 years in the UK, America, Africa and China. She has two daughters and lives in Kent, UK with her husband Tom.
To get an idea of the sweetness of this project, you can hear Victoria sing a cover here and visit her artist's page on Facebook here , which features live videos and updates on her musical projects.
Victoria's main site is www.mamababado.com
Organizer
Victoria Jane Leith
Organizer
