GLORIA - Questions for Karl & Hayley

[Dave]

Hi everyone,

Submit your questions for Karl Jenkins and Hayley Westenra

This isn't a competition as such but is related to the competition to win 5 copies of "Gloria" so I'll post it in the competition board (for now).

We are offered the chance to submit our questions to the promotional agents for EMI Classics, for use in an interview they will have with Karl Jenkins and and Hayley in the near future. The company concerned is, as in the competition, www.headstream.com/ who have many major corporate clients including EMI Classics.

If anyone has anything they would like to ask Karl or Hayley (especially in relation to "Gloria" and their work together on it), now is your chance - post it in this thread. Please do not phrase anything in a way that might state, or hint at, the correct answer to the main competition question.

If there are a lot of questions, or several very similar ones, we will take a vote among the forum staff to choose the best questions for submission. Closing date isn't yet decided, we will see how it goes but it will probably be before the main competition closes on 5 July.

Cheers, Dave

[dutchjoyce]

My question to Karl Jenkins

What was the main reason to ask Hayley , to work on this album?
.....my question to Hayley....what was her first reaction, when she heard that she was asked to work on this album.


Greetz Joyce

[Libby]

Question to Karl Jenkins:

Did you have several artists in mind for the project, or did you know immediately that Hayley was the right one?

[Dave]

Hi everyone,

and thanks for your questions Joyce and Libby

REMINDER

I'll probably send off the questions for interview a day or two before the competition itself closes one week from today, it would be nice to have a few more questions if possible. At the moment, there's a good chance that all questions will be asked, and hopefully answered.

Cheers, Dave

[mihizawi]

Ok, then, here I go with a couple of questions about Gloria then:

First one quite to both: Are there plans for a live performance of Gloria with Hayley on stage? If not, would you like it to happen someday?

And this one is rather for Hayley: You once mentioned on Twitter that you were recording a lovely piece, which obviously was refering to Gloria. From that, it is clear that you liked the piece... but are you happy of the result as for your part? Could you say that, as the result of the direct collaboration with Karl as the conductor, you've done better than the song composed by him you recorded in the past?

Michal

[Dave]

Thanks to you too Michal!

I will be sending the questions off on Monday UK time (just before the competition closes) so if anyone else has any questions for Karl or Hayley, please post them in this thread, over this weekend.

The more the merrier!

Cheers, Dave

[Joe]

My question to Hayley Westenra

Do you often find that a song's instrumentation can convey more emotion that its lyrics?

Thank you,
Joe

[Dave]

Thanks Joe!

Finally, my question is to Karl:

Was the involvement of both Hayley and yourself in Mike Oldfield's "Music of the Spheres" a factor in your decision to invite Hayley to participate in Gloria?

Questions for Karl and Hayley is now closed, I have sent them to my contact at headstream.com for interview and I will post any details of the likely timescale for the interview as soon as i get them.

Cheers, Dave

[stevemacdonald]

Jul 5, 2010 21:59:46 GMT Dave said:

...Was the involvement of both Hayley and yourself in Mike Oldfield's "Music of the Spheres" a factor in your decision to invite Hayley to participate in Gloria?...

I'm very intrigued by this question. Jenkins and Oldfield first worked together in the early '70s when Tubular Bells was still fresh. They go back a long way.

[Dave]

Hi Steve,

Yes indeed, prog rock and all that! It will be interesting to see his answer (though I have no indication yet when that might be).

Dave

[Dave]

Hi everyone,

Natalie of Headstream has now put our interview questions to Karl Jenkins so here are his replies - they are very interesting!

Getting Hayley's answers is proving more difficult as she is currently away in Italy recording.

Questions to Karl Jenkins (from Hayley Westenra fan forum):

1. What was the main reason to ask Hayley to work on this album?

A: Hayley is a wonderful singer. I can't remember when we first met but she, of course, recorded the Benedictus from my The Armed Man: A Mass of Peace for her first international album, Pure. The movement she sings on the Gloria titled, The Song’: I'll Make Music, is my own adaptation in English of Deuteronomy 32:2, Psalm 144:9 and 1 Chronicles 13:8. The text tells of praising God with trumpets, flutes, harps, and lyres. I asked her because she has the ideal voice for this movement, pureness and beauty with great musicality.

2. Did you have several artists in mind for the project, or did you know immediately that Hayley was the right one?

A: I wanted Hayley to do it from almost the beginning but there were hurdles to overcome. Firstly, would she like it and want to do it? Therefore, it had to be written with one ear on her and one, as much classical music is written, as an abstract soprano line, not definitely knowing who was going to sing it. Thankfully she loved it! The second hurdle was that we both record for different record labels so agreement between them had to be secured on that front. Contact is easier now since I have just moved over to her management company, Bedlam.

3. Are there plans for a live performance of Gloria with Hayley on stage? If not, would you like it to happen someday?

A: Not at the moment but I'd love to do it some day. We were not directly involved in the premier [other than I gave a public interview] that took place at the Royal Albert Hall on July 15th with a choir of 2,500 from 16 different countries. It was massive! However, Hayley & I have another joint surprise coming up later in the year concerning another a song I have written.

4. Was the involvement of both Hayley and yourself in Mike Oldfield's "Music of the Spheres" a factor in your decision to invite Hayley to participate in Gloria?

A: No, not really. As I said, it goes back to my Benedictus. We met on ‘Spheres since Mike does not orchestrate and he asked me to do that, co-produce the album and conduct the orchestra while Hayley was a ‘guest’ on one of the tracks.

With thanks to Natalie of Headstream. So there you have it, hopefully Hayley's answers will follow later.

Dave

[Libby]

What exactly is a "joint surprise"?
I'm looking forward to knowing what the song is!

[mihizawi]

Very interesting answers, I am specially glad that my question has gaven us something to look forward to.

Michal

[martindn]

Yes, I had wondered about the record company issue. As for the surprise, I need to tweet somebody.

Martin D

[Joe]

Wow...great answers to our questions!

Now for Hayley's turn

EDIT by Dave: Sadly, because Hayley was away recording at the time, we never did get the answers to the questions for Hayley. We will look for a future opportunity to ask again.

As the Gloria competition is closed, I will lock this thread too.