Briony Greenhill’s new work is around the theme of Anthropocene Motherhood

Michiel de Koning

Advanced tickets are now closed.

There are at this point about 10 tickets available at the door. Doors 7pm Show 7.30pm. The cafe is serving food 3pm-9pm. Dress up warm!!!!

Briony and Michiel will offer an evening that honours this time of the year: inwards, reflective but also with a great sense of warmth.

Expect dreamy and evocative improvisations with piano and vocals. Briony’s soul stirring songs alternated with Michiel’s jazz infused, contemplative piano pieces. Join in vocal explorations and let yourself be carried away in the worlds of harmony and colour that these versatile musicians are bringing. 

The nearest car park is Mardle Way.

Doors 7pm, Show 7.30pm; food is available at the cafe - wholesome, warm, affordable - and drinks.

Tickets £8-20 sliding scale.

A Little Background….

It’s a rare thing when highly experienced improvisers (HEI) meet. Being a HEI is like being a footballer, and having spent thousands of hours honing your skills, to live in a culture where the thing is basketball and most people aren’t that sure what football is. You kick a ball about a bit in your own back yard; it’s quite nice, but lonely, and after some time, other things take more priority.

One day you get chatting to someone; by the swings, in the grocery store - and gradually realise that you’re talking to another footballer. A date is made. Someone begins….

And whoosh!!! The world comes alive! Beauty rises up and enfolds you both! Everything you’ve been doing in all those pockets of timeless time when everyone else was doing Important Things or Earning Money or something and you were engulfed in seas of music theory and endless technical and creative practice Over There Where People Play Football, all of that is still there and maybe your knees are a bit creaky but the ball / the music soars and goes here and there and you can go everywhere and anywhere together because You Are Both Footballers.

This is the story of singer Briony Greenhill and pianist Michiel De Koening, whose lives, and settling down and making families found them both landing in Buckfastleigh. Michiel is a Dutch music graduate, mullti instrumentalist, producer, singer songwriter and jazz pianist who manages The Seed Organic Food Shop by day and collaborates with local jazz musicians by night.

Briony is “One of the world’s leading proponents of Collaborative Vocal Improvisation (CVI)” - The Guardian - who note the “power and intimacy” of her artistry. Mojo sees her “like Marvin Gaye crossed with a funky earth mother.” She’s sung with Bobby McFerrin, co-founded the UK Vocal Improvisation Festival, the Devon Singers Collective, The Well Global Vocal Improvisation network, and she’s taught the likes of Charlotte Church. You’ll see her in Buckfastleigh looking after the more famous Baby Robin with bags under her eyes and a shopping trolley.

The two are sharing their love of “football” with Buckfastleigh at the beloved Moor Imagination Collective (MIC) with a Winter Warmer Concert on December 14th. Each will share some songs, and they’ll improvise together. Briony would like to get you singing sometimes.

There’ll be wholesome, yummy, warm healthy food available at the cafe, non alcoholic drinks.

Park… somewhere (good luck). Nearest carpark is Mardle Way, a short walk to MIC.