I have recently joined the ranks at The Student Journals as a film and culture writer. The pieces will start to trickle out and I will list them here as soon as they are published.

Published work:

REVIEW: THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

“Ever since his feature length film debut, Rushmore (1998), Wes Anderson’s style has been undeniable. Well before “hipsters” were a “thing”, Anderson’s films were chuck-full of thick rimmed glasses, vintage clothing, very specific colour palettes and impossibly symmetric frames. Don’t believe me? Have a look at this fabulous curated tumblr: Wes Anderson is the Original Hipster. If you look back into his work you would think it all comes from the latest “Urban Outfitters” catalogue, but it is quite the opposite. Anderson was the original hipster before “being a hipster” became mainstream. All you have to do is watch his latest film, The Grand Budapest Hotel, to see the consummate lens of an experienced filmmaker that has been refining his style for a couple of decades.”

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The Eric Whitacre Singers are not your grandmother’s choir (even though I must have been the youngest in the audience by a good 25 years). It is as far from parochial and rigid as music can get without losing respect for notes and harmony. I first heard of Eric Whitacre a couple of years ago when a friend told me about his third virtual choir, “Water Night”. What this American Thomas Thallis scholar had done was bring choral music to the 21st century by crowdsourcing his singers from all over the world. A whole host of different people recorded themselves singing a particular part of “Water Night”, and Eric Whitacre put them all together into a mind-blowing virtual performance. Since then, I have always been an avid Eric Whitacre fan and I was beside myself that I was going to get to see the master himself conduct a 20-strong vocal army for the Newbury Spring Festival.Want to read more? CLICK HERE

MAYA ANGELOU: THE PASSING OF A STORYTELLER, BEGINNING OF A LEGEND

For all the things that have been written (and are still yet to be written) about Maya Angelou’s death at the age of 86, no one can deny that she was born in a very different world from the one which she left behind. There are people in this world that command attention, who echo peace with their mere presence and weave powerful stories borne of life experience and growth. Dr Maya Angelou was definitely one of them.

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