Welcome to Lullabies for the Land… the soft launch in Stamford!

I’ll fill you in about the book in a moment, but first the details of this soft launch event:

An exciting evening of harp music, including live electronics, by harpists Eleanor Turner (me) and Vanja Contu (pic below) who is coming over from Italy for this event, which is upstairs in The Blonde Beet, which is a plant-based cafe known and loved by Stamford dwellers.

The event will start with a welcoming free drink and some short speeches. Vanja and I will then perform all of the lullabies from the book (it is a book of 18 harp arrangements) which will take an hour including a short break for refreshments. 

The music will finish at around 8.30pm but after that I will be signing books and hope you can join me for a chat over the drinks and nibbles.

The event includes an introduction to the book, buying signed or unsigned copies of the book and (very importantly!) delicious nibbles, breads and falafels using Palestinian herbs and olive oil (symbolic of the land and resistance). The Blonde Beet (see pic below) loves to cater for this kind of food so we look forward to tasting everything! The ticket price includes the grazing platters and one drink (non alcoholic or alcoholic wine/beer). Further drinks can be bought at the bar throughout the event, which is very informal.

Now for the brief history of how the book came into my mind and became real!

In July, I was arranging lullabies from around the world for students and it occurred to me that I was on the way to having enough to make a book. Fast forward to August and I had the motivation and the need to create this book of lullabies, as a way to focus my grief about the ongoing genocide in Palestine. I remembered an artist I had nearly had the chance to work with before; an extremely talented and unique illustrator, artist, animator (and much more!) from Glasgow, Dima Nowarah. Dima, who is Scottish-Palestinian, created the book’s cover artwork (see pic at the top) by choosing poppies, a symbolic flower of Palestine, and the map of Palestine, shown in relief out of the poppy design, and encapsulating the simple beauty of the book of children’s songs with a striking yet gentle-on-the- eye design. I told Dima about my concept for a book of lullabies and not only did she jump straight on board to create the art, but she was able, with the help of her Palestinian family, to assist me in finding Palestinian lullabies to arrange for the harp, which is something I was really struggling with. Happily, together with a suggestion (Nami, below) from Christina Hazboun, a well known researcher, sonic agent and author, I was well on my way and able to start arranging the Palestinian lullabies.

Listen to Nami نامي (Sleep) on my SoundCloud for a taster of what Palestinian music sounds like on the harp: Nami (lament by Jawaher Shofani) arr. by Eleanor Turner

Furthermore, I then took a leap of faith and asked Christina if she would lend her knowledge, writing talent and passion to provide a foreword for the book, which she kindly agreed to. It’s a real work of all of our hearts and is published by my own label ‘Arts In Fusion’, which I founded in 2005 to release albums, produce multidisciplinary projects and commission works. (Pic of contents page is below)

For two months, Dima and I worked hard. We poured our whole beings into this project of love and resilience, with my musical contributions being supported and encouraged by Dima who could not have been a more inspiring and dedicated collaborator in the entire process, not just the design and layout. We cannot wait to receive the printed copies and start sharing this music, much of which is not available anywhere else in western sheet music form.

For the launch, attendees will receive a small commemorative postcard of Dima’s stunning cover art and for those who wish to be able to play or sing the lullabies with a guitar or ukelele, I will be providing some simple sheet music for that purpose too.

Proceeds from this launch event will be divided between the two charities that are receiving the profits from the first edition: Ghassan Abu Sittah Children’s Foundation and the Middle East Children’s Alliance. A small amount of funds from book and ticket sales on this soft launch event will be retained to help us to promote the book further. 

I would be honoured if you would join Vanja and I for this very special event in my home town of Stamford. 

Important notes on accessibility:

The event is in an upstairs venue (The Blonde Beet) and there is no lift so regretfully there is no wheelchair access. If you have any access requirements and would like to discuss these with Ellie, please email info@eleanorturner.com or call her on 07811444935

If you are unable to attend due to access needs, Ellie would like to offer you a recording of the event. Please do get in touch.

Non gendered baby-changing facilities are available in the small, gender-neutral toilet which is on the ground floor.

Alcohol will be served at the event

Food is all plant-based (vegan) and please do email info@eleanorturner.com with any allergies or intolerances so we can cater for everyone

If you have a babe-in-arms or small child who you think would enjoy the event, they are very welcome!