Everyone remembers Emeli Sandé performing at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics. She sang Abide with Me so movingly and captured the hearts of the nation.
She certainly had her audience in the palm of her hand at the final concert of the Rye International Jazz Festival on Monday, August 29. They were as one with her music.
When Emeli announced her songs there were cheers from the audience. She spoke with passion: “My first song, You’re not alone, is to remind us all, that the power we have together is phenomenal. If only we can see the commonality between us and what it means to be human before all the different barriers and boxes we put each other in. I hope this song speaks to you and speaks for you.
“The next song is Hurts. I love singing this song as it is kind of therapeutic for me and that was how the whole process was for me writing it. You have to be quite strong in this industry. I am a sensitive person, you have to be to kind of get the music out, so Hurts was a way through the music to get that pain and that emotion out. That’s what I love about music – it really is therapy for those who make it and those who hear it.”
These sentiments tie in so well to with Music Well which Niki Stuart told the audiences about before each concert. It is a community interest company providing music therapy and musical activities for people with all kinds of mental health needs in the local community and the jazz festival was supporting the cause to raise awareness and funds for the great work that they do.
Emeli talked about falling in love with Yoana Karemova, a classical pianist she met while she was learning about classical music. And through this love she has found contentment and joy. She said, “Without love all that glitters is nothing, you can have as much success as you want but without someone to share it with it really becomes nothing. I sometimes think about the love I have for my partner, sometimes I think about spirituality. Without that key essence of love I feel that everything dissolves in my life.”
Emili ended the concert with a level of hope for us all. “The world as it is seems to get worse and worse. I think it is so important to keep spirits high and hope in your heart and the more people that do that the more contagious it is and that type of energy so that’s what Brighter Days is all about. I wanted to inject a little bit of hope into the pop industry in one way or another.”
Image Credits: Kt bruce .