This is just bloody lovely. Meet Testament and his survival song: ‘I Am the True Vine’ composed by Arvo Pärt, sung by the Pro Arte Singers and conducted by Paul Hillier.
Testament is an acclaimed writer, rapper and Guinness world record breaking human beatboxer based in West Yorkshire. Testament’s work ranges from spoken word poetry, playwriting and composition, to essay writing, live beatbox show to radio presenting. Testament’s work has received praise from Lemn Sissay, graphic novelist Alan Moore, actor and writer Patterson Joseph, BBC presenter Lauren Laverne and the progenitor of Hip-Hop himself DJ Koolherc.
Testament’s work as a rapper includes the celebrated Hip-Hop album Homecut: No Freedom Without Sacrifice, as well as several spoken word performances for BBC TV and BBC Radio (1xtra, Radio 4 and 6Music). In 2019 he was Channel 4 Writer in Residence at Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester. As a playwright Testament has written for theatres such as The Royal Court, Leeds Playhouse, The Globe and Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester among others. Testament’s work for screen includes clients such as Netflix, Disney Plus, BBC and Channel 4.
Over the years Testament has worked with a diverse range of people from Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Grammy winner Corinne Bailey Rae, Ray Parker Jnr, jazz legends Joe Lovano and Jean Toussaint, Mercury nominee Soweto Kinch and he won the BBC Urban Music Talent Award in 2007. In 2015 he wrote his first show the acclaimed play Blake Remixed – a personal response to the work of William Blake which had a successful run in Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2015 and since then he has straddled the world of music, literature and theatre.
Show notes:
Website: www.testamenthomecut.com
Instagram: @testamenthomecut
‘I Am the True Vine’ composed by Arvo Pärt, sung by the Pro Arte Singers and conducted by Paul Hillier can be found on our community playlist on Spotify along with our listener’s Survival Songs. Check it out and add your own!
Find out more about Arvo Pärt here.
This episode contains small portions of ‘I Am the True Vine’ composed by Arvo Pärt, sung by the Pro Arte Singers and conducted by Paul Hillier. Survival Songs claims no copyright of this work. This is included as a form of music review and criticism and as a way to celebrate, promote and encourage the listener to seek out the artist’s work.
Episode 15: Testament