London 2012 blog

My philosophy is that with enough encouragement anyone can sing - albeit everyone has a different degree of voice. So it's great to see initiatives to get people - whatever age - back into singing. Singing used to be something that was really strong in communities and families, but has been lost a bit in the last few decades. It's great to see it coming back.

Singing for me is a sense of release, the chance to express your vision of the world through your art. Part of what I do is wordless music - scat. I love the way it's loose and free, it lets you be creative - you just make it up as you go along. It gives me a real buzz, and when I'm teaching - whether kids or adults - I see them get that buzz too.

I'm excited to be running vocal improvisation courses during Open Weekend - I'm looking forward to giving kids a voice. It's all about letting people be free with their voice and having FUN.

Read more of “Find your voice”

One of the striking things about life at the London 2012 Organising Committee is the diversity of daily life.

We have always worked on the assumption that culture and education form a core part of our role alongside staging world class events for athletes and inspiring greater sports participation.

Today's briefing on the Cultural Olympiad was a chance to speak with a whole new range of people and spread the 2012 message to Britain's cultural community: one of the UK's greatest assets for making life here interesting and fun and promoting the country overseas.

For me perhaps the most remarkable part of the morning was the appearance of the National Theatre's warhorse puppet at the end of media questions.

Read more of “Blending sport with culture”

On 26-28 September, over 500 events are being held around the UK to celebrate the start of the Cultural Olympiad.

Find an event near you

The power and diversity of our cultural life, is waiting to be unleashed in 2012. We need to hold onto the idea of outstanding giftedness whilst also considering the diversity of those taking part in our Cultural Olympiad. There need be no barriers to excellence, either in sport or the arts. We want the Cultural Olympiad to carry that message, on a breathtaking scale. Diversity, opportunity and amazing talent.

The founder of the modern Olympic movement, Pierre de Coubertin, said 'The Olympic Games is the wedding of sport and art'. We are exploring culture's role in the Olympic and Paralympic Games in an unprecedented way. The London 2012 Cultural Olympiad will cover all Britain, animating public spaces and engaging everyone possible, and especially the young. We are learning how we can involve people everywhere, not only in London, and not only connect them to the 2012 Games, but also create a legacy from their involvement – not just in 2012, but over the next four years.

Read more of “The Major Projects: time to grow”

I’m not going to tell you about what’s happening next year or in four years’ time, but later this month, when the Cultural Olympiad actually begins.

As a first step on our journey to the 2012 Games we are planning an Open Weekend on a grand scale. Drawing on the inspiration of Open House and the Mayor’s annual Open Rehearsal, we asked our cultural organisations, big and small, and our artists throughout the country to work with us to open up what they do to the public in as many ways as they could. Together we have already put together a programme of over 500 events all over the country, more coming in every day, offering unprecedented access to our cultural riches and bringing communities and small groups together to help celebrate the launch of the Cultural Olympiad.

Read more of “A first step on the journey to 2012”