Projects
THE COSTA PROJECT
Music can offer a powerful tool for learning and collaboration. This is demonstrated in the Commemoration of Slave Trade Abolition (COSTA) project. This project, led by Alphonse Touna, Cameroonian musician and David Mowatt, Bristol based community musician and trumpeter, brought together over 500 people of all ages in an exciting dance, music and story telling performance at Bristol's Colston Hall. As well as performances from local school children, the show featured star performances from jazz trombonist Dennis Rollins, blues harmonica legend Johnny Mars, master drummer Ben Baddoo, soul diva Tammi Redman and Cameroonian dancer Louis Rober Eboa.
KING COTTON
At the heart of the show is a performance by a jazz big band that tells the stories of people affected by the global cotton trade, from the American pickers to the factory workers in Lancashire and Bristol.
Norma is musical director of the King Cotton Band, which performs original music by Norma, David, Alphonse and Mark Anderson
The medium of jazz means that the show has an interactive, improvisational element. Each performance is unique and includes raps, stories, songs and music created by young people.
The young people work with professional artists to interpret the themes and develop the narrative in a way that is relevant to their lives. The show includes performances by young people who have often had had little previous experience of live music and performance.
The show continues to be performed in many settings including schools and young offenders institutes as well as major performance venues such as the Colston Hall and Taunton's Brewhouse Theatre.
For more information about the COSTA project visit