#MfEMondays – The Big Youth Music Experience

Music for Everyone

Less than a month to go! Our July BIG YOUTH MUSIC EXPERIENCE weekend is fast approaching. If you’ve been um-ming and ah-ing over whether to sign up, let this #MfEMonday serve as a reminder to do so!

It’s a large-scale festival weekend of youth music-making activities, and with nationally recognised tutors/conductors and top guest ‘acts’, this is a festival to truly celebrate the musical youth of the region.

However, it’s not just for Nottinghamshire’s youth! There are a fabulous selection of ‘festival fringe’ events suitable for everyone to get involved with on the day, regardless of age or experience! These include a steel band and Capoeira dancing (free events), samba drumming and a BIG FAMILY SING for all the family! (pre-booking fee applies).

(Be sure to check out our #MfEMondays blog about our last BIG FAMILY SINGING EXPERIENCE, and listen to the BBC Radio Nottingham feature to hear what’s to come in July! www.music-for-everyone.org/news/mfemondays-0804/)

There are also concerts each day open to the public to enjoy, including the Saturday evening Festival Concert, where an epic Game of Thrones piece brings orchestra, choir and organ together at the Albert Hall.

Full details & tickets can be found on our website: www.music-for-everyone.org/event/the-big-youth-music-experience/, or by ringing the office on 0115 9589312, and we hope you will join us on the 13/14 July to help celebrate Nottinghamshire youth music!

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

17/06/2019

admin@music-for-everyone.org
www.music-for-everyone.org | 0115 9589312
10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

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#MfEMondays – Win Win Win!

Music for Everyone

A winner!

At Friday’s East of England Singers concert (7 June), a small competition was held called ‘Name That Country’. Angela Kay got the audience members to annotate their programmes and try to guess the country of origin for each of the pieces performed.

The winner will be contacted today (10/06) – congratulations to them! We are thrilled to gift them two free tickets to a Music for Everyone concert of their choice.

If you’d like to find out all the answers to the competition, please get in touch. Look out for more competitions in the future!

Win Win Win!

With easyfundraising, you can support Music for Everyone for free when you shop online. It’s so easy – many of you are already signed up with us, but if you haven’t, here’s your reminder to sign up now!

And, as a special easyfundraising giveaway, you can be entered to win an LG TV! It will only take 2 clicks of your Monday: click here, then click a retailer and you’re entered for free!

And, if Amazon is more your thing, we can be supported through AmazonSmile too. For more information click here.

Exciting dates for your diary:

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

10/06/2019

admin@music-for-everyone.org
www.music-for-everyone.org | 0115 9589312
10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

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#MfEMondays – EOES and Freya Whitfield

Music for Everyone

Friday 7 June is on the Music for Everyone radar for 2 reasons…

  1. It is our upcoming East of England Singers (EOES) concert, ‘Summer is a-comin’ in!’, and
  2. It is the last day to vote for the Lincolnshire Young Music Maker of 2019!

Summer is a-comin’ in!

This Friday 7 June join the East of England Singers and Angela Kay as they present a varied and entertaining programme of music from around Europe – Holst, Elgar, Kodály, Ešenvalds and more!

Taking place at St Mary the Virgin Church, Bunny, Notts NG11 6QW at 7.30pm. Tickets are £8, with £7 for concessions and £4 for Children/Students – buy now online and on the door (subject to availability) – don’t miss out!

Freya Whitfield

Freya is a bright young musician and one of three finalists for Lincolnshire Music Service’s ‘Young Music Maker of 2019!’. Freya is grade 8 in the violin and viola, grade 7 in the Bb and bass clarinet, and a grade 6 pianist. She has a variety of amazing accolades and experiences under her belt, and has been a participant in our Bandwise! weekends and BIG YOUTH MUSIC EXPERIENCE project!

Voting closes on Friday 7 June, so we would love it if you could take a few seconds out of your Monday to vote for her here. You can read her full bio on the website too.

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

03/06/2019

admin@music-for-everyone.org
www.music-for-everyone.org | 0115 9589312
10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

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#MfEMondays are Music for Everyone’s new weekly emails designed to keep you up to date with MfE events & to circulate interesting finds, special features, and motivational moments for your Mondays! We are aiming to send out something new each week.

To subscribe, please email admin@music-for-everyone.org.

#MfEMondays – Vocals! 2019

Music for Everyone

Vocals! 2019 took the Albert Hall by storm yesterday in an exciting concert of The Greatest Showman & Mary Poppins hits, amongst more!

Each Vocals group got to dazzle in the spotlights in front of their friends & families and, with boundless energy, show off all the hard work (and dance moves!) from their workshops.

Vocals! will return at Christmas to prove yet again that our East Midlands kids can sing, and there will be another opportunity following the success of our Big Family Singing Experience days for families to sing together on 14 July. Check out our website for more information or drop us an email.

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

20/05/2019

admin@music-for-everyone.org
www.music-for-everyone.org | 0115 9589312
10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

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#MfEMondays – Open Voices and Vicky McClure’s Dementia Choir

Music for Everyone

Vicky McClure’s ‘Our Dementia Choir’ has touched the hearts of many people, including many here in Nottingham.

To celebrate a member of our Open Voices group featuring in the documentary, Bernard, for this week’s #MfEMondays we thought it would be lovely to share some quotes from some of our volunteers and some inspiring case studies – but first, a behind-the-scenes clip of the Dementia Choir rehearsing!

Member Case Study – Zoe
Zoe has started attending every week with her carer.  Initially, Zoe needed two carers to accompany her when she was visiting anywhere because her behavior is unpredictable.  Previously, Zoe has found it very difficult to be with others as she hits and kicks out.   This unpredictable behavior causes her to be socially isolated. 

Zoe’s carer has recently noticed a huge improvement in her behavior.  She now only needs one person to accompany her.  She is able to sit at a table during our drinks break and she interacts with others in a positive way.  Zoe has formed strong bonds with two of our volunteers, Tom and Val.  She remembers their names from week to week and actively seeks them out to join in conversations with them. Zoe’s carer said this was a huge step forward.  Zoe enjoys the music and sits in the room with everyone else.  Zoe’s carer said: “For Zoe to come in each week, and sit at the table, is a fantastic achievement”.  Zoe’s carer is continuing to see huge improvements in her social skills as well as her behavior and this is enabling Zoe to become less isolated socially.

Member Case Study – Ruth
Ruth told one of our music leaders herself that she would not have had the same confidence or social skills before coming to Open Voices.  Ruth’s carer told us that Ruth particularly enjoys the social aspects of Open Voices.  She looks forward to seeing her friends each week and she is one of the first to get up and welcome newcomers.  Ruth feels confident to do this.  She also feels confident to come to the front to perform to the rest of the group.  She particularly enjoys songs from Jungle Book and will act out the role of the snake and the monkey.  Ruth’s carer went on to explain that although it takes a little time for a group dynamic to build up, Ruth now knows everyone, and this gives her the confidence to perform.  She feels she is performing to friends.  Both Ruth and her carer said they would be devastated if the sessions did not continue as they form an important part of Ruth’s social life.  Without them, she would be much more socially isolated.  She loves coming and interacting with her friends.

You can catch up on ‘Our Dementia Choir’ on the BBC iPlayer website or app (Our Dementia Choir with Vicky McClure, BBC One 02/05/2019 – you can spot Bernard at 00:51:05 when Vicky calls him on stage!)

For the flyer and more information on Open Voices, click here. If you are interested in getting involved or volunteering, please email
admin@music-for-everyone.org.

Here at Music for Everyone we feel passionately about including a dementia choir element into our adult programme of music-making, so watch this space.

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

13/05/2019

admin@music-for-everyone.org
www.music-for-everyone.org | 0115 9589312
10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

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#MfEMondays are Music for Everyone’s new weekly emails designed to keep you up to date with MfE events & to circulate interesting finds, special features, and motivational moments for your Mondays! We are aiming to send out something new each week.

To subscribe, please email admin@music-for-everyone.org

#MfEMondays – Raising the roof at the Albert Hall

Music for Everyone

The combined voices of Nottingham Community Voices and the Nottingham Concert Orchestra put on a show-stopping, dazzling performance at the Albert Hall, Nottingham yesterday afternoon of hits from the stage and screen – including the foot-tapping Mamma Mia medley which raised the roof! ‘Thank you for the Music’ to all our singers…

We also had sparkling solos from our guests Kate Taylor and Simon Theobald and an incredibly moving solo of the Love Theme from Cinema Paradiso from MfE’s very own String Animateur Abigail Smith.

P.S. Don’t miss Vicky McClure’s ‘Our Dementia Choir’ on Thursday night, 8pm, featuring one of our Open Voices members, Bernard Marshall! Our Dementia Choir

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

29/04/2019

admin@music-for-everyone.org
www.music-for-everyone.org | 0115 9589312
10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

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#MfEMondays are Music for Everyone’s new weekly emails designed to keep you up to date with MfE events & to circulate interesting finds, special features, and motivational moments for your Mondays! We are aiming to send out something new each week.

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#MfEMondays – Lunchtime Voices at Nottingham Station

Music for Everyone

Our glorious Lunchtime Voices took their music to the streets last week and performed at Nottingham Station.

With a great turnout from the choir they did not fail to impress passers-by last Tuesday lunchtime – we got many people asking questions and taking pictures!

They sang a fun selection of music (some with dance moves!) and they sounded great under the station’s high ceiling! Well done all involved!

Check out below for pictures and videos, and also to see how our Chair John Hess helped out…

Thank you John Hess for being the best flyer distributor!
A short video taken on our Instagram! @MfENotts

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

15/04/2019

admin@music-for-everyone.org
www.music-for-everyone.org | 0115 9589312
10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

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#MfEMondays are Music for Everyone’s new weekly emails designed to keep you up to date with MfE events & to circulate interesting finds, special features, and motivational moments for your Mondays! We are aiming to send out something new each week.

To subscribe, please email admin@music-for-everyone.org

#MfEMondays – Big Family Singing Experience

Music for Everyone

Did you hear Frances Finn on BBC Radio Nottingham yesterday morning?

Then you might’ve heard her piece on our recent Big Family Singing Experience in Beeston.

We invited her along on the 30 March where she recorded the afternoon and even spoke to a few participants!

She said that singing is excellent for your health, and we couldn’t agree more – especially when singing with other people!

You can catch up on the BBC Sounds website or app (Frances Finn show, 07/04/2019, 01:52:00) or click below to listen!

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

08/04/2019

admin@music-for-everyone.org
www.music-for-everyone.org | 0115 9589312
10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

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#MfEMondays are Music for Everyone’s new weekly emails designed to keep you up to date with MfE events & to circulate interesting finds, special features, and motivational moments for your Mondays! We are aiming to send out something new each week.

To subscribe, please email admin@music-for-everyone.org

Summer School 2018 – Top Brass!

Helena Durham

The third and final day of the Summer School saw all groups putting finishing touches to the pieces they would be playing in the evening Showcase Concert, open to friends, family and members of the public. This meant some joint rehearsals with choir and orchestra; percussion, piano and choir; orchestra and soloist etc. Brass, as requested by players attending previous Summer Schools, was also a feature of the day. Many music groups and organizations run Summer Schools but we think ours has a pretty unique offering. Not only do we ask top professionals along to give short concerts, but we also ask them to give workshops or masterclasses for appropriate delegates, today being the brass section. Any delegate can come along and listen in, and delegates often say they learn aspects of performance or about music that they can apply to their own but different instrument or voice.

DSC05130Tim Thorpe (horn) and Simon Baker (trombone) have played in more professional orchestras than we have space to mention. Simon is currently playing in the West End show Kinky Boots! Each of them performed several pieces in the showcase concert, admirably and sensitively accompanied by our répétiteur for the School, Richard Cox. Simon opened with Kenny’s Fanfare and then spoke about his Nottingham roots, being a trombonist, the types of music he enjoys playing, and his friendship (and golfing rivalry) with Tim. Tim’s varied selection included a beautiful arrangement of Erik Satie’s Gymnopedie No 1. In both performances we were treated to the colours, ranges of sound and technical expertise of two wonderful performers.

The School’s brass section was joined by a few other players, including youngsters, for a workshop that led to a performance in the Showcase Concert. The importance of listening while playing (or singing) has been a thread running through all the workshops this year. Simon talked about the need for each player to listen out for when they had the tune, bring it out but ease the sound back when the tune passes to a different instrument. His top tip: Play confidently when sight-reading – blow through the notes – and don’t worry about the odd wrong one! He and Tim discussed the difficulties of finding a balanced the sound in a brass group given the different directions instrument bells point in – up the tuba and baritone etc, behind for the French horn, in front for trombones and trumpets.

DSC05164We discovered on YouTube that Tim had performed an arrangement of Bernstein’s Somewhere from West Side Story. He very kindly supplied the orchestral parts and performed it with the orchestra in the Showcase Concert, picking up this year’s theme of Music from the Americas. And what a showcase it was of music spanning north and south America, from the 1600s right up to the present! Two of our young volunteers joined the party that was the percussion section in Sparkling Samba, conducted by Gill Henshaw. The Amercian theme opened the concert with a lively and fun performance of The Liberty Bell and closed it with the choir and orchestra thrilling the audience with a chorus from Bernstein’s Candide, conducted by MfE’s artistic director, Angela Kay MBE. There was much applause and appreciation from both audience and Trent College staff.

We were sorry to say goodbye to two tutors who have been very much part of the MfE family but are now moving on to pastures new – Victoria Barlow (choral) and Ann-Marie Shaw (strings). Thank you so much, and all the very best!

This year’s School came to a close with a social time over a hot buffet cooked by College staff. Trent College made us feel so welcome and facilitated what we hope was a great experience for all.

 

 

 

Summer School 2018 – Rhapsody!

Helena Durham

Instrumental players are members two groups at the Summer School – windband and full orchestra or string orchestra and full orchestra. This gives instrumentalists the chance to experience both a wider range of music and the expertise of several different tutors and guests. We were delighted to welcome young conductor Devon Bonelli today, who rehearsed Rhapsody in Blue, by his fellow American George Gershwin, with the full orchestra. Devon is studying for a music degree at the University of Nottingham, quite some way from his Arizona home!

The choir was also treated to three different tutors throughout the day, each guiding them through a range of techniques and pieces in preparation for tomorrow’s showcase concert. Late in the afternoon they went to hear the orchestra and Devon perform Rhapsody, with one of the delegates playing that famous clarinet solo opening.

DSC05114After lunch violinist Owen Cox and pianist Hilary Suckling gave a much anticipated workshop. They demonstrated their rehearsal process, and Owen highlighted some of the differences for a violinist when playing with a pianist rather than with other stringed instruments in say a string quartet. The piano’s tuning is, at the moment of playing fixed and ‘tempered’, whereas string players can adjust the pitch of a note by a tiny fraction with a slight movement of a finger. This might be done to suit either the mood of a solo piece or the ensemble of a group of stringed instruments, but it can’t be employed when playing with a piano. He also discussed the challenges of slow works and long notes for a stringed instrument, saying how these are much more taxing than runs of quavers as it is difficult to sustain the right quality of sound. Each note has to be imbued with meaning, and the player has to be sure not to run out of bow length in the process! A handy tip, he said, is to ensure the bow is rosined all the way to its ends.

Hilary talked about the position the instrument player chooses to stand in relative to the pianist and how she likes to feel more connected to the player, able to make eye contact with him or her, by them standing closer to her rather than in front of the piano itself. This was Owen’s choice, too. They agreed how important it is to rehearse in a concert venue as the acoustic affects so many aspects of the sound – what worked well in one venue is unlikely to be as successful in another.

IMG_9112Owen talked warmly of his time in Stringwise at the opening of the early evening recital. The two of them then gave a thrilling performance of a very varied programme: Elgar’s Violin Sonata, three movements from a recent arrangement for violin and piano of Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring, and Messiaen’s Theme and Variations. The music was imbued with so many colours and emotions in a seemingly effortless way. We listeners were captivated and transported – rapturous applause brought the day to a very satisfying close.

We’re excited to be welcoming two new professionals tomorrow – French Horn player Tim Thorpe and trombonist Simon Baker. The list of famous orchestras they have played with is VERY LONG. Come and here them in a lunchtime concert that’s open to the public – 1.30pm, Trent College Chapel.

And finally… One of our double bass players showed us a neat solution to that tricky issue of instrument spike vs slippery floor: play in your socks and stick the spike in your shoe. Sorted!