Welcome back! We hope all that attended the Summer School last week enjoyed it as much as we did – what a Voyage of Discovery we had! If you missed any of the action, we had a blog running over the 3 days which can be seen on our website – lots of great photos too! http://www.music-for-everyone.org/about-us/blog/
After a few days off, the MfE team is back and looking forward to the next season of music-making, we will be bringing you full details very soon!
In the meantime… why don’t you check out some of the other musical events happening in the East Midlands? We regularly promote 3rd party events and opportunities through a special page on our website – take a look for yourself, or perhaps a family member, there are opportunities for adult and youth alike!
#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.
There was a buzz in the air all day in anticipation of the evening’s performance. Morning and afternoon, instrumental and choral pieces were given a final polish in both the individual and combined groups.
The lunchtime recital was a real treat, given by professional guitarists Saki Kato and Hugh Milington – the Miyabi Duo. Their performance of music spanning several centuries revealed the variety of styles and sounds possible from the guitar, including the use of both body and strings as percussive elements. Like other performers at previous Summer Schools, Hugh had participated in MfE activities as a youngster, though not as a player but a singer!
As you can imagine, arranging a hall to accomodate 150+ performers in wind band, string orchestra, full orchestra and choir formation, with three conducting points, four conductors, two pianos, an organ, two sets of timpani, lots of percussion and a table for tuned wine glasses, while still leaving space for a solist and audience of family and friends, takes some time and is no mean feat, but we did it.
Getting ready for the final rehearsal.
The performance of music reflecting this year’s theme of ‘Voyages of Discovery’ – both in space (Now you understand this blog post’s title!) and at sea – was well received. Everyone sang and played with great enthusism. It’s amazing how much can be accomplished in three days of intensive rehearsal with great tutors and conductors. Of course there were a few wrong notes, but there was always the right spirit in the music and the opportunity to perform, which is what Music for Everyone is all about.
The String Orchestra enjoyed a rare opportunity for an amateur group – playing a concerto with a professional soloist. Conductor Abi Smith and leader Isobel Bounford ensured a wonderful balance between orchestra and soloist, Hugh Millington, leading to a beautiful performance of Vivaldi’s Guitar Concerto.
The concert ended with a mighty fine I vow to thee my country by all performers and audience – this was within the full orchestra’s rendition of Holst’s Jupiter, which included particularly splendid horn playing.
At every great event, much goes on behind the scenes to ensure everything runs smoothly and each participant has a great experience. MfE office staff Amy and Kirstie packed away the urns after the final break having made and served several thousand cups of coffee and tea. (Not forgetting putting out hundreds of biscuits that always disappeared within a few minutes.) They then turned their hands to playing percussion in the evening concert, alongside ‘Events’ Anne tootling her flute and Executive Director Robin compering the evening. And somehow, inbetween and after all that, they collected, set up and served the farewell buffet, then cleared EVERYTHING away until the High School was as though we had never been there.
Huge thanks go to them all, and to conductors Hilary Campbell, Gill Henshaw, Angela Kay and Abi Smith, recitalists and workshop leaders, Richard Cox – THE most amazing accompanist, Nottingham High School for being such fab hosts, and to every participant. We hope you had a great time.
Hilary encouraged the choir to ‘be more Hollywood, less British’, so it seems fitting to say ‘It’s a wrap’ for Summer School 2019! We’ll be back next year with Summer School 2020.
Rehearsals for all groups continued throughout the day. Hilary Campbell had the singers drawing the Z of Zorro with imaginery swords – one swiped line for each triplet note to ensure the perfect rhythm of three against two.
Hilary also rehearsed the string orchestra for the works accompanying the choir, with MfE’s Abi Smith taking and inspiring the group’s other rehearsals.
Today’s recital, given by Zephyr Winds – five professional players with national and international careers – was a virtuosic display of the colour and versatility of flute, clarinet, obe, horn and bassoon. The playing was by turn dramatic, tender and comical – particularly superb were the animal sounds in Jim Parker’s Les Animeaux. Director Chris Swann dazzled on clarinet in the world premier of an arrangment by Matthew Lax (MfE’s Treasurer and Trustee) of Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Flight of the Bumble Bee. Phew!
Lunchtime recital – Zephyr Winds
Each member of the quintet led a workshop for small groups of Summer School players – brass, oboes, bassoons, flutes, clarinets and saxophones. These groups then performed their workshopped pieces to each other. This was in addition to the players rehearsing as a windband with MfE’s Gill Henshaw, and then with the strings in the full orchestra.
The visiting professionals offer Summer School participants unique access to leading players, singers and conductors. There are opportunities to ask them for advice about individual issues or technique in general. But the days are not all work – there are refreshment breaks morning and afternoon, and today’s sunshine meant outdoor lunch for many. There is time to chat with friends, meet new people and browse the stalls, including Windblowers’ array of instruments.
You can hear the improvement all the tuition and rehearsing is bringing about. Players and singers are developing confidence in performing their own lines, listening more carefully to each other to create a blended sound, and adding in not only the dynamic and expressive effects written into the score, but the emotion that turns notes into music and a collection of individuals into a band, orchestra or choir. Tomorrow’s concert audience is in for a treat.
Today’s interesting fact: Oboes are not automatically always in tune! An oboe gives the note for the band or orchestra to tune to because its sound is clear and carries. To enure the note given is spot on, the responsible oboist must first warm their instrument and tune to a perfect A by using a tuning fork.
This morning Music for Everyone’s three-day Summer School got underway once more, but at a new venue – Nottingham High School. About 150 instrumentalists and singers arrived looking cheery, pleased to have overcome the absence of trams and the road closures. Or perhaps at the prospect of fresh coffee and pastries…
The day was filled with a rich variety of rehearsals and workshops in preparation for Wednesday’s concert performance. The repertoire for all groups has been themed to complement the 50th anniversaries of both the moon landing and Sir Robin Knox-Johnson’s circumnavigation of the globe.
Fly me to the moon, and let me play among the stars!
More about the wind band and strings tomorrow – today’s focus is on the choir. Angela Kay, Music for Everyone’s founder and artistic director, led the singers through warm ups and into Ola Gjeilo’s Across the Vast Eternal Sky (one of her favourites, apparently). Then she had everyone swinging Fly me to the Moon before ending the morning with a first go at Handel’s Let their celestial concerts, superbly accompanied by Richard Cox.
Lunch was followed by a recital and workshop with mens’ vocal quartet Scaramella. They entertained us with snatches and glees from 18th century gentlemen’s clubs – as you might imagine, the lyrics featured much wine and were at times on the naughty side! The workshop stretched the singers physically and vocally, and everyone enjoyed exploring Pearsall’s poignant Lay a Garland.
After a cuppa, Jane McDouall, fresh from the south, returned to a warm welcome and led a singing technique session followed by a Q+A. Everyone will be breathing (inhaling, Jane prefers) with shoulders down and the right muscles in play tomorrow. ‘Basically,’ Jane said, ‘there’s no point trying to hold your tummy in and look good if you want to have breath for singing!’ The choir is looking forward to Tuesday’s arrival of visiting conductor and choral director, Hilary Campbell.
Next week, the MfE Office will be closed due to all staff attending our annual Summer School from Monday to Wednesday, followed by a well-deserved few days off before preparing for our new season! However, all 3 of our Bookwise shops (City Centre, Southwell and Newark) will still be open and if you are still in need of a good book for your holidays, why not pop in and say hello to our lovely volunteers!
All the book shops stock a wide range of reading material, from dictionaries to novels, biographies to cookbooks – as well as sheet music for all abilities and CDs.
The Summer School will be taking place in the beautiful Nottingham High School and we are really looking forward to a fantastic 3 days of music-making. We also have talented special guests Scaramella, Hilary Campbell, the Miyabi Duo and Zephyr joining us to take workshops and recitals. The Lunchtime Recital Series and Summer School Showcase Concert are open to all so why not pop along! http://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/ss-concerts-19/
PROMS THEME!
The Proms 2019 are off! Click here to find out 10 extraordinary facts about the history.
Ever wondered what the conductor looks like during a performance to the orchestra? Click here to see 10 conductors having the time of their lives at the 2017 Proms…!
#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.
No particular theme for today’s #MfEMonday, just another place to share some news!
As always, please continue to send through your events & happenings to admin@music-for-everyone.org as would love to feature them.
Summer School You can now book your lunchtime recitals and concert + buffet tickets online and through the MfE Box Office.
Open Voices At Friday’s Open Voices Les Misérables concert over £200 was raised through generous donations. Thank you so much, and huge congrats to Open Voices. Here’s to your future!
Third Party Events page Playing in any concerts? Looking for new members for your group? Want to see events happening near you? Our Third Party Events page on our website is chock-full of upcoming concerts and opportunities. Email admin@music-for-everyone.org if you have anything you’d like to advertise for FREE!
My last #MfEMonday… “It has been my absolute pleasure to work for MfE as Adult Programme Assistant/Marketing Officer for the past 6 months. Angela + the office team have made me feel so welcome and I will forever be grateful for my time here! Rest assured I will continue to be a part of the excellent courses + concerts for as long as I can, but oh, how I will miss writing the #MfEMondays!!! All the best for the future, see everyone at Summer School!”
#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.
A Tuesday #MfEMonday for you (it’ll make your week feel shorter!)…
Yesterday the MfE Office was dominated with the upcoming Summer School– music has been sent out to 150 excited participants, in preparation for three glorious days of music-making at Nottingham High School this August!
I’m sure you’ve all heard about our Summer School, and this one certainly is not one to miss. Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, we have a stellar repertoire list everyone can enjoy, including Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra, the theme from The Onedin Line, an arrangement of Jupiter, Ola Gjeilo’s Across the Vast, Eternal Sky, the classic Fly Me To The Moon and more!
We also have talented special guests Scaramella, Hilary Campbell, the Miyabi Duo and Zephyr joining us to take workshops and recitals.
There is more information with a full repertoire list on the Summer School website. We are super excited for our 5thSummer School and hope to see you there!
On another equally as exciting note, Music for Everyone is delighted to announce that we have received a grant for our Open Voices initiative, all thanks to The National Lottery Community Fund!
This grant will support the group as it grows and continues to enlighten the lives of individuals and their communities.
Keeping the space-theme, we are OVER THE MOONto accept this grant!
#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.
After a year of planning and 6 months of activities, The Big Youth Music Experience weekend finally took place! Two full days of music, energy and entertainment spreading from Nottingham’s Albert Hall, to the Cathedral, Playhouse and Sky Mirror.
We were blessed with good weather so we were able to have some of our fringe events outside by the Sky Mirror, and we had healthy attendance for both days to make the most of what was on offer!
We are promising to keep this blog page updated with pictures and videos – if you attended any of the events/activities over the weekend and would like to share any pictures you have, please get in touch!
A huge HURRAH and thank you to everyone who attended over the weekend. Whether you were volunteering or taking part – we hope you had fun!
SATURDAY 13 JULY
Robin Hood Orchestra (City Music Hub) Flash Mob FRINGE
What an idea, and what a response! The RHO flash mob made waves throughout Nottingham on Saturday – they started outside the Council House and passed through locations like the Arboretum and Trent Bridge. They were in bright green shirts and produced amazing atmospheres everywhere they went! Well done all!
We began Saturday the best way possible – filling the Albert Hall up with the incredible sounds of the Binns Organ!
A handful of excited pianists each got a dedicated slot with Mike Smith, experienced organist and teacher and got to play on one of the finest instruments in the country!
Jasmine & Daisy with tutor Mike Smith – @johnbhess via Twitter
Senior Percussion WORKSHOP
The first percussion workshop of the weekend was aimed at grade 4+ players looking to perform on the full range of percussion instruments! Glockenspiel, xylophone, vibraphone and marimba, as well as timpani, the drum kit and a variety of smaller items.
Pure Steel Band FRINGE performance + ‘Come & Try’
Mansfield’s own Pure Steel joined us on Saturday afternoon at the Sky Mirror, providing a unique steel band performance – they even let people have a go themselves! It’s a lot harder than people realise, and takes good muscle-memory to know what note goes where!
MfE Chairman John Hess getting a steel pan lesson! Photo from Anne, MfE
Senior Strings WORKSHOP
Under the tuition of accomplished violinist and conductor Chris George, the senior strings enjoyed a vibrant rehearsal in the Neville Studio above the Nottingham Playhouse Bar & Kitchen. Amongst the repertoire studied, senior strings later got the chance to play in the epic Game of Thrones piece, ‘Light of the Seven’!
Senior Wind Band WORKSHOP
Another instrumental group that had Game of Thrones preparations for Saturday’s concert was the senior wind band.
MfE were happy to bring in Chris Swann (Sinfonia Viva, Royal Northern College of Music) to take the workshops, and also welcomed clarinet soloist Oliver Lee (Royal Northern student) in Weber’s Concertino.
Senior Singing – Gospel WORKSHOP
By far one of the most popular workshops of the whole weekend, the Gospel workshop was led by award-winning local gospel artist Freddie Kofi.
He brought new approaches and techniques to singing and challenged participants to step out of their comfort zones and learn new ways of bringing songs to life – a few singers who had never sung solo before took the plunge and sang before the audience in the evening concert.
A unique day for everyone.
‘Come and Try’ Endangered Instruments Windblowers stall
All of our fringe events were popular and well received amongst adults and youth. However, the particular favourite fringe “activity” of young people was in fact Windblowers’ stall!
With a gorgeous selection, people were free to try out an instrument they might have never laid their hands on before, including endangered instruments.
Nottingham Youth Jazz Orchestra FRINGE
The Nottingham Youth Jazz Orchestra joined us on Saturday afternoon outside the Sky Mirror, presenting a set of uplifting and energetic pieces that got every foot in the audience tapping!
SUNDAY 14 JULY
Junior String WORKSHOP
Kicking off Sunday’s activities was the junior string group. Guest professional conductor Rowen Cozens was fantastic with the young string players, and helped them learn a super range of music, including the Sailor’s Hornpipe, and a quirky Caribbean number which had players use their instruments as percussion!
Junior Wind Band WORKSHOP
Also kicking off Sunday was the junior wind band, led by Chris Swann and joined by the junior percussion kids. They enjoyed a vivid selection of band music, including the impressive Aztlan by Victor Lopez, to be performed in the informal afternoon concert.
SambaDrumming FRINGE WORKSHOP
Holding two fringe workshops throughout Sunday was Nikki from Artbeat. Bringing her own Portuguese drums and various percussion instruments, participants enjoyed learning rhythms and hearing how a traditional Samba group sounds altogether – explosive!
Bhangra Dancing FRINGE
A highly-anticipated fringe event, crowds and participants were not disappointed with Vijay’s excellent performance and workshop. Most of the weekend’s youth had never witnessed Bhangra let along give it a go themselves!
Junior Percussion WORKSHOP
Led by percussionist-extraordinaire Jackie Kendle, young percussion players really got a taste of everything there was on offer!
The Big Family Sing WORKSHOP
Following on from the success of our February/March BIG FAMILY SINGING EXPERIENCE workshops, we couldn’t not bring it back for BYME!
The children and their families rehearsed in the Cathedral under the tuition of Helen Hayes – they sounded fab in those acoustics! – and had a selection of fun songs up their sleeve for that afternoon’s concert, including some with actions!
Capoeira FRINGE
Another highly-anticipated fringe event was another unique one – Capoeira dancing from the group Capoeira Nottingham. Capoeira dancing is an Afro-Brazilian martial art, combining dance, acrobatics and music – simply put, it is something fascinating to watch!
Pictured below was the group’s lead ‘singer’ playing the berimbau. Keeping the tempo and singing to dancers in a ‘call & responce’ way, the berimbau and its player is essential to Capoeira.
Boy, was it hard to photograph them!
The Capoeira dancing begins at 1:00 minute in.
All photos/videos were taken by MfE staff unless otherwise specified. *More pictures coming soon!*
#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.
With ourBig Youth Experience officially under a week away, MfE’s Kirstie and Robin headed down to BBC Radio Nottingham this morning to chat to Andy & Sarah.
Particularly interested in the ‘Come & Try Endangered Instruments’ fringe workshops taking place on both days, they were joined by East Midlands Youth Windband member Alistair, who explained why he loved playing the endangered Baritone Sax!
Andy & Sarah were also given a challenge – to learn the flute in a week!
With a crash course from Kirstie, both presenters seemed up to the challenge. Find out how they get on by listening on Wednesday and hear their final performance on Friday.
More information on the BYME weekend can be found on our website homepage. Remember, BYME is celebrating the youth of Nottinghamshire, but that doesn’t mean adults can’t get involved too!
Pictured: Kirstie (Youth Programme Officer), Alistair (member of MfE’s East Midland Youth Windband), Robin (Executive Director)
Big congratulations to the participants of Saturday’s Blow the Dust off your instrument – despite the dreary weather you helped create a vibrant day of music-making enjoyed by all! See you all in 2020 for the next one!
#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.
