Month: December 2024

#MfEMonday – 16th December 2024

Music for Everyone

It was “All Aboard” the Polar Express and other festive favourites in yesterdays annual MfE Christmas is Coming concert! With over 200 performers and a full house in the audience, it was a joyous occasion – a huge WELL DONE to our youth Vocals choir, the Nottingham Community Voices and Nottingham Chamber Singers for all their hard work.

Congratulations to the Nottingham Daytime Orchestra for their end of term concert last Thursday, a great way to finish a busy term!

MfE do Carol singing at the Test Match Pub in West Bridgford on Wednesday 18th December from 6pm – come and join us! All welcome, carol books are provided.

The office will be closed from Monday 23rd December – Thursday 2nd January, reopening on Friday 3rd Jan. Bookwise is still open (normal opening times) apart from bank holiday days. For details of MfE events and groups in 2025, check the website: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/

 

 

In a letter from Buckingham Palace, King Charles has conveyed “his warmest good wishes” to Music for Everyone and his “sincere thanks” for our invitation to His Majesty to attend our “In the King’s Company” concert in October. The King says he is most grateful for thinking of him, but was unable to accept our offer to attend due to the volume of requests he receives.

In the letter to our chair of trustees John Hess, the King says he was “most interested to learn a bit about Music for Everyone and our work in Nottingham.”

Devised by our artistic director Alex Robinson, “In the King’s Company” was a celebration of the baroque music and song from the royal courts of England and France.

King Charles also says he hopes the occasion was “enjoyable for all involved”, and thanks us for our “thoughtful “letter and “truly generous “invitation.

 

As this is our final MfEMonday of 2024, we’d like to take this opportunity to look back on a year of music-making and wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a joyful New Year – here’s to an even more musical 2025!

 

  • One of our members, David, has been getting creative to raise funds for Open Voices. He has turned one of his paintings into a Christmas card which has been purchased by singers at Beeston, Wollaton, and West Bridgford Daytime Voices and raised £150. Thank you so much David!

 

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE

16/12/2024

admin@music-for-everyone.org

www.music-for-everyone.org | 0115 9589312

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

 

#MfEMonday – 9th December 2024

Music for Everyone

What a busy week that was!!

Our Loughborough Daytime Orchestra gave a wonderful performance at Emmanuel Church, Loughborough last Tuesday. We hope they had a great time in the pub afterwards and are looking forward to seeing what exciting music they will be sharing with us at the next concert! The Nottingham Daytime Orchestra have their performance this Thursday 12 December at St Martin’s Church Sherwood, 11am for 11:15 start. Please come along and support these wonderful musicians. Parking alert: gas works are in progress on Trevose Gardens, on-street parking may be limited.

Congratulations to the Lunchtime Voices Choir for their fantastic singing in the Victoria Centre on Thursday 5 December! It was definitely a highlight for many Christmas shoppers who gathered to listen. We would like to thank everyone who came along to support, including some of our wonderful Open Voices members, who joined in to make the event even more memorable. Thanks to your combined efforts, we raised an impressive £70.

Our next carol singing event will be on Wednesday 18 December at the Test Match pub in West Bridgford. Join us from 6pm for some carolling outside with children from Abbey Road school. Afterwards, warm up with a mulled wine while the carolling continues indoors with members of the various MfE choirs and our Open Voices singers.

 

On Saturday, our talented young musicians kicked off the festive season with their ‘Countdown to Christmas’ concert at Kingswood Methodist Church in Wollaton. The concert showcased the incredible skill and energy of our youth ensembles, and was the perfect way to close another year of great music-making from them.

The Christmas cheer continued on Sunday with the ‘Stories of Christmas’ concert at St Mary’s Church in Hucknall. The Nottingham Chamber Singers presented an entertaining and varied programme of Christmas songs, stories and carols, expertly compered by Robin Reece-Crawford, guiding the audience through the evening with wit and warmth.

 

With so much incredible music-making taking place it is impossible not to reflect on the power of music and how it brings people together.  Whether it’s a rehearsal, concert, carol singing or simply playing on your own, music connects us in ways words alone cannot. We are really proud of the musical communities we create and support. With the new year fast approaching, let’s keep the momentum going and continue to use our collective voices, instruments, and passion to make the world a little brighter, one note at a time.  Keep playing, keep learning, and keep sharing the joy of music with those around you!

 

  • A huge congratulations to our Assistant Artistic Director, Rachel Parkes, for her outstanding work as Chorus Master for the Nottingham University Choir, who performed with the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Royal Concert Hall last Wednesday. The choir delivered a stunning rendition of Eric Whitacre’s Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine before joining forces with the Nottingham Trent University choir for an epic performance of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. If you missed this unforgettable concert, you can catch it on BBC Radio 3 on Tuesday, 10 December, at 7:30pm.
  • The Villiers Quartet have an event this Wednesday. See attached flyer for details.
  • We recently secured a grant of £2,000 from Broxtowe Community Fund to support Beeston Open Voices. Below is a photo of the grant cheque being received.

 

A date for your 2025 diaries:
The Cranmer Singers are organising a “Fun and Sing” on Saturday 1st March. All comers welcome. 

 

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE

09/12/2024

admin@music-for-everyone.org

www.music-for-everyone.org | 0115 9589312

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

 

#MfEMonday – 2nd December 2024

Music for Everyone

Special message from John Hess, Chair of Trustees, Music for Everyone 

It’s with great sadness I report that, after a short illness, MfE trustee Janet Wootton died last Monday. This news will come as a considerable shock to so many of you in the MfE “family” who knew and sang with Janet over many years.
I saw her husband Jeffrey to pass on our condolences on behalf of the trustees, staff and MfE members.  If you would like to send a letter of condolence, please send it to the MfE office and we will pass it on to Janet’s family.
 
Janet joined the board several years ago and brought considerable experience and enthusiasm to her role as a trustee, having worked in the creative industries, journalism, TV regulation and public relations. 
She first started singing with us in the late 1980s and also sang with the NTU (Nottingham Trent University) Choir, the Nottingham Operatic Society and with her local church choir in Wollaton. Janet was also an accomplished artist and her paintings were exhibited at an annual exhibition of the Nottingham Arts Society. Janet will be missed. 
 
 

Events this week:

Carol singing inside the Victoria Centre on Thursday lunchtime at 1pm (near the entrance to John Lewis and Boots) members of the Lunchtime Voices and Open Voices will be serenading the Christmas shoppers. Do come and join us to sing or have a listen.
 
Sunday 8th December at 3.30pm – St Mary Magdalene Church, Market Place, Hucknall. 
A magical afternoon of stories and carols for all to enjoy featuring Roisin Hickey on harp. Tickets available to book online or call 0115 958 9312.
 
Daytime Orchestra Loughborough end of term performance tomorrow at Emmanuel Church – All welcome, 11 for an 11.15am start.
 

Yesterday began the Christian season of Advent – a season of expectation and preparation for celebrating Christ’s coming (adventus) into this world.  The four weeks that lead up Christmas are marked with beautiful and poignant music in anticipation and preparation of the son of God’s birth.

Follow this link to explore some favourite advent pieces: https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/occasions/christmas/advent-carols-hymns/
 
Check out this advent calendar app from Naxos. A different piece of classical music is hidden behind each door which you can unlock every day, from well known classics like ‘Sleigh Ride’ to lesser known gems waiting to be discovered! 
 

MfE has a tree in the Christmas Tree Festival at All Saints Church in Loughborough.  Entry is free and there are gift stalls, crafts, a tombola and festive refreshments. The Festival is open every Thursday and Saturday until 21 December from 10am to 4pm and all funds raised go towards the South Roof Appeal.

 

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE

02/12/2024

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 weekly emails designed to keep you up to date with MfE events & to circulate interesting finds, special features, and musical musings for your Mondays! We are aiming to send out something new each week.

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