Choral Workshop

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#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.

#MfEMonday – 1st July 2024

1st July 2024 Music for Everyone

How is your obscure Haydn knowledge? Ahead of the next Nottingham Festival Chorus event focussed on Haydn’s Harmonie Mass, click here to see Alex quiz Rachel on some of the lesser-known facts about Haydn’s life. Let us know how you get on!

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to hear this magnificent work performed by our wonderful choir and soloists at Beeston Parish Church on 06 July. Concert tickets are available here.

Our youth groups will be presenting a delightful summer concert at Grange Hall, Radcliffe on Trent on Sunday 14 July, 3.30pm. Tickets are available here or on the door. Come along to hear our wonderful young musicians in action!

Ahead of our trip to the Olympics at this year’s Summer School, here is three-time Olympic swimmer Elizabeth Beisel opening the final day of the US Olympic Swim trials with a performance on violin that blew the audience out of the water!

P.S. Summer School places are still available – no sporting prowess necessary!

One of our members has a bass recorder (Hornby Bass 900H) that they would like to give to a good home. If anyone is interested, please contact the office.
If there are any young string players in your family looking for something to do over the Summer, the Charnwood Youth Strings Experience takes place from 19 – 23 August at Mountsorrel Memorial Centre. See the attached flyer for more information.
Our Lunchtime Voices will be performing at Yarn, adjacent to the Royal Concert Hall, on Thursday 04 July at 1pm. Join us for some lovely music and maybe a chilled glass of wine before you head off to the Polling Stations!

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE

01/07/2024

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

https://youtu.be/X69P_Vce9vw?si=rMKwOYS4udiJGv_i

#MfEMonday – 19th February 2024

19th February 2024 Music for Everyone

A message from Bookwise:

Bookwise need your help! They are planning some furniture moving around this week and would appreciate any help if anyone can come in any time this week to help.

There will be heavy lifting involved so please bear this in mind!

For more info, contact Gary Directly on 07818423536. Many thanks!

Hello Eveyone,

We hope you’re all feeling energised and ready for some more music-making!

A spotlight on our Musicals workshop and cabaret for adults on Saturday 23rd March at the Rushcliffe Spencer Academy.

Enjoy the glitz and glam of the theatre with our special guest compere and baritone soloist Simon Theobald, conducted by MfE’s Assistant Artistic Director, Rachel Parkes, and accompanied by Angela Foan.

Come along and sing a selection of foot tapping numbers from Oliver and Guys and Dolls, unforgettable melodies from West Side Story and Chess, and moving songs from hit musical Blood Brothers.

The day will finish with an informal cabaret-style concert and we are really excited that singers from our Open Voices choir will be performing their favourite musical hits for us!

To sign up for the workshop visit: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/ncm-come-and-sing/

If you would like to come and watch, tickets are £8 and include a free pre-concert glass of wine or soft drink from 4pm. For tickets visit: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/from-west-end-to-broadway/

There is still time for any younger singers to sign up for our next Vocals ‘at the Movies’ event on 9th & 10th March. Music packs have now left the building and the excitement is building for this special weekend! https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/vocals-mar-24/

Continuing the Musicals theme here are some fun facts about a couple of the shows which will feature in our workshop:

Chess – It’s written by the boys from ABBA and Sir Tim Rice!

What’s it about? Cold War, East vs West. In today’s era of Russia’s cyber-threat to Western Democracies, that seems more relevant than ever. Chess takes the rivalry, subterfuge and political plotting of two global super-powers and transfers the action to the World Chess championships, where defection, gamesmanship and espionage are as rife as in the corridors of power. It’s a love story between characters whose lives are torn apart by powers they cannot control. Chess is probably best summed up as “The Thinking-Person’s Musical.”

According to The Guinness Book of Records, the single “I Know Him So Well” remains the most successful ever by a female duo, retaining the No.1 spot in the UK Singles Charts for 4 weeks. It may also have broken the world record for the most cans of hairspray used on the video!! https://youtu.be/s2SDInk6voA?si=wsor_qnbPdt5wvGz

Guys and Dolls – A modern classic that explores the lives of two seemingly mismatched couples. It premiered on Broadway in 1950 and ran for 1,200 performances. In the smash-hit 1955 film adaptation of Guys and Dolls, the swingin’ and swoonin’ Frank Sinatra took on the role of powerful gambler Nathan Detroit. This was his first major film role, and the gamble paid off, he received critical acclaim for his performance!

The songs from the musical are total bangers and have been covered and adapted by numerous artists over the years, including Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and Barbra Streisand. ‘Luck Be a Lady’ in particular gained widespread popularity and recognition and has even made appearances in shows such as The Simpsons, Family Guy and can even be heard in the family favourite movie Mrs. Doubtfire!

String players! The Villiers quartet are about to launch their next online string quartet course this Sunday studying Haydn’s Emperor Quartet. The course is for amateurs who love to study their music in greater depth and want to explore the art of string quartet playing. For more information and booking visit: http://villiersquartet.com/vqdiscovery

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE.

19/02/2024

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#MfEMonday – 29th January 2024

29th January 2024 Music for Everyone

We are busy putting packs together for our next vocals singing weekend – ‘Vocals at the Movies‘! On Saturday 9^th March, our young singers will gather at Nottingham Trent University for a day of rehearsals and fun activities. On Sunday the 10^th they take to the stage at the Albert Hall to entertain the audience with well-known songs from classic shows and films including Trolls, Annie, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. To sign up for this course, click here.

Our Nottingham Festival Chorus Singers were in excellent voice at Nottingham Trent University this weekend, and we can’t wait to hear them alongside the Nottingham Concert Orchestra at the Albert Hall this coming Saturday. To ensure your ticket for this not-to-be-missed concert, online booking has now reopened, click here. Alternatively, contact the office on 0115 958 9312.

2024 is well underway and all of our regular groups are back to rehearsals. Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes to get these groups up and running? For the Daytime Voices groups alone we prepare 430 packs with 6 pieces of music. A massive thank you to our volunteers for coming into the office to help prepare and stuff music folders!

That’s 2,580 individual pieces of music that are chosen, sourced, printed, numbered, stamped and put into folders, not to mention 180 pieces of music for our Lunchtime Voices singers, 880 for our Daytime Orchestra players, and 270 for our youth bands and string ensembles!

And let’s not forget the 1,120 pieces of music that our Blow the Dusters got through last weekend and the 750 vocal scores our Nottingham Festival Chorus singers will use on Saturday. That’s a whopping 5,780 pieces of music this year and it’s still only January! Right, I’m off for a lie down!

As you know, at MfE we are great believers in the power of music to make you feel good and enhance wellbeing. Here are 10 pieces of classical music that will, according to Classic FM, 100% change your life. Enjoy! 10 pieces of classical music that will 100% change your life – Classic FM

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE.

29/01/2024

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#MfEMonday – 15th January 2024

15th January 2024 Music for Everyone

Greetings MfE followers!

This week sees Music for Everyone back into full swing with all of our regular rehearsing groups starting up again with brand new repertoire to sink your teeth into. If you haven’t been along to Daytime Voices in a while or have been meaning to get a long-neglected instrument out of the cupboard, January is the perfect time to dust it off and get playing and singing!

Our groups are warm, friendly and fun, so what are you waiting for?! Bring a friend and come along.

For more information on our current groups click here: Adult Music Groups & Courses | Music for Everyone (music-for-everyone.org

We also have a host of exciting concerts and events coming up including Blow the Dust and the Nottingham Festival Chorus Glorias! course and concert. Both events are a chance to work with Alex Robinson, MfE’s new Artistic Director, who brings a fresh approach and new enthusiasm and skill to Music for Everyone’s Artistic team, it’s going to be great working with him.

There are still spaces to join up, and we urge you to get involved if you’ve been apprehensive or putting it off. Last week, Rachel worked with the singers for the Gloria’s concert in sectionals, and we had the beginnings of some extremely exciting sounds. Participants are loving the programme and pieces, so if you’ve never sung these pieces before, it’s an opportunity not to be missed. It may seem challenging, but we know it’s going to be barnstorming.

Click here to sign-up for the gloria course and concert: NFC Singing Weekend Course & Concert (music-for-everyone.org)

However, if we can’t persuade you to sing, we hope we can encourage you to sell tickets. If every member of MfE sold 2 tickets for our concerts, it would ensure an incredible audience for our performers who work so hard, and help towards safeguarding the future of MfE and the arts. We know times are tough, a ticket may be the price of 4 coffees, 2 glasses of wine, or a pizza…. but the benefits of immersing yourself in live music for two and a half hours can far outlast those short-term treats. Maybe take a friend who hasn’t heard much classical music, or a teenager who you think could do with a bit more culture. The music we will be performing is youthful and colourful, with shining brass, noisy percussion and sumptuous strings. It’s going to be incredible.

Book now and don’t miss out! – Tickets available here: Gloria! Concert (music-for-everyone.org)

Last week members of our Open Voices Sherwood group went to the Panto to see Cinderella! The choir members and their carers had front row seats and absolutely loved the performance. One member was even given a red rose by one of the ugly sisters! Here are some photos that capture the fantastic day they had at the Nottingham Playhouse.

Want to test your knowledge of French composers? Rachel and Alex are here to provide obscure facts and questions about Poulenc, Debussy and Rameau which all featured in our upcoming concert ‘Gloria!’ on Saturday 3rd February, Albert Hall, Nottingham – not to be missed! Watch the video here:

· As Daytime Voices are starting this week, we have been thinking what films they would be! Which films do you like the look of?

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE.

15/01/2024

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/reflective-classical-music-remembrance-day/

#MfEMonday – 13th November 2023

13th November 2023 Music for Everyone

Hello Everyone,

Bandwise and Stringwise were off to a great start this weekend, working on an exciting programme to perform in a Big Youth Experience Concert next weekend at the Albert Hall.

If you’re looking for an uplifting festive concert our chamber choir, the Nottingham Chamber Singers, are performing a joyful selection of Sparkling Baroque music on Saturday 2^nd December at St John’s Church, Carrington. Angela Kay is conducting the concert and here she is to tell you a bit more about it! https://youtu.be/AZo4466aMsQ

To book tickets call the office on 0115 958 9312 or follow this link: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/ncs-sparkling-baroque-booking/

Looking ahead to next year, places are booking up for our next Blow the Dust off your Instrument event (20^th Jan) and the ‘Gloria’ Singing Weekend and Concert (27th-28th Jan and 3rd Feb).

There’s time to book if you haven’t already!

Here are a selection of reflective classical works to mark this weekend’s Remembrance Day:

Did you know that 60 years after their first hit, The Beatles topped the singles chart this weekend, with all four Beatles featured on the song Now and Then. To find out more click here: The Beatles top singles chart 60 years after their first hit – BBC News

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE.

13/11/2023

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#MfEMonday – 23rd October 2023

23rd October 2023 Music for Everyone

Booking is now open for our next choral workshop and concert in Jan/Feb next year!

On 27 and 28 January, our new Artistic Director, Alex Robinson, will guide you through a glorious programme with a spellbinding few days diving into the music of Poulenc, Rutter and more with a professional symphony orchestra! These phenomenally exciting settings of the Gloria are sure to give you Goosebumps!

For more information see the attached flyer or click here to book your place.

We are offering a free taster session for our Youth Bands on Thursday 9th November.

Both groups rehearse at Beeston Methodist Church on Thursday evenings. Our Nottingham Youth Band (5:30 – 7pm) is for players of grade 2 – 5, while the East Midlands Youth Band (6:30 – 8pm) is for players of grade 5+.

For more information about the groups, click here.

Please do join us for the start of our Christmas concert rehearsals – and don’t forget to let your friends know about it!

The stormy weather this weekend has inspired us to put together a stormy play list for you. Enjoy!

Into the Storm by Robert W Smith https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrPDguuxw7o

The Storm from Four Sea Interludes by Benjamin Britten Britten – “Storm Interlude” from “Peter Grimes” (London Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Davis) – YouTube

Cloudburst by Eric Whitacre Cloudburst – Eric Whitacre – YouTube

Storm from The Sea, The Sea by Frank Bridge Frank Bridge, The Sea, The Sea: No. 4 Storm – YouTube

On Saturday 28 October, the Nottingham Chamber Orchestra will be performing a delightful selection of music from Mozart, Parry, Delibes and Saint-Seans at St Mary’s Church in Clifton Village.

Click here to find out what AI might make of Gustavo Dudamel conducting Beethoven 5.

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE.

23/10/2023

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

Bluey soundtrack: what pieces of classical music are used in the TV show? – Classic FM

#MfEMonday – 2nd October 2023

2nd October 2023 Music for Everyone

Good Morning All! October has arrived, and with it a few milestones of the season… sure, there’s Bake-Off and Strictly on our screens, and a host of Nottingham Forest and Notts County games to keep an eye on, but here at Music for Everyone, it’s time for our big choral ‘come and sing’ workshop day at NTU Clifton Campus, this Saturday 7^th October!

Last year we had a lovely day with Brian Kay, long-time friend of MfE and, I don’t think he would mind us saying, veteran of the choral music scene. This year we have the wonderful Sam Evans coming to work with us for a day. Sam is much in demand on the UK and International Choral Scene, conducting and singing with many of the top choirs in the country and Europe, including the BBC Singers, Monteverdi Choir and Swedish Radio Choir to name a few.

As well as being a talented chorus-master and Baritone, singing on many of the most prestigious stages around the globe, Sam is a passionate advocate for healthy and happy singing, and getting the most enjoyment out of what we do when we come together to sing and make music. This lies at the heart of what we at MfE believe, so we know that as well as working on some glorious traditional repertoire (choruses from Mendelssohn’s Elijah and CPE Bach’s Magnificat), we will all have a thoroughly lovely day meeting and learning from Sam. Sam and the singers will be accompanied on the day by our fabulous pianist Angela Foan.

If you haven’t signed up – hurry and do so, it’s going to be fab!

Bake Off fever has hit the office again this week, with the hot topic of debate being the ‘missing raspberry’ from the title sequence of the show – where do you stand?

Here are some pieces of music inspired to get you baking!

Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_W1F4YVmV8Y

‘Cakes and Ale’ from the Suite on English Folk Tunes (Britten): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEAbV2-RJMY

Sweeney Todd (Worst Pies in London): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVI6pGfHB2c

Do you have a small person in your life who is obsessed with the hit TV programme Bluey? We would like to think that the secret to its success is the liberal use of classical music! Click here to hear what pieces of classical music have been used in the show.

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE.

02/10/2023

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/byme-bandwise-2023/

#MfEMonday – 18th September 2023

18th September 2023 Music for Everyone

It’s going to be a busy week for MfE, with not one, not two, but EIGHT Daytime groups starting their new term. Plus there is the beautiful Chamber Singers concert to look forward to on Saturday evening at St Barnabas Cathedral, 8pm start – tickets on the door!

For more information see the attached flyer, or click here: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/ncs-concert/

The youth groups, all Open Voices groups, Sunday Afternoon Big Band and Flute Choir and Nottingham Chamber Singers have all started their new seasons, with the World Drumming starting next week (26th Sept). See a full weekly schedule below.

To find out more about any of these groups and how to join, please contact the office.

The next BANDWISE & STRINGWISE workshop is open for young musicians to join! We’re so excited to see many young wind, brass, percussion and string players taking part this November. Over the last few years the combined concert has been a magnificent affair with more than 150 young players all coming together to share the music making.

Bandwise: 11 & 19 November, young wind, brass and percussion grade 2+

Stringwise: 12 & 19 November, young string players from beginners

We’ve been ‘musing’ on the fantastic music chosen for the NFC workshop day in October with Sam Evans. Interesting fact about the operetta by Franz Lehár The Merry Widow – did you know Lehár was not the first choice to compose the music? Richard Heuberger was asked first, but his draft was deemed ‘unsatisfactory’ and he left the project.

The Vilja Song is one of the most well-known pieces from the score, if you’re not familiar, take a listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4366WDO3jhU

Something a bit different… Pachelbel’s Canon performed by… TRAIN HORNS! This is both brilliant and hilarious and is a must-watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD3QlR98–A&t=158s

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE.

18/09/2023

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#MfEMonday – 6th February 2023

6th February 2023 Music for Everyone

What a treat from the combined forces of the Nottingham Festival Chorus and Concert Orchestra on Saturday evening. The sound was thrilling and as rich and varied as the programme itself, with works by Parry, Finzi, Tippett, Delius, Gjeilo and Vaughan Williams. Conductors, Angela Kay and Rachel Parkes were delighted by the performance. Congratulations to all those involved!

A message from MfE Director – Donna Fox

We are pleased to announce that Arts Council England is supporting Music for Everyone’s 40^th Anniversary season this year. The theme is “Celebration”.

With a focus on inclusion, we will be celebrating the achievements of female leadership in Classical Music, such as our Founder Angela Kay MBE, female composers, conductors and musicians. We will be holding a special gala weekend on 1^st July (youth) and 2^nd July (adults) so watch this space for more details about how to get involved. We hope to engage new participants as we broaden and diversify our offer to include a new Open Voices session in Mansfield, as well as weekly Steel Pan and World Drumming ensembles. Let’s celebrate!!!
Watch this space for further details!

Places are now available on our next Vocals weekend in April. There will be rounds, part-songs, percussion and dancing, as well as popular songs from Encanto, Aladdin, Matilda and Trolls World Tour! If you know any youngsters who love singing please pass on the details.

A random one this week! We have been contacted by one of our members who sent us a picture of a lace bobbin with an inscription ‘Blow the Dust’ etched into it. This got us thinking about the importance of lacemaking locally as our office is on the edge of the Lace Market, once the heart of the worlds lace industry.

Did you know that lace makers used songs to help them with their work? These were known as Lacemaking Tells.

The Lacemaking Tells are unaccompanied counting songs and rhymes sung/chanted by young lacemakers, particularly used in the lace schools, when they are first being taught to make lace.

These songs tended to be made up of fragments of ballads, nursery rhymes and sometimes even hymns, and re-hashed and appropriated to serve the lacemaking process. The rhythm of the songs helped them to build up speed when making lace and also helped them to stay awake during the night shifts!

Here’s a track from folk singer and viola player Jackie Oates and Jon Spiers called Needle Pin, Needle Pin based on these lacemaking tells: https://youtu.be/rWCWld_XjFA

Do we have any lacemakers out there? We would love to know if you still sing whilst you work!

We still have places available on the next Bandwise and Stringwise courses at the end of February – open to all young musicians! Click the course name to find out more details and sign up!

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE.

06/02/2023

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF