Daytime Orchestra

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#MfEMonday – 14th August 2023

14th August 2023 Music for Everyone

MfE are hiring!

We are seeking an inspiring and charismatic conductor to lead our Daytime Orchestra programme on a freelance basis. The successful candidate will be an experienced symphony orchestra conductor, with a strong background as an adult educator, animateur and/or teacher.

Deadline for applications: 12 noon on 5^th September

Find out more and please do pass this information on to anyone you think might be interested here: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/about-us/vacancies/

Recorder consort workshop day

Saturday 2^nd September, Belton House, Grantham

Taking place in the historical setting of Belton House, enjoy a day of recorder playing followed by informal performances to members of the public visiting the house. The workshop day will be led by Chris McDouall.

Find out more and book here: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/recorder-consort-day/

August is turning a bit cold for our liking so here’s a summer holiday playlist to transport you to sunny beaches and proper summer weather: https://www.classical-music.com/features/articles/best-classical-music-summer/

As it is nearing results time for many A Level and GCSE students – Good Luck to all MfE youth members waiting for results! – do you think you could pass GCSE music? Take a quiz here to find out: https://www.classicfm.com/lifestyle/quizzes/gcse-music-questions-pass-exam/

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE.

14/08/2023

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

See: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/nottinghamshire-lincolnshire/belton-house

#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 – 10th July 2023

10th July 202310th July 2023 Music for Everyone

You might have thought the 40th celebration weekend ended the season, but no! The next MfE event is this coming Sunday, 16 July 2023, in the stunningly beautiful setting of Belton House, just north of Grantham, with two performances by the Nottingham Chamber Singers: 1.30pm and 3.00pm.

Each 45 minute programme will be light and varied – from madrigals to the Beatles! The location of the two performances is weather dependant, but both indoor and outdoor options have been arranged.

So why not have a day out and enjoy Belton’s wonderful and extensive gardens and grounds? Take a picnic or buy lunch there, have a go in the adventure playground (a favourite with children), spot the location of various scenes from the BBC’s adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and enjoy the music!

Fine weather locations:

1.30pm in the Courtyard where you’ll find shops and the Stables Cafe – grab lunch, a drink or an ice cream and enjoy the singing.

3.00pm on the REAR steps of the house itself, overlooking the beautiful garden. You’ll find a few deckchairs there and grass to sit on, or you might even get lucky and claim one of the hidden benches – look in the low hedging!

Wet weather locations: at either 1.30pm and or 3.00pm

The Saloon – a grand room on the ground floor of the house. Enter via the front door. While we hope it will be a sunny day, it would be quite something for choir and audience to gather in the room where music has been performed since 1688!

Belton belongs to the National Trust. Parking and entry is free to members showing their cards. Otherwise, tickets can be bought in advance or in the entry kiosk.

Belton House | Lincolnshire

National Trust’s Belton House, Lincolnshire, is a country estate with formal Italian and Dutch gardens, and historic deer park.

www.nationaltrust.org.uk

See you there!

There are still places left on our Summer School this August (7th – 9th at Trent College) and we also have a special saxophone ensemble workshop on Monday 7th August with Naomi Sullivan for any sax players who would like to take part.

Please follow the link for more details and booking info: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/saxophone-ensemble-workshop/

Saxophone Ensemble Workshop

With Naomi Sullivan

www.music-for-everyone.org

Come along and support the Daytime Orchestras in their free concerts this week!
- Loughborough: Tuesday 11^th July – 11.30am
- All Saints Church, Steeple Row, Loughborough LE11 1UX

- Nottingham: Thursday 13th July – 11.30am
- St Martin’s Church, Trevose Gardens, Sherwood NG5 3FU

If you’ve been getting into Wimbledon fever, check out these 10 links between tennis and classical music!

https://www.classical-music.com/features/articles/tennis-and-classical-music/

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE.

10/07/2023

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#MfEMonday – 4th July 2023

5th July 2023 Music for Everyone

Everyone at Music for Everyone is still on a high from this weekend’s magnificent 40th anniversary celebrations!

Nearly 1000 people descended on the Albert Hall to celebrate 40 years of music making, recounting many highs from the last four decades and looking forward to the next four.

On Saturday, we celebrated our youth programme, with hundreds of young people taking part in an impressive concert.

Earlier in the day, celebrated folk violinist and MfE alumnus Sam Sweeney led a workshop with our youth string players, the fruits of which raised the roof in the afternoon concert.

Also featured were our Youth Bands, Vocals choir, Strictly Strings training orchestra, and a wonderful line up of ‘big kids’ — alumni youth participants who returned as adult players to share in the day.

On Sunday, members of our Daytime Voices choirs, the Nottingham Chamber Singers, Nottingham and Loughborough Daytime Orchestras, Nottingham Concert Orchestra, Big Band and Flute Choir, were amassed to give a triumphant concert featuring excerpts from favoured programmes from the last 40 years.

This included works by Brahms, Handel, Freddie Mercury and, excitingly, the world premiere of a new fanfare by composer Libby Croad.

Sunday’s concert was rounded off with a performance of the Hallelujah Chorus, conducted by our incoming artistic director Alex Robinson.

We proceeded to finish this fantastic weekend with celebratory tea and cake, after a special moment on stage with Angela Kay.

Thank you and well done to everyone who participated and made the weekend so extremely special!

Did you see our Exhibition this weekend? Showcasing Music for Everyone’s history over the past four decades, it was great to see so many wonderful memories.
Thank you to Minder and everyone who helped make such a special display.

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE.

04/07/2023

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/a-musical-celebration/

#MfEMonday – 15th May 2023

15th May 2023 Music for Everyone

MfEMondays is back! From Coronations to Eurovision, we hope you have enjoyed the various festivities over the past couple of weekends – we’re looking forward to a busy time at MfE, starting this Saturday… see below.

Hail, Star of the Sea

This coming Saturday 20^th May (7.30pm start), the Nottingham Chamber Singers are performing at St John’s Church, Beeston.

It will be a wonderful programme of contrast and beauty for voices and strings including Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Whitacre’s Five Hebrew Love Songs. For any of you who came along to the AGM you might remember singing the Brahms and Mendelssohn which will also feature in the concert.

Click here for more details. Click here to book tickets – save money when you book in advance!

*Special 40^th update* More exciting events from MfE as we continue the 40^th celebrations!

The FAMILY SING is now open for booking, happening on Sunday 11 June, open to all keen singers aged 5+ (children must be accompanied by an adult). Singing favourites like ‘Celebration’ by Kool and the Gang and ‘Under the Sea’ from the Little Mermaid, our new Steel Pan ensemble will also be performing with the opportunity to ‘have a go’. Full details and booking link here: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/family-sing-workshop/

BLOW THE DUST OFF YOUR INSTRUMENT is on Saturday 17 June – music packs will be going out to all players very soon; items include Edward Elgar’s rousing Imperial March Op.32 and Queen’s iconic rock anthem We are the Champions. Find out full details and book online here: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/blow-the-dust-off-your-instrument-3/ or contact the office on 0115 9589312 to book your place over the phone.

A MUSICAL CELEBRATION – 40^th Anniversary Weekend 1 – 2 July 2023

There’s something for everyone at the big weekend!

Vocals – sign up to take part in the youth concert on 1^st July (just £5 per child)
Spotlight on Youth concert: 1^st July, ticket booking is now open.
Daytime Voices & Orchestras – join us on 2^nd July for a Musical Celebration, including speeches and birthday cake!

All details of how YOU can get involved can be found here:

Woodwind players required for a Bulwell based wind band. Anyone is welcome and no weekly subscriptions are required. If you are interested, please contact David on 01159179203 or 07847099245.

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE.

15/05/2023

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#MfEMonday – 11th July 2022

11th July 2022 Music for Everyone

Last week saw the end of term for MfE’s Daytime Groups, with concerts from all the Daytime Voices choirs and orchestras – see some of the groups in action below!

On Saturday, the Nottingham Chamber Singers held their ‘Words & Music’ concert in St Mary’s Church in Clifton Village – a fantastic performance for a summers evening and enjoyed by all!

Well done to all our groups for their hard work this term – looking forward to returning to the music making in September!

To fit with the hot weather we are currently enjoying – a Desert Island Discs special!

Let’s start with the theme tune, a desert island disc in its own right. ‘By the Sleepy Lagoon’ composed by Eric Coates has introduced the BBC Radio series Desert Island Discs since 1942 and is still used today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMMS4I6f7o4

Some of the most requested composers on Desert Island Discs include Beethoven and Elgar. Take a listen to these tunes and let the hot weather fool you into believing you’re sat on a desert island… What would you choose to take with you?

Elgar – Enigma Variations ‘Nimrod’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8NOVGHJmRs

Conducted by Leonard Bernstein and performed by BBC Symphony Orchestra in 1982.

Beethoven – Symphony No.6 ‘Pastoral’ 1^st movement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zKiDXbwdR0

Performed by the Berliner Philharmoniker.

If you enjoyed this, why not listen to our Open Voices leader, Cliff McArdle, choose his own Desert Island Discs with the U3A Beeston via Zoom on Wednesday evening, 6.30pm – link to join below.

Join Zoom Meeting (Wednesday from 6.30pm)
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81037019352?pwd=eElwNTNrVFNIeUJtQStsWEtYcVZpQT09

Meeting ID: 810 3701 9352
Passcode: 068509

Amazon DOUBLE DONATIONS Prime Day alert!
If you shop Amazon Prime Day deals on 12 & 13 July, Amazon will double donations: Simply shop with AmazonSmile ON in the Amazon Shopping app or at smile.amazon.co.uk/ch/1153412-0, and AmazonSmile donates to Music For Everyone.

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

11/07/2022

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

https://youtu.be/VviWab5J2ao

#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 motivational moments for your Mondays! We are aiming to send out something new each week.

#MfEMonday – 9th May 2022

9th May 2022 Music for Everyone

If you follow MfE on social media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) you may have seen a lot of activity last Thursday when we spent a ‘Day in the Life of…’ following Josh on his busiest day working for MfE. Josh conducts the Daytime Orchestras, Thursday youth bands, Strictly Strings groups and accompanies the Lunchtime Voices – a total of six groups! Four of these groups meet on a Thursday and we posted regular updates so everyone can see a typical day in the MfE world!

Here is a recap of his pictures for those that missed it or were not able to see it. In between many rehearsals, Josh pops into the office for an admin catch up and a trip to Windblowers to collect some music!

If you don’t already follow us, all the links to join Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are at the bottom of this e-newsletter.

As we move into May with the first glimmers of summer on the horizon, surely we should have a spring in our step and joy and hopefulness in our hearts? Unfortunately with the cost of living crisis, the various debacles in Westminster and ongoing situation in Ukraine, you might be feeling less than positive at the moment!

However, here at MFE, we firmly believe in the life changing and affirming power of music, and it would seem that we are not alone in this thinking –

“Life seems to go on without effort when I am filled with music”. – George Eliot

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything”. – Plato

“Music produces a kind of pleasure which nature cannot do without”. – Confucius

“As long as we live, there is never enough singing”. – Martin Luther

Most of us will have experienced a situation when listening to music or participating in music-making has brought much-needed relief or sense of perspective back into our lives. When we came across this video of the Kiev Symphony Orchestra playing Ukrainian composer Maksym Berezovsky’s Symphony No. 1, it certainly blew away some of the storm clouds away and let the warmth of the sunshine appear again. Enjoy!

If you have a spare few minutes, why not try your hand at this Guess the Classical Composer quiz? Let us know if you get them all correct. Good luck! https://youtu.be/H2H0IoBB5os

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

09/05/2022

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#MfEMondays – 4th April 2022

4th April 2022 Music for Everyone

Congratulations to both Daytime Orchestras (Loughborough and Nottingham) for their fantastic end of term performances last week. Josh is incredibly proud of you all and looking forward to attacking the new repertoire in the summer term. New players are always welcome, especially in the string and brass sections!! If you know of anyone who might be interested please let them know. For more details visit: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/whats-on/adult-music/daytime-orchestra/ or email josh@music-for-everyone.org

The Lullaby Bank has also had another successful term. Working in partnership with Inspire, Rachel Parkes has been leading the sessions for babies aged 0-9 months and their parents in West Bridgford and Beeston libraries. The groups offer the chance to sing and listen to melodies from around the world and provide a calm space for parents to bond with their babies. More details about the groups can be found via this link: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/health-well-being/the-lullaby-bank/

Musicians worldwide have been joining forces to show their solidarity with the people of Ukraine.

Violinists from around the world have joined together to perform the Ukrainian folk song “Verbovaya Doschechka”. Illia Bondarenko a violinist in Kyiv filmed himself playing in a basement shelter along with nine other young violinists sheltering in Ukraine. They were accompanied in harmony by 94 violinists from 29 countries. He had to film in between the explosions because he could not hear himself play. https://youtu.be/mQSIeD-x6dQ

The sheet music is available to download here for anyone on any instrument who wishes to create their own recording to raise support for those affected by the crisis.

In Nottingham last weekend members of the Nottingham Philharmonic Orchestra and friends joined together to play at the Brian Clough statue just off the Market Square. They performed the Ukrainian National Anthem and You Will Never Walk Alone to raise money for Ukrainian refugees.

If you’re in need of a soothing lullaby here is a jazzy take on the classic Brahms Lullaby by legendary pianist Dave Brubeck recorded as a gift to his grandchildren: https://youtu.be/fzLDcX-lG98

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

04/04/2022

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#MfEMonday – 28th March 2022

28th March 2022 Music for Everyone

A wonderful time was had by all on Saturday at our Family Sing day! It was a great turn out, in spite of fears that the glorious weather may tempt people away from singing and into the garden! A huge thank you and well done to all the children, parents, grandparents, friends and families who came along. We hope you enjoyed it just as much as we did!

Daytime Concerts!

This week our fantastic Daytime Orchestras are both giving informal concerts under the baton of our Principal Instrumental Animateur Josh,

to mark the end of the Spring term. Do come along to All Saint’s Church, Loughborough to hear music by Dvorak, Coates, Strauss and more on Tuesday 29th at 11am, and to St Martin’s Church, Sherwood, to hear works Schumann, Sibelius, Mendelssohn and more on Thursday 31st at 11am.

Beethoven lovers – Bookwise still has the Beethoven Book list available and the CD list is now also available from the donation of the gentleman lover and devotee of Beethoven who is terminally ill. Please email Jane McDermott at jachmcd@gmail.com and she will email you lists – available on a first come, first served basis.

As the end of our Spring Term nears, and we complete our regular groups’ end-of-term concerts this week, we are reminded of our favourite Leonard Bernstein quotation:

“To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan, and not quite enough time.”

Tomorrow, 29^th March, marks 120 years since the birth of celebrated British composer William Walton (1902-1983). We are delighted to be including his rousing Agincourt Song in the programme for our summer school, for which places can be booked here. In case you need a bit of get and up and go this Monday, here’s his equally rousing Spitfire Prelude and Fugue — guaranteed to help you attack this week’s to-do list!

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

28/03/2022

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#MfEMonday – 24th January 2022

24th January 2022 Music for Everyone

This week saw all of our regularly rehearsing groups spring back into action! Four Daytime Voices choirs, two Daytime Orchestras, three Open Voices groups, one Flute Choir, one Swing Band, one Lunchtime Voices choir, one Chamber Choir, two Youth String groups and three Youth Wind bands! That’s approximately 500 people in one week. And all of them delighted to be back making music together.

Perhaps you weren’t aware of the wide variety of groups that MFE run on a regular basis. Do have a look at our website www.music-for-everyone.org to see information about all these groups and the upcoming youth and adult events.

In last week’s MFE Mondays we mentioned the Nottingham Festival Chorus workshop on Saturday 5th February. At the end of the workshop there will be free concert starting at 4:30 featuring music by Mendelssohn, Handel, Haydn and Faure. If you would like to attend, please order your pass by following this link https://www.music-for-everyone.org/nfc-concert-passes/

Many of us make New Year’s resolutions and often fail to continue them beyond the end of January! However, some people choose to make a musical New Year’s resolution. Here are a few examples –

“My goal in 2022 is to dedicate myself to practicing regularly for my weekly keyboard class so I can expand my musical horizons!” Project Manager

“My 2022 New Year’s resolution is to sing better even if it’s only the car or the shower.” Designer

“My music resolution is to play my trumpet regularly again. It’s just sitting in the case right now collecting dust. Thus year I’m going to get it back out and play more often!” Office administrator

“I don’t play any instruments, but I’m an avid music listener. My goal is to find a new artist to listen to every month this year.” Web developer

What will your musical resolution be this year? Do let us know.

Why not start the year off by testing your musical knowledge? This online quiz is great fun but might have you scratching your head on some of the questions – http://classicaltest.net/ Congratulations if you manage 100%!

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

24/01/2022

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF