Our talented young musicians offered a splendid end to the season with their The Sound of Summer concert at the Grange Hall in Radcliffe.  Not only was the audience treated to top-notch musical entertainment, but there were outdoor activities for the children and refreshments for the audience.  A huge ‘thank you’ and ‘well done’ to all who took part – children, helpers and conductors!  We bid a fond farewell to Mike Shaw, conductor of Nottingham Strictly Strings, and wish him all the best for the future.

Booking for the Autumn Term for Daytime Voices, Daytime Orchestra, Sunday Afternoon Flutes and Big Band is now open. To book, please follow this link Music For Everyone (savoysystems.co.uk) We look forward to seeing you next term!


Well, what an exciting weekend of sport that was!  But what would sport be without music?  Imagine a football match without the anthems, chants and the occasional trumpet bursts of The Great Escape theme tune.

The first few notes alone of ‘Light and Tuneful’ the Wimbledon theme tune, is enough to put you in mind of strawberries and cream!  Music provides athletes with motivation and focus making it a powerful tool during training sessions and competitions. The beats and melodies can help regulate breathing and pace, contributing to better performance and endurance. In the arena, music unites spectators, creating an exhilarating atmosphere that amplifies the excitement of the event. From energizing pre-game anthems to celebratory victory songs, the fusion of music and sport demonstrates how sound can inspire physical prowess and create a sense of community and shared enthusiasm among athletes and fans alike.


  • And while we’re on the subject, who spotted Djokovic’s musical celebration? Apparently, it is for his six-year-old daughter, who is currently learning the violin. Perhaps she can help him work on his technique?!!


Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE

15/07/2024

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Summer has finally arrived, just as the end of term approaches!

This week, all the Daytime Voices choirs will host an informal performance to finish their summer term, with refreshments and cake sales. Concerts take place in the last hour of the usual rehearsal time, if you’d like to pop along to listen and have a cup of tea and piece of cake with Daytime Voices, see where the groups rehearse here: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/whats-on/adult-music/daytime-voices/ Plus, all cake sale donations go towards supporting Open Voices!
Looking ahead, online booking for the Recorder Workshop Day is now open to kickstart the 2024/25 season!
On Saturday 14th September, join Chris McDouall for an informal day of recorder ensemble playing, with an optional advanced repertoire session in the afternoon for those that wish to. The workshop day, taking place at NTU Clifton, will finish with an informal performance to family and friends. Find out more and book online here: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/recorder-workshop-day/

We were thrilled to read that John Rutter has received a knighthood in The King’s Birthday Honours List 2024, in recognition of a career that stretches back 60 years! Here are a couple of our favourite Sir John Rutter compositions MfE have performed recently.

Gloria: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaYkpoOC3S4 (NFC in February 2024)
The Sprig of Thyme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQe9tn_DyzU (NCS in June 2024)

Book donations wanted! Bookwise Nottingham (10 Goose Gate) are keen for donations of paperback fiction books. If you’re having a clear out, small donations (couple of bags worth max.) can be dropped off at the shop, Monday – Saturday, 11am – 4pm. Or if you have a larger donation, please contact first on info@bookwiseshops.co.uk to arrange drop off or collection.


Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE

24/07/2024

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What a fun-packed musical weekend!

On Saturday evening the Nottingham Chamber Singers and Angela Kay brought a floral bouquet of music to St Mary’s Church in Bunny with their entertaining programme of evocative part songs, colourful folk-songs and foot tapping swing numbers. Accompanied by the wonderful Angela Foan and joined by violinists Isobel Bounford, Sarah Trevers and flautist Dave Hatherly it was perfect for a sunny summer’s evening.

There was a great buzz in Beeston on Sunday at our first Family Festival. Lots of you got involved with so much going on including drumming workshops, lullaby bank, Open Voices and Family Sing sessions. The sun made an appearance and the beautiful garden at Middle Street Resource Centre was filled with a great variety of stalls and performances from folk bands to ‘a cappella’ group the Ooh La La’s. A special thanks to our Youth Bands, Daytime Voices and the many volunteers who made the day such a success. For those of you who missed it, here are a few photos to give you a flavour!


Following on from so much birdsong in the concert on Saturday and in the garden at our Family Festival yesterday it got us thinking about music inspired by our feathered friends.

We bet you can think of lots of suggestions but follow the link below if you’re stuck for ideas!

https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/classical-music-inspired-by-birdsong/


What is your favourite birdsong? Perhaps a blackbird, song thrush, nightingale even?! If you’re a fan of Springwatch you might have seen the presenters get very excited the moment a nightjar interrupted the live broadcast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0j0xyrj

Or maybe you prefer this lockdown version of blackbird from our very own Rachel Parkes: https://youtu.be/FQpcXqzic6I?si=ScDAPRwC-aU8j04Z


Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE

10/06/2024

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10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

The summer term is almost upon us!

For adult singers & players: all Daytime Voices, including Lunchtime Voices, Sunday Afternoon Flutes and Big Band and Daytime Orchestras start back from next Monday 22nd April. For further detail on specific groups and how to sign up in advance visit our website here: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/whats-on/adult-music/ or you can pay at the first rehearsal for the term.

For youth players: the Nottingham Youth Band, for grade 2 – 4, have an open rehearsal for new players on Thursday 25th April, 5.30pm – 7pm at Beeston Methodist Church. If you know a young musician who might like to try a group, encourage them to come along for free on the 25th to try it out.

Other youth groups start back from Sunday 12th May.

 

A date for your diary… Sunday 9th June is MfE’s Family Festival Day – a musical extravaganza for everyone! There are workshops (advance sign up essential) in world drumming and intergenerational singing, open sessions with Open Voices and the Lullaby Bank, plus music in the garden and cake, punch and games stalls. Bring everyone down to Middle Street Resource Centre in Beeston from 1pm to join in the musical fun: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/family-festival/


 

A quick Monday Musing today… quite literally! Did you know the current official world record for the fastest performance of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee is 46.19 seconds? It’s over before you know it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naiDpqGFgV8#:~:text=Official%20World%20Record%20Flight%20Of%20The%20Bumblebee%2046.19%20seconds%20%2D%20YouTube

The Flight of the Bumblebee can be played on pretty much any instrument, but we’re most impressed with the multi-tasking involved in playing it on the organ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHZvMAJUN5g&t=1s


 

 


 

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE

15/04/2024

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Well March has been a musical marathon at MfE, but PHEW, we made it!!!

West Bridgford felt more like the West End on Saturday after a wonderful day of singing at our musicals workshop. Rachel Parkes put the Nottingham Community Voices through their paces and we welcomed Open Voices who stole the show with a wonderful selection of their favourite hits. We were delighted to welcome Simon Theobald as soloist and compere for the event. Thanks to everyone who came along!

Enrolments have now hit 100 for the Big Youth Music Experience coming up in April! We still have spaces left for all string, woodwind and especially BRASS instruments so please encourage any young musicians to join in.

Bandwise – April 20th & 28th. Sign-Up Here: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/byme-bandwise-apr24/

Stringwise – April 21st & 28th. Sign- Up Here: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/byme-stringwise-apr24/


 

Thank you to those members who attended our AGM last Wednesday, it was lovely to see you there. We said a fond farewell to a couple of long-standing trustees, Angela Smallwood and Matt Lax – they are not disappearing completely and we will still see them around at events! We are delighted to welcome three new trustees on to the board: Gary Ackrill, Catherine Hocking and Josie Tanvir.

A presentation was made to Andrew James (ex-chairman of MfE) for the enormous contribution he has made to supporting Music for Everyone through the setting up and running of the Bookwise shops. We are extremely grateful for everything you have done Andrew!


 

I’m sure many of you will be looking forward to the giving and receiving of Easter eggs next weekend! But have you heard of “Easter eggs” in music?

For centuries composers have weaved secret messages or cryptograms into their works, from J.S. Bach to Shostakovich and this idea is still used today by songwriters such as Taylor Swift!

Find out more in this fun video: https://youtu.be/1GuJ-mFNauo?si=Tmg_mLDyhNUC06fN

Or why not test your ability to recognise words in musical notation?! Try this quiz:

https://www.classicfm.com/lifestyle/quizzes/answer-only-music-notes/

 

Can you answer these quiz questions using just music notes?

You can read music, but can you READ music…?

www.classicfm.com

 


 

  • Can you spare a minute to nominate us for the chance to win £1000?! Click on the banner below.
 

Nominate now! – Movement for Good awards

We could receive £1,000 in the Movement for Good draw.

movementforgood.com

 

  • An exciting upcoming concert by Melodic Fanfare, a Nottingham based brass ensemble. They will be holding their first live performance : A relaxing lunchtime debut concert featuring a variety of classical music. The concert will be held at University Hall, Nottingham on Friday 5th April with all proceeds going to Mind. Book tickets here.

 

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE

25/03/2024

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It’s a new season of MfE, so it’s time for a new brochure!

See all the exciting events we have planned from March to August 2024, in our new brochure: https://simplebooklet.com/brochuremaraug24

Coming soon – From West End to Broadway Course and Concert – 23rd March

Places are still available for this course and concert and we are really excited to be welcoming back Simon Theobald, who will add his unique energy and charisma to the proceedings.  We are also thrilled to be joined by members of our inspirational Open Voices groups. 

It is going to be a wonderful evening of wine, music and smiles, so please join us!  Course places are available here, and concert tickets are available here.

MfE on X (formerly twitter)

We have had to start a new X profile as our old one went awry!  Please follow our new account @MfENott


A British Concert in Darkest Peru! 

Attached is an interesting article from one of our members, David Gilmour, whose great-Aunt and Uncle took part in an extraordinary concert in Peru in 1869.


  • Tim Edwards, known to many of you for playing double bass at a number of MfE events, will be performing with his Viol Consort ‘Arculo’ at the cathedral on 15 March for a rendition of Buxtehude Membra Jesu Nostri.  More details attached.

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE.

26/02/2024

admin@music-for-everyone.org

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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!

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


 

  • 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

admin@music-for-everyone.org

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10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

 

We are busy putting packs together for our next vocals singing weekend – ‘Vocals at the Movies‘!  On Saturday 9th March, our young singers will gather at Nottingham Trent University for a day of rehearsals and fun activities.  On Sunday the 10th 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!



Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE.

29/01/2024

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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.

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

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Dear MfE friends, supporters, volunteers, singers, blowers, pluckers, bowers, arm-wavers, ivory-tinklers and bangers (that’s percussionists in case you were wondering)…

As it is our last MfE Mondays of 2023, it falls to me to thank each and every one of you for all of your contributions, both musical and otherwise, to all of Music for Everyone’s endeavours over the past year.

It has been a very busy and exciting 40th Anniversary year, with us saying welcome to new members, staff, our Artistic Director Alex Robinson, as well as wishing a fond farewell to some wonderful and hard-working members of the team, not least our fabulous founder, Angela Kay, for 40 years of enthusiasm, inspiration and frankly – REALLY HARD WORK!

We hope you have enjoyed all of our weekly groups, special events and concerts as much as we have. Each and every one of these ventures takes an enormous amount of work, and we wish to especially thank our office staff of Anne, Kirstie, Laura and Su, as well as all their team of volunteer-office supporters, for making these events run so smoothly. We hope they all enjoy a restful Christmas break.

Yesterday saw the Albert Hall full of singing, laughter and seasonal spirit for our annual Christmas is Coming celebration. A huge thank you and well-done to all of the participants, the Daytime Voices Choirs Nottingham Community Voices, Nottingham Chamber Singers, members of the Nottingham Concert Orchestra and of course our fabulous Vocals groups for putting on an amazing show. The roof was raised with everything from the rousing carol O Come all ye faithful, to a beautiful sign-language spectacle of White Christmas and a wild and joyous ride of Jingle Bells, along with our children performing a witty and impressive sung panto of Roald Dahl’s Jack and the Beanstalk. We hope you all left feeling suitably festive, I know I did, and our special visitor Father Christmas told me he was REALLY impressed with the beautiful singing!

Wishing you a peaceful and joyful Christmas and we look forward to seeing you all in the New Year!

Rachel

Vocal animateur and Assistant Artistic Director, MfE


 

No Christmas concert would be complete without the iconic whip crack in Sleigh Ride. Look what happens when you give percussionists free ‘rein’ (see what we did there?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLrEujhHsjs

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NOoF0DR9ESA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCLavUoX7Sc&list=RDWCLavUoX7Sc&start_radio=1


 

  • Don’t forget we will be singing carols at the Test Match Pub in West Bridgford, this Thursday 21st December 5.30-6.30pm for an informal sing in aid of open voices. Please meet us there for a 5.30pm – everyone is welcome.
  • The Office will be closed for a Christmas break from 1pm on Friday 22nd December. We will be back open on Tuesday 2nd January for an exciting new term!

Have a great week and a Merry Christmas!

Your friends at MfE.

18/12/2023

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10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

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