#MfEMonday – 28th February 2022

28th February 202228th February 2022 Music for Everyone

Spring is finally in the air!! After all the storms and wild weather of February, it finally feels like the warmer weather, longer days and spring flowers are on their way. This week many of us may well be flipping pancakes in a frenzy before choosing to be somewhat more virtuous for Lent. One thing we’re certainly not giving up at MfE is putting on fabulous concerts for your entertainment and delight, and this coming weekend is no exception…

On Saturday 5th March, the Nottingham Chamber Singers (formerly EOES) will be performing a programme of music to soothe your senses, with a springtime theme of reflection, remembrance and renewal. The choir will be joined by an eclectic mix of instrumentalists for their performance of the Rutter Requiem, Brahms Four songs for upper voices, Schumann’s Six songs for lower voices, and local composer Guy Turner’s Songs and legends of Robin Hood. We will also feature two contemporary settings of music set to the texts of Lord Byron, who incidentally is buried in the graveyard of the parish church of Hucknall where the concert is taking place. It promises to be a romantic feast for the senses, we hope you can join us… book your tickets now! 7.30pm concert at St Mary Magdalene Church, Hucknall.

Book tickets online (also available on the door but we do recommend booking in advance!): https://www.music-for-everyone.org/ncs-concert-booking-page/

Happy Pancake Day for tomorrow! How do you like yours? Plain, sweet or savoury?

Here are some musical pancake inspirations if you’re feeling up to a challenge…

In New Orleans and other parts of the world people will be celebrating Mardi-Gras with Carnival on 1st March, so maybe put this wonderful toe-tapping tune on and have a dance around your kitchen whilst you’re flipping your pancakes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na5sXo0Oqhw

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

28/02/2022

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

#MfEMondays – Keeping in Touch

31st May 202128th May 2021 Music for Everyone

KEEPING IN TOUCH

Hello everyone

Well I’m afraid that despite our best efforts, the government have still not seen sense about the ‘6 singers only’ guidance!

Many thanks to all of you who have written to your MPs and also signed the petition asking the government to re-think their guidance. If you haven’t signed it yet it’s not too late, just click here. https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/586559

But we don’t let a bit of guidance put us off! On Wednesday, not defeated by the weather, the MfE Chamber Choir, the East of England Singers, managed to have a rehearsal (observing all Covid protocols) at St Leonard’s Community Hall – split initially into groups of 6 and then, once the rain had stopped, outside in the garden. Click on the attachment to have a glimpse of what it looked and sounded like (if you listen very carefully you can hear a blackbird joining in!).EOES Rehearsal 26521

So we continue to wait and hope – and we keep cheerful!

Have a good Bank Holiday Monday – at least the weather has bucked up!

Best wishes

Angela

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

31/05/2021

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#MfEMondays – Keeping in Touch

24th May 2021 Music for Everyone

KEEPING IN TOUCH

Hello everyone,

Well what a week of frustration and disappointment!

There we all were, along with thousands of other singers throughout the country, looking forward so much to joining together and having a SING!!

But – as I’m sure you are now all aware – the government made a screeching u-turn round about 5pm last Tuesday regarding choir rehearsals and singing was proclaimed DANGEROUS!! Professional choirs are able to sing together but only 6 amateur singers are allowed to sing under one roof!!

This meant that one of our choir rehearsals on Wednesday evening could not go ahead as planned and our Family Singing Afternoon at the Albert Hall, which was going to be a wonderful event with almost 100 singers from across the generations enjoying themselves together, was scuppered and has had to be rescheduled for later in the year (17^th July). And it looks as though our Daytime Voices rehearsal scheduled for Wednesday of this week will have to be cancelled. We’ll be in touch with singers round about lunchtime tomorrow to let you know what’s happening.

So we’ve hit the media to express our feelings!

Our chairman, John Hess gave an excellent interview on East Midlands Today. https://youtu.be/PZ2ljbf25sM

Robin Reece-Crawford returned to Radio Nottingham on Sunday morning to chat once again to Francis Finn https://youtu.be/SuuhmykKVww

And the Evening Post ran an article about the whole situation. On line on Thursday https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/charity-singing-group-disappointed-latest-5439430 and in the newspaper on Saturday.

So what can you do?

Write to your MP – John wrote to his and she raised it with the Prime Minister at the meeting of the 1922 Committee of Conservative MPs.
Sign this on-line petition – very easy to do and it will make a difference. Let’s see if we can make Nottingham and the surrounding areas bright red on the petition map. https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/586559
Make representation to anyone you know in high places.
Hope that the government sees sense!!

We’ll keep you up-dated with any developments.

Keep cheerful!

Angela

PS The subject was raised on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme this morning – perhaps waves are being created.

MUSICAL FLASH MOB PART 4. The Royal College of Music Philharmonic surprised visitors of the Science Museum with highlights from Holst’s Planets Suite. Proof that music and science can go together! Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrcXt-f-M6c
This is the last video in our month of flash mobs. Vote for your favourite video from May here: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/favourite-flash-mob/

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

24/05/2021

admin@music-for-everyone.org

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

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Concert: A Kaleidoscope of Love – Wagner, Whitacre, Orff

10th January 201810th January 2018 Helena Durham

Saturday 3rd February 2018, 7.30pm | Albert Hall

Angela Kay MBE | Artistic Director

Victoria Barlow | Guest Conductor, East of England Singers

Nottingham Festival Chorus, East of England Singers and Nottingham Concert Orchestra

What’s interesting about this concert:

The Nottingham Festival Chorus of 220 singers is likely be the largest choir to perform a choral work of Carmina Burana’s scale in Nottingham this year. Experiencing this music (often used in films and TV) from a seat in the audience is a thrilling and uplifting experience.
Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll, peformed by the orchestra, and Whitacre’s Five Hebrew Love Songs, sung by the East of England Singers, are sensual works born of love: Wagner’s for his wife, Cosima, daughter of composer Franz Liszt, and Whitacre’s for his then girlfriend, now wife, the poet and soprano Hila Plitmann.
Carmina Burana, meaning Songs of Beuern, is the title of both the collected 13th century poems Carl Orff used as his text and of his composition. The choir sings words in Latin, Middle High German, Old Provencal and Old French. (We always provide translations in our programmes.) The themes of the poems are as familiar in the 21st century as they were when first written: the fickleness of fortune and wealth, the mystery of life, the joy of the return of Spring, and the pleasures and perils of drinking, gluttony, gambling and lust.
Singing in a choir and listening to classical music have been shown to improve mental and physical wellbeing. During rehearsals our singers are learning useful Latin phrases from the poems, such as ‘In taberna quando sumas non curamus quid sit humus’, which means ‘When we are in the pub, we do not think how we will go to dust!’

Click here for further information and tickets.

Thank you! And have a biscuit, a tree and a carol sing!

30th November 201730th November 2017 Helena Durham

You did it! THANK YOU for all your votes for our Aviva Community Fund bid, Sound Waves. Because of you, we are through to the next round – the judging panel. We’ll hear their decision at the end of January and will let you know.

So HAVE A BISCUIT – baked by EOES alto, Karen – at the jolly East of Singers concert, ‘A Village Christmas’ in St Mary’s, Bunny, 7.30pm Saturday 2 Dec. There will be carols spanning 600 years, a wassail cup and biscuits, readings, and carols for you to join in singing. Tickets online here today and tomorrow, or by phoning the office on 0115 958 9312 From Saturday, tickets on the door only, so book early to secure a seat.

Music for Everyone is supporting the CHRISTMAS TREE FESTIVAL at All Saints Church, Steeple Row, Loughborough. Pop along to visit the stunning church, decorated with over 130 trees, plus craft stalls and the all important coffee and cake stall! Ends this Sunday. You’ll find a warm welcome, and we hope we’ll inspire more folk join our Loughborough Daytime Choir on Mondays 10.00-12.00, or our Daytime Orchestra, Tuesdays 10.00-12.00. For more information on these groups please visit our website

And talking of SINGING, why not come to the Market Square – the steps of the Council House – to sing traditional carols and entertain the city? 10.30am-12noon on Saturday 9 December. There will be no need for you to bring Carol books as you will be provided with the brand new MfE Carol Collection! All singers welcome, bring your friends. Angela Kay will be conducting – perhaps with the help of a grandchild or six. The fair leaves us to entertain customers and kindly turns off its own music. Nothing stops us, so wrap up warm!

An Invitation from Angela Kay

5th October 20175th October 2017 Helena Durham

Hello everyone

As many of you know, this coming Saturday there is gong to be something ‘rather special’ happening at St John’s Church Carrington! A very rare opportunity to hear a rich variety of both thrilling and soothing music performed by a leading chamber choir, interpreted and conducted by a Swedish conductor, Jakob Grubbström. Do come along if you possibly can, it should be a great evening, and if you feel like letting your creative juices flow during the evening, then why not enter the very first MfE Writing Competition!

Concert information and tickets here until Friday 4pm, and on the door, subject to availability. Doors open 6.45pm.

Angela

Artistic Director, Music for Everyone

Summer Programme for adult instrumentalists and singers

19th May 201719th May 2017 Helena Durham

Do you play a musical instrument or recorder? Then join this summer’s Blow the Dust off Your Instrument on Saturday 10 June for a day of ensemble playing – string orchestra, windband, full orchestra, recorder consort. An addition to the programme this year is guidance in the Alexander Technique to ease the aches of practising and performing. We know we’ll all find it beneficial. Music for the day is sent out in advance and we make sure there are parts for players of all abilities between Grades 2 (or equivalent) and 8 and above. Click here for more information and to book your place. An informal concert for family and friends begins at 5.00pm.

If you’re a singer, then sign up to be part of the Nottingham Festival Chorus (NFC) for a weekend. Perform a range of works accompanied by the Albert Hall’s mighty Binns organ. This is a rare and not to be missed opporunity. Singing Parry’s ‘I was Glad’ will be a spine tingling, exultant experience. Workshops take place on Saturday and Sunday 24/25 June culimating in a splendid concert of music performed by the Festival Chorus, conducted by Angela Kay, the East of England Singers, with guest conductor Jakob Grubbström, and organist Michael Overbury. There will be an informal and unticketed concert at 3.00pm on Sunday 25 June (note the earlier than usual start time).

Our annual, popular and praised Summer School for adult singers and instrumantalists is now open for booking. This rich three-day experience includes workshops, concerts and masterclasses from visiting professionals, and social events. It takes place in the easily accessible and pleasant surroudings of the University of Nottingham and University Park. Each year the School has been greatly enjoyed by participants both local and from as far afield as the US and Australia! Take a look at the programme and book your place. We look forward to seeing you there. Accommodation for delegates from further afield is not part of the package but the luxury Orchard Hotel located at the other end of the campus is currently offering great rates – £189.60 for THREE nights bed and breakfast.

Christmas is Coming!

9th December 20169th December 2016 Helena Durham

What has Music for Everyone been up to this December?

First there was carol singing in the Market Square on the morning of Saturday 3rd December, and later an East of England Singers and New Classical Brass concert of music for brass and voices. Then on Wednesday there were performances by the East Midlands Youth Windband and Nottingham Youth Voices at the Nottingham Maggie’s Centre Carol Concert – compered by John Hess, who sings tenor in the MfE Nottingham Festival Chorus. Yes, that is a cuddly toy one of the lads is holding in the photo – choir and band did their own version of the John Lewis ad, complete with ‘bouncing’ dogs! The contribution by the youngsters and John was hugely appreciated by Maggie’s. The East of England Singers concert audience also raised £200 for this wonderful charity that supports people affected by cancer, including families and friends.

And what’s still to come?

Coming up on Sunday is the Christmas is Coming concert by Vocals, Daytime Voices, East of England Singers and the orchestra. There are only three, yes three, tickets left at the time of writing!

On Friday 16th December the Girls Voices, Boys Voices and Nottingham Youth Windband perform at their We Wish You a Merry Christmas concert. And finally, on Sunday 18th December, the second and FREE taster sesssion of Strictly Strings, for young string players Grades 2-4 or 5 takes place at Bluecoat Academy from 2.00-5.00pm. Contact the office for details.

Phew! And then it really will be Christmas.

Choral Workshop, Choirs and Concerts

23rd September 2016 Helena Durham

This is the splendid Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, known as Felix Mendlessohn to his friends. He is central to some of Music for Everyone’s autumn adult choral events.

On Saturday 1st October, Angela Kay will lead a choral workshop exploring the riches of Mendelssohn’s oratorio, Elijah. There are only a few places left, so sign up soon if you’d like to come. We’re looking forward to seeing you there for a day of singing simply for the joy of it – no concert, no pressure.

The following Saturday, 8th October, the East of England Singers, also conducted by Angela, will give a concert in St Mary Magdalene Church, Hucknall. Their programme of religious choral music spans 400 years and will include string orchestral pieces by Mozart and Pärt.

Without Mendelssohn, whose piece Beatus Vir opens the concert, the choral music of J S Bach might have been lost for many more years, even for ever. It’s fitting then that the largest work in the concert will be Bach’s glorious motet, Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied (Sing to the Lord a new song). After the interval the programme travels through the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries with a vareity of well known and lesser known delightful motets. Something for everyone. Click here for tickets.

If you love to sing, Music for Everyone has plenty of choirs for you to join:

Daytime Voices are singing groups based in 5 locations: Southwell, West Bridgford, Wollaton, Sherwood and (new for 2016/17) Ollerton. Although they started this week, you’d still be welcome to join. Click here for info etc.

On Tuesday lunchtimes the Nottingham Lunchtime Choir meets at the Royal Concert Hall for a burst of singing fun. The music ranges from folk and pop to blues and classical. The rehearsal is short enough to fit into a lunch break for those who work. It doesn’t matter at all if you can’t read music. There will be an exciting opportunity in December to sing in a short concert before the Halle Orchestra’s Christmas Concert. More here.

The East of England Singers (EOES) is an auditioned chamber choir and open to new members. Singers need to have good sight reading ability and time to commit to a busy concert schedule of both EOES concerts and Music for Everyone choral events, where they often form the semi-chorus. The ability to make tea is an advantage.

Summer Garland Concert, Sun 10 July, East of England Singers

5th July 2016 Helena Durham

What better way to pass a Sunday afternoon than by listening to music and eating strawberries?

Join the East of England Singers, conducted by Angela Kay, Artistic Director of Music for Everyone, for their end of season concert at the Djanolgy Recital Hall (opposite Lakeside, University of Nottingham), 3.30pm. There will be madrigals, folks songs, vocal and instrumental soloists.

Travel by tram, or park on the campus. Enjoy a walk before or afterwards.

Click here for tickets.

The East of England Singers is the auditioned chamber choir of Music for Everyone, its members are the tea and coffee makers extraordinaire of other MfE choral activities, conductors of several MfE groups, MfE admin staff, MfE Bookwise and shop ‘managers’ etc, etc. Here’s what the critics say of their singing:

“The work’s driving rhythms, catchy melodies and irresistible exuberance swept both audience and performers off their feet”
William Ruff – Nottingham Evening Post

“First-class choral singing, well balanced and with a depth of understanding which brought every line of the texts to life”
Grahame Whitehead – Nottingham Evening Post

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