Nottingham Community Music

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#MfEMonday – 4th March 2024

4th March 2024 Music for Everyone

We’re gearing up for an exciting and busy March, so much music making coming up!

The Nottingham Chamber Singers concert ‘Angels, Dreams and Flying Machines’ is on Saturday 16 March at St Mary’s Church, Clifton. Join us for an evening of flight, fantasy and winged creatures, featuring poetry and musical works by Whitacre, Panufnik, Mendelssohn and Vaughan-Williams. Tickets available online in advance now: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/ncs-concert/ or you can buy on the door.

On Sunday 17th March, we’ll be ‘Springing into Music’ with our youth groups spring concert at Chilwell School for an afternoon concert of varied repertoire by string orchestras and wind bands. Tickets available online in advance now: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/yth-concert/ or purchased on the door, subject to availability.

Places are still available for West End to Broadway on Saturday 23^rd March. Don’t miss out the opportunity to learn from the fantastic Simon Theobald. Click this link to hear from the man himself!: https://youtube.com/shorts/qCPwQ5jhyk4?feature=share

Call-out for volunteers! We are looking for some extra help at our friendly Open Voices group in Mansfield. They meet on Friday afternoons from 1.45-3.15pm at Portland College in the wonderful Newstart Theatre. If anyone is able to help our leader Cliff and join in the singing that would be great! Please email su@music-for-everyone.org

It’s not quite officially springtime just yet, but as we have now reached March (and, fingers crossed, some nicer, dryer weather!) it seems apt to welcome the beginning signs of spring with some seasonal music. The most obvious is of course, Spring from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, who was born on this day, 4 March 1678: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LiztfE1X7E

Another is Vaughan-Williams The Lark Ascending, originating from a poem by George Meredith about the song of a skylark. The poem inspired Vaughan Williams to write a musical work of the same name: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbFi85piaEg Vaughan Williams also features in the NCS concert on 16 March.

If you haven’t already seen on our website, we have now released the choir repertoire for Summer School 2024! We’re thrilled that Hilary Campbell will be with us again and exploring the following pieces:
- Lily Boulanger – Hymn au soleil
- James MacMillan – O Radiant Dawn
- Harold Arlen – Over the Rainbow
- Roger Emerson – Ain’t no Mountain High Enough
The choir will also be doing Handel’s rousing anthem Zadok the Priest with the orchestra and an arrangement of Abide with Me with the string ensemble: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/summer-school-2024/

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE.

04/03/2024

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#MfEMonday – 26th February 2024

26th February 20244th March 2024 Music for Everyone

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

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 – 5th February 2024

5th February 2024 Music for Everyone

Well, what a fantastic and Gloria-filled concert we had on Saturday! A huge congratulations to all the performers in the Festival Chorus, Chamber Singers and the Nottingham Concert Orchestra for a stunning performance. There were not just Glorias being sung on stage, there were also 3 Glorias in the audience! They were invited to chat with the sheriff in the interval about the event and their namesake.

We were also delighted that Dame Judith Weir spoke to Alex and Rachel last week via Zoom, about her piece in the concert ‘Stars, Night, Music and Light’, in which she expressed how thrilled she was we were performing the full orchestral version of her piece, which she said was “a rarity”. See the full interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Zd2ztuXP90

We are now looking forward to our next singing event for community singers ‘From West End to Broadway’ on Saturday 23rd March, conducted by Rachel Parkes with special guest soloist Simon Theobald.

Come and join for a singing workshop day exploring songs from the musicals and theatre, with an informal cabaret performance and glass of wine to finish. Click here to sign- up: Workshop Day: NCM From West End to Broadway (music-for-everyone.org)

Today is a big day for John Cage’s composition ‘Organ2/ASLSP ‘As Slow as Possible’. We spoke about this piece on MfEMondays in 2022, the last time a chord was changed and today a single chord is again being changed in this piece, due to last for 639 years! Find out more on Classic FM website here: https://www.classicfm.com/composers/cage/as-slow-a-possible-aslsp-germany-organ-chord-change/

We think Mondays need a little brain boosting exercise to wake up for the week… try this quiz where the answers can all be spelt using music notes! Some are tricky and beware the dreaded alto clef! https://www.classicfm.com/lifestyle/quizzes/answer-only-music-notes/

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE.

05/02/2024

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

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

#MfEMonday – 18th December 2023

18th December 2023 Music for Everyone

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/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 21^st 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 22^ndDecember. We will be back open on Tuesday 2^nd January for an exciting new term!

Have a great week and a Merry Christmas!

Your friends at MfE.

18/12/2023

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

https://www.classicfm.com/music-news/videos/nativity-girl-singing-loud-village-church/

#MfEMonday – 11th December 2023

11th December 2023 Music for Everyone

Huge congratulations to all our fabulous youth groups for their magnificent performances in Wollaton yesterday. The standard of playing was fantastic from all the bands and string groups. A particular highlight was the audience participation in The Twelve Days of Christmas which gave everyone a real workout!

You all deserve a rest, and we look forward to seeing you in 2024. New members always welcome – click here for more information.

Next Sunday 17^th December over 200 performers will take to the stage for our final concert of the year: Christmas is Coming! A festive afternoon concert for all the family to enjoy starring our Vocals youth choir, Nottingham Community Voices, Nottingham Chamber Singers and a visit from a special someone!

Tickets available to book online (click here) or call 0115 958 9312.

As it’s that time of year when many of us are treated to a school nativity we couldn’t resist sharing this gem. A young choral enthusiast, her school nativity play, and some very enthusiastic singing!

Nottingham Symphonic Winds have their family concert “Memorable Moments” at the Albert Hall Nottingham, 11am on Saturday 16 December. It’s a family-friendly concert with a fun quiz for the whole family to enjoy. You will hear classic movie soundtracks from Jurassic Park to Frozen and lots of festive favourites too. Tickets available to book online at: https://nsw.org.uk/nswo_concerts/memorable-moments/

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE.

11/12/2023

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#MfEMonday – 6th November 2023

6th November 20236th November 2023 Music for Everyone

Greetings MfE members!

We hope you’ve all kept safe and dry in the recent storms, and that everyone in our regularly rehearsing groups is looking forward to coming back together after the half-term break.

We’ll be excited to hear the fruits of this term’s labours in a couple of weeks at plenty of informal daytime concerts, and hoping that many of you are signing up for our Christmas is Coming! extravaganza.

You can sign-up here or by ringing the office.

This weekend and next, it’s the turn of brilliant young instrumentalists from beginner to advanced, as they will be busy rehearsing for their Big Youth Music Experience, which will be culminating in a grand showcase on Sunday 19th November.

To sign-up for Bandwise click here, and Stringwise click here.

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Phil Houghton, who will be leading MfE’s two Daytime Orchestras in Loughborough and Nottingham from November.

Phil is a freelance conductor, violist and violinist, and received his initial musical training in Leicestershire. After graduating from Trinity College of Music, London, he has had a varied career of playing, teaching and conducting in many styles and genres. He currently conducts LSU Classical in Loughborough, and the Bedworth Symphony Orchestra, and regularly works with other orchestras including The Stratford upon Avon Symphony Orchestra and The Charnwood Orchestra. He was also previously the conductor of the Leicestershire Schools Concert Orchestra.

Phil had his first conducting lessons as a teenager with Robert Mandell, in return for managing the library of his Melachrino Strings Orchestra! He has also had tuition from Peter Stark, who is Professor of Conducting at The Royal College of Music. Phil lives in South Leicestershire with his wife Rebecca and their 3 children.

You’ve likely seen a lot of fireworks around this weekend. If you’d like to add some musical fireworks to this sunny Monday, follow this link for a firework and bonfire themed playlist: Classical music inspired by fire – Classic FM.

It even features the brilliant Chariots of Fire which Bandwise and Stringwise will be performing in their concert on the 19^th of November!

If you’re free on Saturday 18^th November – Charnwood Voices have a fantastic concert lined up for you. With professional soloists performing, it promises to be an inspiring event. See flyer below for more details, and they hope to see you there.

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE.

06/11/2023

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/occasions/christmas/best-festive-classical-music/

#MfEMonday – 12th December 2022

12th December 2022 Music for Everyone

What an amazing concert yesterday to end such a Christmassy week for MfE! A great big WELL DONE to all the singers in Vocals and Nottingham Community Voices for a great performance and a special thank you to Santa for taking the time to drop by.

We have been getting into the festive spirit with this great playlist of classical Christmas favourites – perfect for tree decorating, present wrapping and anything else that requires an alternative to Chris Rea!

There are still a few places left for Blow The Dust Off Your Instrument! If you are looking at that cello in the attic, clarinet in the garage or trumpet in shed (don’t keep trumpets in sheds please) you have just a few days left to sign up for our 7th January BTD! All the info and how to book online is here: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/blow-the-dust-off-your-instrument-3/

Stay warm and have a great week!

Your friends at MfE.

12/12/2022

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF