Nottingham Festival Chorus

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#MfEMonday – 17th February 2025

17th February 2025 Music for Everyone

We have some exciting news to brighten up your Monday! Summer School 2025 is shaping up well, and we are really excited to announce that the incredible vocal ensemble Sonoro will be joining us for a special recital and vocal workshop! The Summer School runs from 04 – 06 August so put the dates in your diary and stay tuned for more details coming soon!

And that’s not all! Before the Summer School, why not warm up your vocal cords with a singing workshop led by Sonoro’s acclaimed conductor, Neil Ferris? Join us on 28 June at Nottingham Trent University for an inspiring day of singing. Spaces are filling up fast, so book now to secure your spot! Click here to book or call us at 0115 958 9312.

If you need a little musical inspiration, why not listen to Sonoro perform their breathtaking Choral Inspirations by clicking here?

If, like us, you rely on coffee to get you going in the morning, you are in good company! Coffee has long been the unsung hero of the creative mind, and composers in particular seem to have had a long-standing love affair with the magical bean:

Bach was so devoted to coffee that he composed an entire Coffee Cantata, a mini-comic opera about a young woman so addicted to her daily brew that she defies her father’s attempts to curb her habit. The lyrics include the line: “If I can’t drink my bowl of coffee three times daily, then in my torment I will shrivel up like a piece of roast goat.”!

Beethoven was equally particular about his coffee, allegedly insisting that every cup he drank be made with exactly 60 coffee beans!

Gustav Mahler’s daily composing routine involved a strict schedule, punctuated by coffee breaks and long walks in nature. Reportedly, his love for coffee was so great that he would only drink it from a special cup and owned a coffee maker that he took with him everywhere, even on his extensive tours.

So, the next time you sip your morning brew, remember you might just be fuelling your next great masterpiece (or at least preventing yourself from shrivelling up like a piece of roast goat!).

Bookwise Nottingham are looking for new volunteers. If you or someone you know is interested in joining this friendly team, please email info@bookwiseshops.co.uk
Charnwood Voices are giving their spring concert on 05 April at Holy Trinity Church in Barrow upon Soar. See attached leaflet for more information.

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE

17/02/2025

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#MfEMonday – 27th January 2025

27th January 2025 Music for Everyone

NFC had a great rehearsal weekend with Rachel and Alex, they all invite you to book tickets to listen to their performance NEXT SATURDAY 1st February at Nottingham’s Albert Hall!

Book tickets here: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/the-singing-bride-concert/

Here’s a sneak peek and a message from Alex of what’s to come – https://youtu.be/IRb9tv2iRD4

The Daytime Voices and Orchestras all started their spring term last week, but the Nottingham orchestra strings couldn’t wait for last week! They had a get together earlier in January for a catch up, biscuits and a play through of some music. They are also looking forward to planning another theatre trip outing later this year! We love that playing in the Daytime Orchestra has brought these players together and look forward to seeing what other trips and excursions they get up to in the future!

You’ve heard of sight-seeing but what about sound-hearing? It’s so important to listen to the world around us and so many places sound even better than they look. Here are 14 of the most incredible sound destinations on earth, featuring some weird and wonderful acoustics: https://www.classical-music.com/features/science-of-music/weird-acoustics?utm_campaign=Classical%20Music_newsletter_21.01&utm_content=Astonishing%20acoustics&utm_term=&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Adestra

The Choir of St Peter’s Church, Nottingham are trialling a new routine and are looking for new members! If you are interested in joining the choir, see the attached flyer for more details.

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE

27/01/2025

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#MfEMonday – 20th January 2025

20th January 2025 Music for Everyone

Our Nottingham Festival Chorus singers have been working hard preparing for their concert at the Albert Hall on 01 February. We are really looking forward to hearing them and our four exceptional soloists in this wonderful performance of Bach’s C Minor Mass. Please come along and support your friends and fellow musicians. Tickets can be purchased here, or by calling the office on 0115 958 9312.

Bandwise and Stringwise are open for booking! Music packs will be going out next week, so don’t miss out, book today!

The MfE Musicals workshop and concert is also open for booking. 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.

Did you know that Mozart’s C Minor Mass (as featured in our upcoming NFC Concert The Singing Bride), was left unfinished? But why? Was it due to a falling out with the Archbishop of Salzburg, did he lose interest after the death of his son Raimund Leopold, or was it simply a practical decision to put paid work first? Jane Jones explores this question in an article entitled Mozart’s Marriage Mass – or how to make peace with your parents.

Applications for the Danny Morris Memorial Trust Fund are now open. The object of the Trust Fund is to facilitate, further and promote the study of the French Horn and its literature by providing assistance for horn players towards the cost of purchasing instruments, music, music related technology or for tuition fees. Singers and players of other instruments may also apply, but French Horn players will be given preference. More information attached.

If your diary isn’t already full, here are a few events taking place in the next few weeks:

Nottingham Philharmonic Orchestra – Fire and Ice, Saturday 25 January.

Aled Jones presents the NPOs Family Prom in the Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, where there will be a battle between the two elemental forces – Fire and Ice. Fiery music to warm you up includes Fawkes the Phoenix from Harry Potter, the Infernal Dance from Stravinsky’s The Firebird , and the theme from Chariots of Fire. Along the way there’s a musical trip on the Polar Express and a sleigh ride courtesy of Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kije, plus the Skaters’ Waltz and Let it Go from Frozen. Tickets are available from the Royal Centre Box Office, trch.co.uk 0115 989 5555, or through members of the orchestra.

Rotary Young Musicians Concert – Saturday 25^th January 2025, The Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton

This concert, which is being organised by the Long Eaton and Belper & Duffield Rotary Clubs, aims to give young people an opportunity to perform in a professional environment to a paying audience. Any youngster who can play an instrument, sing, is in a band or a duo/trio/group etc is welcome to apply to take part. Application form attached. There is some flexibility on the date of submissions. For more information please initially contact Dave on dave.ashley782@hotmail.co.uk or on 07738 552178.

Sinfonia Viva – Durufle Requiem, Saturday 08 February

The choirs of Southwell Minster, Coventry Cathedral, Derby Cathedral and Leicester Cathedral are teaming up for the first time alongside Sinfonia Viva to perform the Requiem by French composer Maurice Duruflé. This imposing setting of the Latin mass has a timeless quality built on its incorporation of Gregorian chant. From now until January 31, Sinfonia Viva are offering local choir members a £3 discount (excluding concession tickets) for this performance. Enter the code DURUFLE3 at checkout to claim your discount.

Tickets can be booked directly from Sinfonia Viva at www.ticketsource.co.uk/sinfoniaviva or by calling 0333 666 3366.

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE

20/01/2025

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#MfEMonday – 13th January 2025

13th January 2025 Music for Everyone

We are still buzzing from a truly epic ‘Blow the Dust off Your Instrument’ orchestral playing day on Saturday. Over 180 ‘dusty’ instrumentalists squeezed into the Albert Hall for a fun, relaxed day of music making with our expert tutors and conductors. We were particularly delighted to welcome so many new people, including cricketing commentator, Jonathan Agnew, who has recently returned to playing the Euphonium after a break of nearly 40 years!

Those of you who listen to TMS might recall that during the summer of 2023, MfE Founder, Artistic Adviser and cricket fan, Angela Kay was the guest interviewee during the afternoon tea break of the Trent Bridge Test. During that interview, and much to the delight of the TMS commentary team, she revealed that Aggers was, in his youth, a very fine tuba player. Did that revelation rekindle a desire in Aggers to play once more, or was it hearing the Melton Mowbray Brass Band performing at a concert? Either way, Aggers has taken up playing a brass instrument again, and is now an enthusiastic player of the euphonium as was ably demonstrated on Saturday.

According to his wife, Emma, who went on social media after the concert, ‘John had the BEST day! What a fabulous experience’. Perhaps we might see Aggers at future MfE events.

Also ‘Blowing the Dust’ was Angela who joined the brass section playing tenor horn, an instrument she played at college, and hasn’t touched for 50 years! Many thanks to Windblowers for loaning an instrument to Angela.

A huge congratulations to all who took part. You really were amazing! We’re looking forward to seeing you all at the next Blow the Dust on 14 June.

As the Nottingham Festival Chorus big concert at Nottingham’s Albert Hall approaches, ‘The Singing Bride’, (have you got your tickets yet? Book here! https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/the-singing-bride-concert/) it’s got us thinking about other musical, romantic (and occasionally tragic) stories – let us know who your favourites are, if not listed here!

Beethoven & Countess Josephine von Brunsvik

Though Beethoven never married, he was desperately in love with Countess Josephine von Brunsvik for much of his life. They met in 1799 when Beethoven began working as Josephine’s piano tutor. Despite some affection on Josephine’s side, her family quickly married her off to the far more eligible (and much older) Joseph Count Deym.

Wagner & Cosima Liszt

Cosima, daughter of the Hungarian composer and pianist Franz Liszt, first met Wagner while on honeymoon with her first husband, Hans von Bülow. It was while sharing conducting duties with von Bülow at a concert in Leipzig that Wagner was ‘utterly transported by the sight of Cosima’. Though they were both still married, they began a relationship, and Cosima gave birth to two daughters that Bülow accepted as his own.

Brahms & Clara Schumann

Brahms introduced himself to the Schumanns in 1853, aged 20, and became a fast family friend. Brahms was deeply in love with Clara. In 1855, while Robert Schumann was in an asylum following a suicide attempt, Brahms wrote to her a passionate plea: ‘I can do nothing but think of you… What have you done to me? Can’t you remove the spell you have cast over me?’ After Robert’s death the couple almost married, but Brahms seems to have abandoned her.

BOOKWISE NEWARK are looking for new volunteers to join the team! If anyone in Newark or the surrounding area would consider volunteering in our Newark Bookwise shop, please contact Hilary Newton 60hilnewt@gmail.com Shifts are 10am – 1pm and 1pm – 4pm (4.30pm in summer months) Mondays – Saturdays.
Vacancy: Musical Director of Wind Orchestra. Freelance position. Loughborough.

Charnwood Symphonic Wind Orchestra is a 35-piece wind orchestra based in Loughborough. We rehearse on Sunday evenings in term time and perform at 5-7concerts per year. The position of Musical Director will be vacant from Spring 2025. We are seeking an MD to bring out the best of the band in a friendly, informal atmosphere. This will be a freelance paid position. For more information about the band please see www.charnwoodconcertbands.co.uk

Please write with an expression of interest and details of your relevant experience to Christine.Cassell@gmail.com

Closing date 17th January 2025.

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE

13/01/2025

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/nottingham/university-hall/brass-through-the-ages/2025-03-07/19:30/t-xmlledm?direct-booking&fbclid=IwY2xjawHH3LZleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHfuNg6WUazZSo8BDCBQoiszLBzahVwu9HSX_zgS9ANrR5uhJmOBdFUs-Cg_aem_J0nx72KPPiGeDG-8klJlJw

#MfEMonday – 6th January 2025

6th January 2025 Music for Everyone

Happy New Year! We hope you all had the chance for some rest and relaxation over the break.

Coming up this term there is plenty to look forward to 🙂

Blow the Dust off your Instrument – Saturday 11^th January, Albert Hall Nottingham

NFC Singing course and concert: Mozart Mass in C minor – 25/26 January & 1 February

Concert: The Singing Bride – Nottingham Festival Chorus and Concert Orchestra – Saturday 1^st February, Albert Hall Nottingham

Click the links above for more information or call our office team on 0115 958 9312.

Our regular groups will be resuming on the following dates:

Open Voices: West Bridgford – 7^th January, Beeston – 14th January, Sherwood & Mansfield – 17th January

Flute Choir & Big Band: 12th January

East Midlands Youth Band, Nottingham Strictly Strings and East Midlands Youth String Orchestra: 12^th January

Lunchtime Voices: 16^th January

Nottingham Youth Band: 16^th January

Daytime Voices & Daytime Orchestras: w/c 20^th January

If you would like to join any of our regular groups please get in touch and we can arrange a taster session.

Did you watch the New Year’s Day concert from Vienna? Arguably one of the most famous concerts in the world, broadcast to 50 million viewers in more than 90 countries. This year maestro Riccardo Muti conducted the Vienna Philharmonic in the lavish Golden Hall of the Musikverein. With waltzes and Polkas aplenty, the programme features music of the Strauss family and their contemporaries. This year especially Johann Strauss II as 2025 marks his 200th birthday!

Getting a ticket for the event is incredibly difficult due to the high demand and also requires a lot of luck as names are drawn from a ballot. The next chance to enter is between 1^st – 28^th February: https://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at/en/newyearsconcert

But don’t worry, you can always catch it on the iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b00glnh8/new-years-day-concert

An upcoming concert that you may be interested in: Brass Through The Ages concert on 7 March 2025 at University Hall

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE

06/01/2025

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#MfEMonday – 14th October 2024

14th October 2024 Music for Everyone

The Nottingham Chamber Singers launched their 40^th Anniversary Season in style on Saturday evening with a stunning performance at St John’s Church, Carrington.

Rachel Parkes skilfully guided the choir through a sublime programme including the Brahms’ Requiem accompanied brilliantly by piano duo, Angela Foan and John Hobbs.

We were also joined by two exceptional soloists, Will Burn and Alison Rose. Thanks to all those who came to listen, we can’t wait for the next performance!

BOOKING NOW OPEN!

Blow the Dust off your Instrument – Workshop day

Saturday 11^th January

Did you learn to play an instrument at school but haven’t got it out of the case for a long while? Have you taken up playing an instrument in adult life just for fun? Do you like playing orchestral music?

If the answer is YES to any of these questions then come to Blow the Dust off your Instrument January 2025. Click the link below for more information:

Workshop: Blow the Dust off your Instrument! (music-for-everyone.org)

Nottingham Festival Chorus – Mozart C minor Mass

Rehearsal weekend: Saturday 25th/Sunday 26^th January

Concert: Saturday 1^st February

Come and sing Mozart’s greatest musical present to his wife, the C Minor Mass, a beautiful solemn mass which featured solos just for her, as well as an assortment of music inspired by love from composers Weir, Durufle, Tallis and Ferrario. Click the link below for more information:

NFC Singing Course & Concert January 2025 (music-for-everyone.org)

There have been a lot of reasons to look to the skies recently what with the spectacular sightings of the Northern Lights, Comet of the century and the mind-blowing SpaceX catching a starship booster!

Here are some sky themed classical pieces to enjoy whilst gazing upwards:

Ēriks Ešenvalds – Northern Lights – https://youtu.be/rXKJCdGMUas?si=sofm3bX53z2oYv8F

Ēriks Ešenvalds – Stars – https://youtu.be/ngqbf6mNpuE?si=uK7EU5utKb9RxQte

Ola Gjelo: Northern Lights – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg-TGaNKqhk

Uuno Klami: Aurora Borealis – https://youtu.be/ZqgsAExhVvM?si=AMcI9F05WA7umrEa

There’s a chance to see the incredible female a capella group Papagena at Southwell Minster this evening – they will be performing underneath the giant ‘Moon’ installation. Those of you who were lucky enough to see them at our Summer School a couple of years ago will know how amazing they are! https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/papagena-moonset-tickets-932429149687?aff=oddtdtcreator
If you can’t make this evening it’s still possible to visit the Minster while the Moon installation is on display from 11-22 October. https://www.southwellminster.org/events/event/moon/

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE

14/10/2024

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 – 7th October 2024

7th October 2024 Music for Everyone

A wonderful weekend of music making with the Nottingham Festival Chorus yesterday and Saturday – well done to all involved for a great workshop day and another stunning concert at Beeston Parish Church, here’s some photos!

There is a special Arts & Culture draw with Movement for Good this week, with the opportunity to receive £5,000. Nominations are open from 7^th – 11^th October. Please consider supporting and nominating MfE! Here’s how…

Click this link: https://culture.movementforgood.com/index.php?cn=1153412&ct=community#nominateACharity
Music for Everyone should be already selected for you as a Community charity.
Fill in your details and complete by clicking the button to nominate us – it’s that easy!

The draw is only open until Friday, so please nominate us today! Thank you for supporting us!

We are very much looking forward to welcoming all the Bandwise and Stringwise youth instrumentalists to the next event in November! We still have spaces for more players to join us, if you know a young person please encourage them to sign up.

Bandwise sign up link: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/byme-bandwise-nov24/

Stringwise sign up link: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/byme-stringwise-nov24/

Each group will spend time on the workshop day rehearsing their own pieces, but we are also looking forward to the grand finale, which involves all the players together – this year, performing In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg, from BBC Ten Pieces.

Grieg was a composer who put his country, Norway, firmly on the musical map. Many of his pieces were based on Norwegian fairy stories and melodies, and over 100 years since his death he is still his country’s most respected composer. In the Hall of the Mountain King comes from undoubtedly his most famous work – Peer Gynt Suite, which was written in 1875 as background music to a famous play. Listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLp_Hh6DKWc

The character of Peer Gynt is even older and has been a Norwegian folk tale for many centuries, with a story of mountains, troll Kings and kidnapping!

A long-standing member of MfE is looking to donate her Dolmech (wooden) recorder to a deserving and keen recorder player. It’s in excellent condition and comes with it’s own box, including a brush. If you are interested, please let us know and we will put you in touch with the owner

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE

07/10/2024

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#MfEMonday – 30th September 2024

30th September 2024 Music for Everyone

Preparations are well underway for our In the King’s Company concert at St John’s Parish Church, Beeston this Sunday, and we are really looking forward to hearing the results of the Nottingham Festival Chorus’s hard work. We are delighted that Soprano, Rachel Parkes, can join us to sing the heart-breaking Dido’s Lament from Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, and that our Artistic Director and Conductor, Alex Robinson, will also be directing some of the concert from the harpsichord.

Tickets are still available and it would be wonderful to see you there. Tickets can be purchased online here, or on the door.

———–

Dido’s Lament is one of the most beautiful and heart-breaking pieces of music ever written. In one of the most well-known and loved baroque arias, Dido sings of lost love and betrayal with a melody that seems to literally sob.

This sense of deep sorrow and profound loss has resonated with audiences and performers across the centuries. Some less conventional performances include those of Jeff Buckley at the Meltdown Festival in 1995, Annie Lennox with the London City Voices during the Covid pandemic, and cellist Yves Dharamraj in protest at the death of George Floyd.

Click here to hear mezzo soprano Sarah Connolly talk about why she finds the piece, sung by the likes of Janet Baker and Emma Kirkby, so extraordinary, and the skill it takes to perform it.

The sad news of the death of Dame Maggie Smith has put us in mind of one of her best-loved films, Quartet. If you haven’t seen it, you must! It revolves around a retirement home for former professional musicians, Beecham House, and its residents who prepare for a benefit concert to keep the place going. The charming comedy-drama explores themes of redefining old age, the human spirit and the joy of singing with friends, something very much at the heart of our work at Music for Everyone!

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE

30/09/2024

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

If you can’t view this email properly or you would like to unsubscribe from future #MfEMonday emails, please get in touch.

#MfEMonday – 2nd September 2024

2nd September 2024 Music for Everyone

We are excited to welcome you back to our regular groups in the coming weeks! Here are the start dates for all groups:

Wednesday, 4 September: Nottingham Chamber Singers
Thursday, 12 September: Nottingham Youth Band
Sunday, 15 September: Flute Choir and Big Band
Week of 16 September: Daytime Voices, Lunchtime Voices, and Open Voices
Week of 23 September: Daytime Orchestras
Sunday, 29 September: East Midlands Youth String Orchestra, East Midlands Youth Band and Strictly Strings

For more information on dates, venues, and prices, click here. To register online, please click here.

Note: Music for Everyone offers a subsidised scheme for all groups and courses. This scheme is available to anyone who needs it and is considered on a case-by-case basis. If you would like to discuss this further, please contact our office at admin@music-for-everyone.org or call 0115 958 9312.

King Charles has appointed composer Errollyn Wallen as the new ‘Master of the King’s Music.’ Born in Belize, Wallen moved to the UK at the age of two. She is a celebrated composer, pianist, and singer-songwriter who studied music and composition at Goldsmiths, King’s College London, and King’s College Cambridge. Her work includes 22 operas and a range of compositions including orchestral, vocal and chamber music. Errolyn joins an illustrious list of musicians to hold the position of Master of the King’s Music dating back over 400 years to the Baroque period and the court of Charles I. During this era, similar positions were held by renowned musicians across Europe, including Lully and Rameau in the French court, and Handel, who was appointed ‘Composer of Musick to the Chapel Royal’ in 1713.

The Nottingham Festival Chorus will perform works by these composers at their concert, In the King’s Company, on Sunday 06 October! It is still possible to join the NFC for the workshop and concert.

Please click here for more details. Tickets for the concert are also available here.

Who knows, perhaps in 400 years, the Nottingham Festival Chorus will be performing a historical concert of Errollyn Wallen’s music!

Charnwood Voices are looking for new members! Why not join them for their first rehearsal on 4 September at Belton Village Hall and experience what they have to offer? See the attached flyer for more details.
Lyrical SoNGbirds are looking for a new Musical Director. If you or someone you know is interested, please see the attached flyer for more details.
Contemporary Music for All (CoMA): Registration is now open for the CoMA weekend in Yorkshire on 26-27 October. Don’t miss this inspiring and lively event in the heart of historic York. With activities ranging from an Open to All Orchestra to workshops on contemporary voice and open score composition, there’s something for everyone. Click here for all the details. To learn more about CoMA music, ensembles, and events, visit www.coma.org.

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE

02/09/2024

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF