Nottingham Festival Chorus

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

#MfEMonday – 27th June 2022

27th June 202227th June 2022 Music for Everyone

This weekend was another busy one for MFE! Saturday saw the Nottingham Youth Band performing at Proms in the Park in West Bridgford. The weather decided to do battle with the band – sunshine, rain and wind in the space of an hour! – however the band carried on undeterred and played a spectacular set to rapturous applause. Well done to Claire and all the players!!

At the same time, the Nottingham Festival Chorus were rehearsing for their Jubilee Concert, safely indoors away from the blustery weather. All their hard work really paid off, as the concert on Sunday afternoon in the Albert Hall was truly magnificent. Choir and orchestra gave rousing renditions of Handel’s The King Shall Rejoice and Parry’s I was Glad. The Nottingham Concert Orchestra played William Walton’s iconic march Crown Imperial, first performed at George VI’s coronation in 1937 and George Butterworth’s idyll The Banks of Green Willow.

The Nottingham Chamber Singers performed the Choral Dances from Britten’s opera Gloriana and Rachel Parkes solo in Mozarts’ Laudate Dominum was breathtakingly beautiful.

The concert finished with Vaughan Williams splendid arrangement of The Old Hundredth (All People that on Earth do Dwell) with audience participation. All in all, a truly wonderful royal celebration!

Bookwise Southwell are looking for a new manager

Bookwise Southwell was our first shop in the trio of shops that give Music for Everyone substantial financial support every year. Now in its fifteenth year it urgently requires a part time manager in a voluntary or paid situation, able to offer up to 7 hours a week of practical management of the shop premises, with banking and the reporting of sales, assisted by a management team of two, part of the shop’s volunteer staffing. You would need to have a hands-on practical attitude and ability to handle sales reporting using Excel software. If this post interests you please get in touch with Andrew James, chairman of the Bookwise shops at andrewjames.home@btinternet.com or telephone him on 01636 704588.

Did you know the first Glastonbury Festival took place in 1914?

In summer 2004, the Glastonbury Festival raised eyebrows when, alongside headline acts such as Paul McCartney, Muse and Oasis, it also staged English National Opera’s production of Wagner’s The Valkyrie. The unlikely performance went down a treat, though how many of those present realised it was actually echoing another, earlier Glastonbury – one that was just as charismatic?

Forget the tents, mud and rock acts. Over a century ago, the Somerset town of Glastonbury was host to a music festival of a very different kind. The original Glastonbury festival was largely the creation of one remarkable man, now almost forgotten. The composer Rutland Boughton. The son of an Aylesbury grocer with no musical background, he was sent to the Royal College of Music by aristocratic patrons, alongside Holst, Vaughan Williams and others.

With Reginald Buckley, an aspiring poet, he proposed building a festival theatre along Bayreuth lines, which would stage Boughton’s own music-drama cycle about King Arthur, to Buckley’s libretti. The attractive little Somerset town of Glastonbury with its high green Tor and the mystical ambience seemed ideal for Boughton’s dream of a festival based on a communal farm, worked by the artists.

In August 1914 they launched the first festival programme, offering plays, ballets, children’s operas and concerts, but only excerpts from the uncompleted Arthurian operas. Instead, Boughton premiered what would prove his most significant music-drama, The Immortal Hour. Lacking the theatre, they held performances in Glastonbury’s small Assembly Rooms, with a grand piano instead of an orchestra and a chorus and staff drawn mostly from locals. Over the next few years, despite war constraints and eternal fundraising, an even more ambitious programme developed, with Easter festivals, summer schools, celebrity lectures, offshoots in Bristol and London and provincial touring performances. Neither theatre nor commune ever materialised, but the Festival acquired a small orchestra and a resident quartet, and produced a startling range of works, from operas by Gluck and Wagner, dance, by Isadora Duncan disciples Margaret Morris and Penelope Spencer, songs, choral works, and the mystery-play Bethlehem.

However, in 1926 the Glastonbury company staged vital fund-raising London performances of Bethlehem. Without consulting his fellow directors Boughton produced it with Joseph and Mary as striking miners and Herod as a caricature top-hatted capitalist. The concept, endorsed by GK Chesterton and others, was harmless enough – except that Boughton also depicted British bobbies and British troops marching off to massacre the Innocents. So soon after the First World War this caused enormous offence even with liberal London audiences. And so,Bethlehem made a disastrous loss. The other directors duly resigned; the Glastonbury townsfolk withdrew their support. The Festival was abandoned.

Ultimately, it was Glastonbury’s whole fey-folksiness which came to seem impossibly quaint, parochial and old-fashioned in the post-war era. Nevertheless, recent Boughton recordings, including songs, symphonies and Bethlehem, make a striking impression. Above all, The Immortal Hour, static and stylised as it seems, still conjures up something of that original, long-forgotten excitement: the authentic Glastonbury magic.

Free to a good home! A Buffet B12 Bb Clarinet with box. It does need some refurbishing, pictures below. For more details, contact Anna on 07980 308035.

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

27/06/2022

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#MfEMonday – 13th June 2022

13th June 2022 Music for Everyone

Our Jubilee Celebration course (Saturday 25^th) and concert (Sunday 26^th) is coming up in just under a couple of weeks’ time. If you haven’t yet signed up, we’d love you to come and sing in the Nottingham Festival Chorus, rehearsing on the Saturday, or to support the Sunday afternoon Jubilee Celebration Concert at Nottingham’s Albert Hall. The sparkling programme will include great pieces from coronations and glittering state occasions, including Parry’s I Was Glad, Handel’s Coronation Anthem ‘The King Shall Rejoice’ and Walton’s Crown Imperial.

SPECIAL REQUEST: PLEASE JOIN US IN OUR JUBILEE RECRUITMENT DRIVE
WE WANT TO RECRUIT AS MANY NEW SINGERS AND NEW CONCERT-GOERS TO COME TO THIS CELEBRATION EVENT AS WE CAN. PLEASE HELP US TO DO THIS. WE ARE OFFERING:-

*Special Jubilee Deals*

FOR SINGERS NEW TO MFE

Do you know anyone who has NEVER sung with us before, who would enjoy singing the great music in our Jubilee programme? Please tell them about our SPECIAL DISCOUNTED ENROLMENTS FOR NEWCOMERS: They are invited to Come and Sing for £15, all music included. Link to book online: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/nfc-summer-workshop/

CONCERT TICKETS

GROUP DISCOUNT OFFER – 6 tickets for the price of 5! This discount is applied automatically when ordering online.

In addition, to encourage as many FIRST-TIME people as possible into our audience we are offering:

HALF PRICE tickets in all areas of the hall for NEW concert-goers. Invite someone along to the concert who has never experienced the variety and quality of an MfE Festival Chorus performance before!

To get as many of our EXISTING loyal supporters along to enjoy the concert as we can, we are offering the usual performers’ discount (can be included with the group discount):

if you are a PERFORMER, ordering tickets for friends/family who have been with us before, get 10% off the cost, just use the code provided in your music pack to take advantage of this offer.

Full details can be found here: Jubilee Celebration Concert (music-for-everyone.org)

LET’S GET MORE PEOPLE enjoying that MFE EXPERIENCE — BOTH PERFORMERS AND CONCERT GOERS! WE KNOW YOU WILL DO YOUR BEST. THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!!

Well done to all the instrumentalists who had a fantastic day of music-making at our Blow the Dust off your Instrument event on Saturday with music from Elgar to Burt Bacharach!

Next Sunday 19^th June the MfE Swing Band and Flute Choir will be performing at the Willoughby-on-the-Wolds Open Garden event. If you want to come along and support please see their website for further details: Open Gardens 2022: Sunday 19th June | Willoughby on the Wolds

Many studies have concluded that classical music is great for boosting concentration and firing up your brain cells. Now that the exam season is well underway (and probably over in many cases!) here are a few suggestions of music to listen to that will help you to focus, relax or study:

Bach opens your mind! Go for something like the Goldberg Variations to maximise your brain’s ability to take everything in. Bach’s intricate patterns and gradually unfolding textures are the perfect soundtrack to a little brain expansion. https://youtu.be/tCKQQxxUWBs

Although “the Mozart effect” is debatable, there is no denying that his music can be the perfect accompaniment to focus the mind: Mozart – Violin Sonata K 301 https://youtu.be/x7xPIyePmNk or the Piano Concerto in A major K488 https://youtu.be/DXeBFhqViYg

Or maybe you prefer something to help you relax and take more info in? Try Debussy’s Clair de Lune https://youtu.be/fZrm9h3JRGs or Chopin’s Nocturne No. 2 in E flat Major https://youtu.be/9E6b3swbnWg

Let us know how you get on!

Members of the Nottingham Youth Band had an exciting trip to the Concert Hall last Friday to watch the incredible saxophonist Jess Gillam performing with the Hallé orchestra. The programme included Bernstein’s electrifying Symphonic Dances from West Side Story…. Have you heard about Bradley Cooper starring as Leonard Bernstein in Maestro being released in 2023? Here’s a first look at what’s in store: https://www.classicfm.com/composers/bernstein-l/maestro-first-look-bradley-cooper-netflix/

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

13/06/2022

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#MfEMonday – 6th June 2022

6th June 2022 Music for Everyone

We hope that everyone had a wonderful long-weekend (and take our hats off to those who had to work) celebrating the Platinum Jubilee. If the weekend’s festivities got you in the mood for all things royal and musical, there is still time to sign up for our Celebrate the Jubilee – Come and Sing event on 25 and 26 June. You can find more details and a booking link here. If you sign up before this Friday you will be able to take part in an extra zoom rehearsal too!

Mussorgsky, Dvorak, Elgar, Mozart, Bacharach… this Saturday 11th June will see the return of our ever-popular Blow The Dust event, where players of all abilities come together to form a huge symphony orchestra, wind band and string orchestra. It’s set to be a wonderful day! With a few places still available for players of orchestral instruments Grade 2+, it’s not too late to get involved. But hurry! Only a few days left to book! All info is here.

Organ Looking for New Home!

An MfE member is looking for a new home for this vintage Hammond organ… please let us know if you are interested or think you can help, and we’ll put you in touch! Picture is available here: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/instruments-for-sale/ (scroll to bottom of page)

June is LGBTQ+ pride month and we are celebrating, even more so than the rest of the year, all of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer composers and musicians who bring joy, richness and diversity to our musical lives. If you’re looking to make your own playlist of LGBTQ+ Classical Music, check out this article for inspiration!

Last Wednesday was 1^st June, which always makes us think of Leslie Uggam’s iconic and hilarious performance of Rogers and Hammerstein’s ‘June is Bustin’ Out All Over’ from Carousel – it reassures us that even the greatest Broadway divas sometimes forget the words… enjoy it here

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

06/06/2022

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#MfEMonday – 25th April 2022

25th April 2022 Music for Everyone

Greetings after yet another wonderful weekend of MfE music-making!

Saturday and Sunday saw the massed forces of the Nottingham Community Voices (featuring singers from our various daytime voices groups plus members from the Lunchtime Voices, Nottingham Chamber Singers and various other community choirs around the county), combining in a truly stunning ‘chorus line’ for our West End to Broadway musicals course.

Our singers worked hard on their renditions of the romantic and sumptuous scores of My Fair Lady and The King and I, along with smooth and sensual excerpts by the legendary Irving Berlin, before rounding it all off with their riotous rabble of revolutionaries in Les Miserables! They were accompanied by the stunning Nottingham Concert Orchestra, who serenaded us with a string of Broadway hits, including a heart-rending suite from Bernstein’s West Side Story. It was an absolute treat. Adding a little extra shimmer and sparkle to all of this, were the fantastic talents of Simon Theobald and Kate Taylor, whose performances left us simultaneously rolling in the aisles and weeping into our programmes. It was a triumph – huge congratulations to everyone involved!

Our Vocals weekend is next. With expert tuition from Alison Bennett and Rachel Parkes, this is an absolute steal at only £15.00 for the entire event (two workshop afternoons and a concert afternoon). Please tell all the young people (of primary school age) in your lives that it will be a wonderful chance to learn some new and entertaining music, as well as some well-known Disney tunes from Moana. These massed musical events tend to be formative in our experiences and memories, so help us to spread the word. We know you will want to come and support them in their concert on Saturday 21^st May – tickets are available on our website.

Finally for those instrumentalists amongst you, our Summer Blow the Dust day is fast approaching. Tell your friends, or even bring someone along from out of town … it’s a wonderful day to relax, enjoy and bond with other like-minded orchestral players out there! If you fancy an extended chance to waggle those clarinet keys or refine your ‘ricochet’, then our Summer School is for you. More details available at www.music-for-everyone.org

With the sun shining, our minds at MfE are turning to our Summer School. We are really looking forward to returning to Trent College and hopefully enjoying their lovely grounds in the sunshine. If you haven’t yet decided whether to come along, let us motivate you with a few facts about Vaughan William’s, who’s music we will be exploring to mark the 150^th anniversary of his birth:

He was well connected; His great-uncle was Charles Darwin, and ceramics magnate Josiah Wedgewood was his great-great-grandfather.
During the Second World War, he is rumoured to have done a stint of cleaning at the local public toilets in Dorking.
The composer never took his privileged background for granted and worked all his life for democratic and egalitarian ideals. He viewed music as being part of everyone’s everyday life, rather than being the preserve of an elite. Something we wholeheartedly agree with at MfE!

As the French Presidential Elections closed yesterday, we found it fitting that the French national anthem was composed on this day in 1792, here is Berlioz’s arrangement ‘La Marseillaise’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZWabwLPUXc

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

25/04/2022

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

https://www.music-for-everyone.org/

#MfEMonday – 11th April 2022

11th April 202211th April 2022 Music for Everyone

The MfE groups are taking a well-deserved break for Easter after a busy Spring term.

While the groups are off, the artistic and office team are busy prepping for a wonderful summer term full of music – all the details can be found on our website, below is a quick overview of what is coming up!

Musicals course and concert – 23/24 April
Vocals course and concert – 14/15 & 21 May
Blow the Dust playing day – 11 June
NFC Jubilee workshop and concert – 25/26 June
Summer School – 8/9/10 August

We’re sure you are all familiar with the traditional Easter Egg (painted/decorated/chocolate/etc!) but we’ve found out some interesting facts about the ‘other’ type of easter egg… the ones that double as secret or hidden messages in music.

One of the first composers to do this was J.S. Bach and he hid one Easter Egg so well, it wasn’t discovered for 250 years in his Mass in B
Minor!

He would often sign his name into his music B A C H as an ‘easter egg’ (in German notation, the letter H is used for B natural, and B is used for B flat). Whether these were always intentional will never be known, but it seems to most experts that he would add them to the beginning or end of a piece as a ‘signing off’.

Do you know of any others that he hid his name in?

Bach: Mass in B Minor – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FLbiDrn8IE

And for Easter, here is Bach’s St John Passion, composed in 1724 for the Good Friday Vespers service in the same year – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMf9XDQBAaI&t=4s

Happy Easter from the MfE Team!

Quiz time! Can you work out the John Williams film from these emojis? Some are easier than others… https://www.classicfm.com/lifestyle/quizzes/john-williams-film-score-emojis/

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

11/04/2022

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#MfEMonday – 7th February 2022

7th February 2022 Music for Everyone

MfE Music Making is Back!

CHORAL AND OPERA CLASSICS

On Saturday 5th February over 140 singers and 34 instrumentalists came together to give a splendid concert showcasing the excellence of both choir and orchestra.

Soloists Rachel Parkes, Ellie Martin Choir and orchestra in a concert and Matthew Jordan joined the Nottingham Festival Chorus and Nottingham Concert Orchestra, conducted by Angela Kay, in performing extracts from Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Fauré’s Requiem, and the much loved Flower Duet (more popularly known as the British Airways’ theme!) from Delibes’ Lakmé.

Below are a few photos from the afternoon rehearsal and concert – Festival Chorus and Concert Orchestra sounding fantastic!

Yesterday marked 70 years since Queen Elizabeth II acceded to the throne, making her the first British monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee.

During her reign she has been a committed supporter of the arts and Britain’s musical life. Her own interest in music began at an early age when she was tutored by Sir William Henry Harris, resident organist of the Chapel of St George’s at Windsor Castle, and regularly joined the senior choristers for madrigal practice. At 11 years old, Princess Elizabeth learned to play the piano, and continues to play for her own enjoyment.

In 2005, The Queen inaugurated The Queen’s Music Medal – an award for individuals who have had a major influence on the musical life of the nation, and in 2014 she authorised the first female Master of the Queen’s Music, composer Judith Weir.

The Queen regularly attends concerts, champions musicians in the New Year Honours List and supports a number of military bands and orchestras.

Symbolic of this devotion to music, The Queen holds two honorary degrees in Music, a Bachelor of Music from the University of London, and a Doctor of Music from the University of Wales.

Click here to see Soprano Alexandra Stevenson sing two of The Queen’s favourite hymns in celebration of the Platinum Jubilee.

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

07/02/2022

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#MfEMonday – 31st January 2022

31st January 2022 Music for Everyone

MfE’s next Family Sing is taking place on Saturday 26 March at Kingswood Methodist Church in Wollaton. This intergenerational singing afternoon is open to all, from aged 5 upwards – children must be accompanied by at least one adult!

We’ll be singing some fun warm ups to get us going then Alison and Rachel will be leading in great songs such as When I Grow Up from ‘Matilda’ and Bare Necessities from the ‘Jungle Book’. All details and how to sign up are on our website: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/family-sing-workshop/

Final reminder for anyone who would like to see the Nottingham Festival Chorus free concert on Saturday 5th February at the Albert Hall. The concert will start at 4:30 featuring music by Mendelssohn, Handel, Haydn and Faure. If you would like to attend, please request your concert passes by following this link https://www.music-for-everyone.org/nfc-concert-passes/

Inspiration for music can come from anywhere. On this beautiful sunny (and very blustery!) day, here are some pieces that have been inspired by beautiful walks and countryside and hopefully take you on a journey through caves, over hills and far away! (without getting blown away today)

Starting with The Hebrides by Felix Mendelssohn, Fingal’s Cave sets the scene for unusual echoes within: https://youtu.be/zcogD-hHEYs

Over the Malvern hills to depictions of the English countryside with Elgar’s Enigma Variations, one of which even gives a musical rendition of a bulldog falling into a river… do you know which one? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLNLvcBmoqo

Have you heard of the new online word game sensation Wordle? You may have seen there is also a musical (specifically choral) version called Byrdle! Warning: highly addictive. https://rbrignall.github.io/byrdle/

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

31/01/2022

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

#MfEMonday – 17th January 2022

17th January 2022 Music for Everyone

Good News! We have decided to go ahead with the Festival Chorus singing course and concert – Choral and Opera Classics.

It will now take place over just one day, Saturday February 5th at the Albert Hall in Nottingham. The programme will include extracts from Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Fauré’s Requiem and Haydn’s Creation. Full details can be found on our website and we still have places available. If you would like to come along and have a good sing of this super music then please visit: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/nfc-course-weekend/ or telephone 0115 9589312 for more information.

At MfE, we have developed a special partnership with the brain injury charity ‘Headway’. As part of our warm-ups at Headway (and often in our weekly community singing groups), we work hard to bring the two sides of our brains together by performing well-known ‘Brain Gym’ exercises. Singing stimulates multiple areas of the brain at the same time. This may enable people with an impairment in one part of the brain to communicate using other areas of their brain. Singing can also prolong the sounds in each word, which may make it easier to pronounce them.

If you want to sharpen up your focus and oxygenate your blood; singing, breathing and brain gym are great ways to do this. Have a go at some of the 15 exercises featured here, and see if they improve your day!! https://www.stylecraze.com/articles/simple-brain-gym-exercises-and-its-benefits/

PS. We also know that if you play a musical instrument or enjoy reading or listening to music, then you are stimulating that same part of your brain, so you don’t have to be a singer to enjoy this!

PPS. Thanks to those of you who have emailed in to enquire about volunteering within our singing sessions, Rachel will be in touch shortly as she was unwell last week.

Classic FM have launched a new series for their 30^th year anniversary called Inner Harmony, focussing on well-being and the power of classical music – hosted by Dr Alex George, the UK Youth Mental Health Ambassador. Take a listen on Sundays from 9pm!

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

17/01/2022

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF