Summer School

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#MfEMonday – 9th June 2025

9th June 2025 Music for Everyone

Much fun was had at our Family Festival day in Beeston on Saturday – and we even managed some sunshine between the showers! Thanks to everyone who came along to take part.

The cake and tombola stalls did a roaring trade and we were entertained by a host of musical groups including Open Voices, Nottingham Chamber Singers, SAM Big Band and Wollaton Daytime Voices. Huge thanks to all the groups for performing, Milla’s African drumming workshops and Rachel and Owen for the singing workshops.

We also want to say a massive thank you to our wonderful Kirstie for all her hard work co-ordinating the whole event and wish her all the best for her maternity leave!

Calling all recorder players! Our Recorder Workshop Day on Saturday 6^th September is now open for booking.

The workshop will be led by principal recorder player of the renowned Dunedin Consort, László Rózsa, who will also be giving a short performance and take a Q & A session. László will tutor the advance repertoire sessions in the afternoon, and we are thrilled that Nigel Martin will join us in the afternoon to conduct the main ensemble. The music chosen reflects a broad sweep of styles from the heyday of the Renaissance to the present day.

For more details click here or call 0115 958 9312.

There is also still time to book for the following upcoming events:

Blow the Dust – 14th June

NCS 40th Birthday Celebration Concert – 21st June

Singing Workshop with Neil Ferris – 28th June

A Summer Celebration, Youth Concert – 5th July

Summer School – 4th – 6th August

We are very excited that MfE has got a mention in a new book by cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason! The Power of Music: How Music Connects Us All. Sheku talks about how MfE singing weekends provided him and his siblings with an introduction to harmony and music-making with others:

“We began exploring music through the Music for Everyone charity in Nottingham which ran courses for children’s choir singing. Our mum was very keen that we should sing in choirs, and vocal courses spanned two or three intensive weekends of group tuition with other Nottingham children, culminating in a big concert at Nottingham’s Albert Hall. This allowed us to learn harmony and music-making with others before we began learning instruments, at least string instruments.

We were all very young – I must have been three or four years old – and we were all excited to be taking part in this adventure. We were given a cassette tape to play in our battered seven-seater”…

Definitely one to add to the reading list!

Do you know anyone looking for a full size or ¾ size violin? If so please ask them to get in touch with Su via email su@music-for-everyone.org or call 0115 958 9312.
Bookwise Nottingham has new summer opening hours for June July and August:
Monday to Thursday – 11am – 4pm
Friday and Saturday – 11am – 4.30pm
Come and take a look at the amazing range of books and sheet music!

They would particularly welcome donations of good quality paperback fiction, science fiction and advanced instrumental sheet music.

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE

09/06/2025

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#MfEMonday – 19th May 2025

19th May 2025 Music for Everyone

We hope you have been enjoying the sunshine this week – even if your gardens are not!

Here is a round-up of all our summer musical offerings:

07 June, Family Festival

Musical fun for the whole family. Something for everyone from World Drumming workshops to singing sessions for the whole family, and music to enjoy in the garden. There will also be a cake stall, a second-hand bookshop, drinks, and games/activities in and around the venue. Book your workshop place here.

14 June , Blow the Dust

Instrumental playing day. Places are still available, click here.

21 June, Nottingham Chamber Singers 40th Birthday Celebration Concert

Don’t miss this wonderful celebration! Tickets are available here.

28 June, Choral Workshop with Neil Ferris

Workshop with BBC Singers choral director, Neil Ferris. Places still available. Click here to book.

4 – 6 August, Summer School

A wonderful 3 days of music making with expert conductors and tutors, and performances from exceptional guest artists.

Places still available. Click here to book.

This year’s BBC Proms season has just been announced and features 86 concerts, 72 at London’s Royal Albert Hall and 14 at venues elsewhere around the UK.

The Proms was founded in 1895 by impresario Robert Newman, who wanted to bring life to the quiet summer months with a bold new kind of concert. His idea was simple but revolutionary: take out the expensive stalls seats and create a standing area, a ‘promenade’, right in front of the orchestra. Newman made these standing tickets the cheapest in the house, putting those who paid the least closest to the music and flipping the usual stuffy rules of classical concerts on their head.

That approach still defines the Proms today. ‘Promming’ remains the most affordable way to attend, and you don’t need to book ahead. Each day at 10:30am, around 1,000 standing tickets are released online for just £8, even if all seated tickets are sold out, making The Proms the most accessible major classical music festival. Shame they can’t do anything about train fares to London!

Can you help with donations for our Family Festival? This is a reminder to donate any spare bottles or chocolates! At our Family Festival we will be running some tombola stalls. If you are able to donate a box of chocolates or a bottle of any kind (wine, shampoo, water bottle, olive oil etc.) please drop them into Bookwise Nottingham (10 Goose Gate, Nottingham, NG1 1FF) or hand them in to Rachel Parkes at DTV Hucknall, Southwell or West Bridgford!
How well do you understand noise? See flier to help participate in an NTU Psychology study: Flier

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE

19/05/2025

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

Choral Inspirations: Singing workshop day with Neil Ferris, Saturday 28 ^th June, 10am-5.30pm

#MfEMonday – 7th April 2025

7th April 2025 Music for Everyone

Well done to all our amazing youth groups for their ‘Spirit of Spring’ concert on Saturday at Sherwood Methodist Church. From Vivaldi and Mozart to ‘Music in the Dark’ by Danny Elfman performed in streaming sunlight (as it was a lovely afternoon!) there was a varied programme for all to enjoy! Here are a few photos of them in action!

Limited places available – don’t miss out!

We are excited to welcome Neil who is Chorus Director of the BBC Symphony Chorus so you may have seen him at the Proms! He is conductor of the professional chamber choir ‘Sonoro’ who will be joining us at the Summer School and has worked with some of the finest choirs in the UK. We can’t wait to see what he has in store.

The workshop day will include choral favourites from Bach, Brahms, Franck and Elgar which will be paired with new works with fresh re-imaginings of the same texts such as the two versions of Panis Angelicus below:

César Franck – Panis Angelicus (https://youtu.be/_j7-XOmlob8?si=wXBTttKW5jGgtCPn)
Rebecca Dale – Panis Angelicus ‘Reimagined’ (https://youtu.be/ezfbwdMCNsE?si=WTjCy_tlbVnlfIjR)

Don’t miss this incredible experience! click here to book online or call the MfE office on 0115 958 9312.

Summer School is also booking up fast – Clarinets and oboes now fully booked and last few places left for flutes! Please email anne@music-for-everyone.org if you would like to join a waiting list.

Plenty of places left for all voice parts. To book your place please click here or call the MfE office on 0115 958 9312.

You might have seen King Charles playing twinkle twinkle little star on the carrot last week. Did you know that London has it’s own Vegetable Orchestra seen here on Saturday Night Takeaway with Gary Barlow!

With the School Easter Holidays just starting, why not see what edible instruments you can make?

Here’s something to get you started: How To Turn A Carrot Into A Recorder

MfE Music Amnesty! – Please return any sheet music you can find belonging to MfE. There will be a box on the mezzanine at Nottingham Bookwise or music can be posted to the office.
An upcoming concert that may interest you: Sleaford Choral Society Concert – Saturday 12th April in St Denys, Sleaford, 7.30pm.

Tickets online and at door, details on poster attached.

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE

07/04/2025

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/workshop-day-ncm-from-west-end-to-broadway/

#MfEMonday – 24th February 2025

24th February 2025 Music for Everyone

We are delighted to let you know that Summer School 2025 is now open for booking!

4^th– 6^th August 2025 – Trent College, Long Eaton

We are delighted to announce the return of Hilary Campbell conducting the choir, Kieron Anderson conducting Saxophones and Wind Band and Alex Robinson conducting the Orchestra and String Ensemble.

Introducing our guest artists this year as: Tailleferre Ensemble, Leo Melvin and Sonoro.

Biographies for each artist and conductor can be seen on our website.

Click the link to find out more and book your place: Course: Summer School 2025

Looking to the next few weeks, We are fast approaching the end of February and looking forward to some brighter days and a musical March!

Here’s what we have coming up…

Saturday 15th March – ‘From West End to Broadway’ at the John Godber Centre, Hucknall

Come and sing some hits from shows including Wicked, Les Misérables and Fiddler on the Roof!

Or to watch the performance book tickets here: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/from-west-end-to-broadway/

Saturday 29^th March – Easter Images concert

The Nottingham Chamber Singers warmly invite you to the village church of St Peter’s, Ruddington to experience glorious music by Bach, Handel, Rachmaninov and Poulenc.

To book online visit: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/ncs-easter/ or call the MfE office on 0115 958 9312.

We are delighted to have been awarded a National Lottery Project Grant by Arts Council England which will fund a new commission from composer Libby Croad. Many of you will remember Libby from our 40th Anniversary celebrations in 2023 when she wrote a piece to celebrate MfE’s big birthday! This time she will be creating a work for the Nottingham Chamber Singers accompanied by a string orchestra which will be premiered at their anniversary concert in June. Below is an extract from an interview in the ‘Strad’ magazine where Libby talks about her journey to becoming a Composer.

You’ve enjoyed a career as a violinist – what made you decide to pursue composition as well?

I’ve always loved composing ever since I was a little girl, and it’s always been part of my life in the background. Composing feeds my soul! I did second study composition at the Royal Academy of Music where I developed my love of choral writing, guided by one of my teachers Gareth Wilson, who commissioned me to write a piece for his choir Christ Church Chelsea, while I was still at college. Once leaving college I followed the path of being a violinist, which I also love, however I just started to feel like a huge part of me wasn’t being fulfilled. So I started to write again!

In 2016 I wrote my first Christmas carol Silent Night, which was premiered by The New London Singers at St Martin in the Fields. It’s since been published by Multitude of Voyces in a Christmas Anthology of sacred music by female composers and has been performed all over the world, including Washington D.C. by the award winning Lux choir, and the BBC Singers on BBC Radio 3. I followed that up with writing a string orchestra movement for the chamber orchestra I was playing with at St Martin in the Fields, Trafalgar Sinfonia, and it developed into my Suite for String Orchestra which has become popular today. Since then, my composition has grown year on year and I’m very lucky that so many people seem to be enjoying performing my works.

Tell us about your stylistic influences – your violin and string knowledge is evident in your writing – are there particular elements you like to include in your compositions?

I’ve been told that my music sounds very English! I think this stems from my love of composers such as Vaughan Williams and Elgar. I love using modes in my writing and there’s often a folk feel to my music. As a violinist I love writing close emotional string harmonies, and a good melody! Obviously with my knowledge of the instrument I know what’s physically possible which definitely helps. I do enjoy mixing up pizzicato and more lyrical lines, often in a fugue-like way.

Click here for the full interview.

We are really excited to be working with Libby once again! There will be the chance to see her working on the piece with the Nottingham Chamber Singers in May. More details to follow soon.

The MAJOR OAK CHORUS is looking for a new MUSICAL DIRECTOR. They are a group of about 30 singers based in Nottingham, and practise on Tuesday evenings from 7.30 to 10.00 at the Carlton Junior Academy NG4 1QS.

Anyone who is interested is welcome to attend a practise session and even direct the Chorus before applying for the position!

If you are up for the challenge, please contact the Secretary, Jonathan Ankers, e-mail secretary@majoroakchorus.com

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE

24/02/2025

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 – 12th August 2024

12th August 2024 Music for Everyone

We are all recovering from a marathon of music-making at our Summer School last week!

There was a great buzz of excitement at Trent College as we welcomed back Hilary Campbell to lead the singers, Keiron Anderson the wind band and our Artistic Director Alex Robinson to direct the orchestra and strings. Our guest artists included the talented folk-jazz fusion duo, Katie Foster and Ben Sayah who also delivered a workshop on improvisation with the string players (pushing quite a few of us out of our comfort zone!) and Heron Brass, a London-based quintet who entertained with a superb recital.

On the final day we were treated to a relaxing programme of piano classics by the wonderful Richard Cox, our Summer School accompanist.

As well as all the fantastic music-making, breaktimes were an excellent time to catch up with fellow musicians, drink bottomless tea and coffee and browse the Bookwise stall of second-hand books and sheet music which raised an epic £587 of sales over the three days!

Thank you so much to all the staff, conductors tutors and volunteers who made it happen – you are all AWESOME.

The biggest THANK YOU and WELL DONE to all the singers and instrumentalists who took part and worked so hard over the 3 days, your performances were incredible. Hope to see you at the next one!

If you can’t wait that long for your musical fix then take a look at our season brochure for opportunities coming up next season…Click here

Booking now open for the following:

Recorder Workshop Day – 14^{th September}

Singing Workshop and Concert – 5^{th & 6th October}

Nottingham Chamber Singers Concert – 12^th October

Youth Music courses – Bandwise / Stringwise – 9th/10^th November & 17^th November

Have you been swept up in the sporting fever of the Olympics? If you’re suffering from OWS (Olympic Withdrawal Syndrome) then at least there isn’t long to wait until the Paralympics on 28th August!

Music has always played a huge role in the Olympics – take a look at the top musical moments that brought occasion and spectacle to the world’s biggest sporting stage:

https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/top-classical-music-olympic-games/

Nottingham City Council is currently undertaking a public consultation around changes to the library service including closure of 4 libraries (Aspley, Basford, Bilborough, Radford-Lenton) and reduction of hours elsewhere plus cuts to other areas of spend.

If you would like to have a say in the future of the City library service please complete the survey via the following link: https://www.nottinghamcitylibraries.co.uk/shape-the-vision/

Please note this is relating to City libraries not County (Inspire)

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE

12/08/2024

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF