#MfEMondays

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 – 6th February 2023

6th February 2023 Music for Everyone

What a treat from the combined forces of the Nottingham Festival Chorus and Concert Orchestra on Saturday evening. The sound was thrilling and as rich and varied as the programme itself, with works by Parry, Finzi, Tippett, Delius, Gjeilo and Vaughan Williams. Conductors, Angela Kay and Rachel Parkes were delighted by the performance. Congratulations to all those involved!

A message from MfE Director – Donna Fox

We are pleased to announce that Arts Council England is supporting Music for Everyone’s 40^th Anniversary season this year. The theme is “Celebration”.

With a focus on inclusion, we will be celebrating the achievements of female leadership in Classical Music, such as our Founder Angela Kay MBE, female composers, conductors and musicians. We will be holding a special gala weekend on 1^st July (youth) and 2^nd July (adults) so watch this space for more details about how to get involved. We hope to engage new participants as we broaden and diversify our offer to include a new Open Voices session in Mansfield, as well as weekly Steel Pan and World Drumming ensembles. Let’s celebrate!!!
Watch this space for further details!

Places are now available on our next Vocals weekend in April. There will be rounds, part-songs, percussion and dancing, as well as popular songs from Encanto, Aladdin, Matilda and Trolls World Tour! If you know any youngsters who love singing please pass on the details.

A random one this week! We have been contacted by one of our members who sent us a picture of a lace bobbin with an inscription ‘Blow the Dust’ etched into it. This got us thinking about the importance of lacemaking locally as our office is on the edge of the Lace Market, once the heart of the worlds lace industry.

Did you know that lace makers used songs to help them with their work? These were known as Lacemaking Tells.

The Lacemaking Tells are unaccompanied counting songs and rhymes sung/chanted by young lacemakers, particularly used in the lace schools, when they are first being taught to make lace.

These songs tended to be made up of fragments of ballads, nursery rhymes and sometimes even hymns, and re-hashed and appropriated to serve the lacemaking process. The rhythm of the songs helped them to build up speed when making lace and also helped them to stay awake during the night shifts!

Here’s a track from folk singer and viola player Jackie Oates and Jon Spiers called Needle Pin, Needle Pin based on these lacemaking tells: https://youtu.be/rWCWld_XjFA

Do we have any lacemakers out there? We would love to know if you still sing whilst you work!

We still have places available on the next Bandwise and Stringwise courses at the end of February – open to all young musicians! Click the course name to find out more details and sign up!

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE.

06/02/2023

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/nfc-concert/

#MfEMonday – 30th January 2023

30th January 2023 Music for Everyone

Hello! If you thought January and February were cold and dormant months, then you’ve obviously never been in the office at MfE!

We’ve already had a busy and exciting Blow the Dust day and the youth groups fantastic New Year Concert, whilst our daytime groups have been up and running in full swing for two weeks. This week in particular is a special one for us, as it sees the culmination of the massive hard-work and effort that goes into the Nottingham Festival Chorus weekend. Part of the unique selling point of MfE is that we are able to give people the chance to be part of a large-scale musical event, accompanied by our fabulous full orchestra, without asking for vast time commitment in the run-up. Singers have been busily learning their notes from our carefully curated ‘CD practise tracks’, whilst some came along in person to our friendly sectional rehearsals in deepest darkest January. This past weekend saw the massed chorus meeting at NTU Clifton to look at their notes in detail with Angela Kay and Rachel Parkes, and we can tell you that the results were stunning. Much fun was had, and many different muscles – singing, brain and body (!) were stimulated. There were also many biscuits consumed!

We thought they sounded magnificent, and if you’d like to hear the results for yourself, make sure you book your ticket for Saturday 4^th Feb 7.30pm at the Albert Hall this week. **10% discount available for MfE members and all singers on the course.**

We hope to see you there!

As part of our varied programme of musical delights on Saturday, the choir and orchestra will be performing some of the spirituals from Michael Tippett’s Child of Our Time. These immensely moving works take their origins from African-American songs dating from the slave-trade. As we near Oscar season, we thought we’d leave you with some incredible examples of how these tunes have been used over the decades in movies on the big screen… perhaps you have some more examples for us, we always love hearing them!

O Brother Where Art Thou (2000) — “Down to the River to Pray”
The Apostle (1998) — “I’m a Soldier in the Army of the Lord,” “Nearer My God to Thee,” “There Is a River,” “In the Garden,” “I Love to Tell the Story,” “Victory Is Mine,” “There Is Power in the Blood”, “I’ll Fly Away”
Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993) — “Oh Happy Day,” “His Eye Is on the Sparrow”.
12 Years a Slave (2013)
Selma (2014) ‘Take my hand precious lord’
Harriet (2019)

Our next VOCALS workshop and concert for young singers is now open for booking! We’ll be celebrating songs from ‘around the world’ – take a look on our website for all the details: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/vocals-apr-2023/

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE.

30/01/2023

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.

#MfETuesday – 24th January 2023

24th January 2023 Music for Everyone

On Sunday our four brilliant youth groups took part in a new year concert at Kingswood Church, Wollaton. Over 60 young people wowed a packed-out audience, with performances from Nottingham Youth Band, East Midlands Youth Band, Nottingham Strictly Strings and East Midlands Youth String Orchestra. From film scores to Philip Glass, Mozart to Bernstein, and folk music from Wales and Romania, there was something for everyone. Congratulations to all our young players on a brilliant concert of a uniformly high standard. If you were foolish enough to miss it, note that the next youth concert will be on Sunday 19^th March at The Grange in Radcliffe on Trent.

Message from Jane, Music Manager @ Bookwise Nottingham

Blow the Dust Saturday on January 7th was very successful and enjoyable for the instrumentalists and the MfE staff who took part as well as the families and friends who came to listen to the concert at the end of the day. I just want to let everyone know that the Bookwise Stall of Music Sales was also a great success. We took £428 – which is more than we have ever done before 😃👍. Many thanks to all the instrumentalists who helped to make the takings so high. We couldn’t have done it without you. Do hope you’re all enjoying your 2nd hand music.🎶.I couldn’t have done it also without the help of Joan Bassey on the day and Ellen, Gary, and Anne. We’ll be there again at the next Blow the Dust later in the year.

And Bookwise will be at the Singing Course this coming weekend Sat & Sunday Jan 28th & 29th with Books as well as Music. This time we’ll be bringing Choral Music, Singing Items, Piano and Duets, Keyboard Music, Piano Voice & Guitar, some Music Books, @and some Choral and Church CD’s. If you’re wanting other items please let MfE know and they’ll pass on the information.

Thanks, Jane @ Bookwise Nottingham.

Did you know that this Friday (27 Jan) is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s 267^th birthday? To celebrate why not listen to this little known work, which is catalogue number K.267 (geddit?) – 4 Country Dances, written in 1777 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fNhwgO2Qso

If you haven’t yet booked your tickets for our spectacular Vaughan Williams: Toward the Unknown Region concert on 4^th Feb, now is the time to get them! Tickets available here.

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE.

24/01/2023

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#MfEMonday – 16th January 2023

16th January 2023 Music for Everyone

It’s concert week for the MfE youth groups! The Strictly Strings, East Midlands Youth String Orchestra, Nottingham and East Midlands Youth Bands have been working hard over the Autumn term towards their New Year concert at Kingswood Methodist Church, Wollaton on Sunday 22 January, 3.30pm. Tickets are available in advance and on the door: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/new-year-concert/

The next MfE concert will be the Nottingham Festival Chorus performing Vaughan Williams ‘Toward the Unknown Region’ and featuring soloist Richard Cox on piano on Saturday 4 February at the Albert Hall, Nottingham. Definitely not to be missed! Book tickets and select your seats here: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/nfc-concert/

The Lullaby Banks (in partnership with Inspire Music Hub) are back this term and looking forward to welcoming new mums and babies. If you, or someone you know, has a little one aged 0 – 9 months, the sessions are completely free and take place in Beeston and West Bridgford libraries. Booking is essential to guarantee a place as space is limited. https://www.inspireculture.org.uk/whats-on/the-lullaby-bank/

The two most popular New Year’s resolutions in the UK are to exercise more and improve fitness or improve their diet with more healthy eating.

Although we’re already halfway through January (who knows how long these resolutions last!) here’s a twist on a January diet for you… a musical diet especially for the first month of the year. Take 5 – 10 minutes each day to be an ‘active listener’ and enjoy this specially crafted playlist by The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jan/01/feed-your-soul-the-31-day-classical-music-diet-for-january-fiona-maddocks

Quick joke: Why couldn’t the string quartet find their composer?
Answer: He was Haydn…

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE.

16/01/2023

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#MfEMonday – 9th January 2023

9th January 2023 Music for Everyone

Happy New Year from all of us at Music for Everyone. We hope you have had a good Christmas break.

New year, new term.

Our regular groups resume rehearsals next week with the exception of Nottingham Daytime Orchestra who start again on Thursday, and our Lunchtime Choir which also starts on Thursday. If you are not familiar with our Lunchtime Choir they meet every Thursday in the Level 4 Foyer of the Royal Concert Hall from 12:30 – 13:30. Lead by the Dynamic Duo of Rachel Parkes and Josh Goodman, the group provides a great opportunity for city workers to take a proper break during Thursday lunchtimes and enjoy singing a range of music from folk and pop to blues and classical, in preparation for an informal performance at the end of the term. A singing break has a host of fabulous benefits. It gives you confidence, builds teams, increases motivation and focus, develops creativity and even improves your posture and breathing. Above all, it’s a lot of fun! This friendly and relaxed group is open to everyone who loves to sing and you don’t need to be able to read music to take part.

Blow the Dust

It was fantastic to have so many people join us for Blow the Dust at the Albert Hall last Saturday. 170 musicians gathered to perform works for orchestra, wind band and string orchestra. The final strains of Nessum Dorma are probably still ringing through the Albert Hall now! Please click here to hear some (Dr) miraculous playing from the full orchestra!

News from the MfE office

As you may know, with the departure of Robin Reece-Crawford, Anne Jackson has taken on the role of Adult Music Programme Coordinator. We will also be advertising for a new-part time administrator to join the team in the next few months.

Welcome to a newly refreshed section of MfE Mondays: ‘Monday Musings’ where we bring you some interesting musical thoughts, articles, playlists and more!

In our 40^th Anniversary Season we will be highlighting the achievements of women in music. Research carried out by online classical music magazine Bachtrack, based on over 27,000 listings for performances that took place in 2022, found that almost half of the world’s contemporary composers in 2022 were women. Click here for the full article on ClassicFM.

To welcome the new year, our youth groups will be performing a celebratory varied and entertaining concert on Sunday 22 January at Kingswood Methodist Church. Tickets are available here.

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE.

09/01/2023

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/music-theory/christmas-song-chestnuts-roasting-open-fire-intervals/

#MfETuesday – 20th December 2022

20th December 2022 Music for Everyone

The Music for Everyone team wishes you a happy and festive Christmas and new year.

The MfE office will close on Friday 23^rd December and re-open on Tuesday 3^rd January 2023, emails will be checked intermittently during this time.

See you in 2023 for more music making!

Tomorrow heralds the winter solstice, the longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere. As the darkness lifts, the days will grow longer. Winter Solstice celebrations all over the world mark the midwinter cycle of the seasons and new beginnings.

The December solstice gave rise to celebrations that can be traced back to antiquity. Germanic peoples celebrated the feast of juul (yule or yuletide) which included burning a yule log to honor the Norse god Thor. Out of this, too, came yule singing and wassailing. Though some ancient practices were abolished by Christianity, many elements were arrogated, for instance, from the year-end bacchanal Roman Saturnalia. Romans sang songs, decked the halls with greens and garland. Though little is known about the actual music performed during the Roman imperial feast of the winter solstice, texts from the fifth-century Christian philosopher St. Augustine indicate that the songs were profane in nature.

Perhaps the most famous winter solstice celebration in the world takes place in the ancient ruins of Stonehenge, a monument built on a solstitial alignment. To this day, thousands of self-styled druids (Celtic priests), pagans, and visitors gather to usher in the first sunrise, after the long winter night. Revelers sing and dance among the stone landscape waiting for the sun to rise.

Tradition and music are at the heart of solstice. Whether it’s religious or secular, the solstice has engendered beautiful music.

To hear what music would have sounded like at Stonehenge 4,000 years ago, check out this article and recording from the website newscientist.com.

Why ‘Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire’ is the perfect song to teach music theory!

The Friesland Orchestral Society is looking for new members! Rehearsals are on Friday evenings for informal music making with no public performances. You can find them on Facebook as ‘Sawley Music Group) if you’re interested and would like to get in touch.

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE.

20/12/2022

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

#MfEMonday – 5th December 2022

5th December 2022 Music for Everyone

Happy Advent! The festive season is finally upon us, and here at MfE we certainly know how to kick off in style.

Yesterday afternoon saw St Mary’s Church in Bunny aglow with candlelight as the Nottingham Chamber Singers took us on a mystical journey through Chilcott’s setting of the great ‘O Antiphons’ interspersed with advent carols and images.

What started as an audio and visual feast then became an actual feast, as wassail cups and ginger cake were passed around, and the choir (and audience!) really got into the spirit of Christmas. There were rousing drinking songs such as Landlord fill the flowing bowl, Good Ale and the Boar’s Head Carol and a highly raucous Twelve Days of Christmas!

However, don’t worry if you think you’ve missed out as there will be plenty more where that came from…..

More festive dates this week:

Tuesday 6^th December

11.30am the Loughborough Daytime Orchestra and guest singers will be performing a festive concert at All Saints church in Loughborough as part of their Christmas Tree Festival. Free.

Thursday 8^th December – THREE EVENTS!!!

11am the Nottingham Daytime Orchestra will be presenting their end of term concert at St Martin’s church Sherwood. Free.
Approx 1.15pm – 1.45pm the Lunchtime Voices will be singing some of their repertoire, along with popular Christmas songs and carols to join in with on the 2^nd Floor of John Lewis Department Store (home furnishings) within the Victoria Centre. We’d love to see some friendly faces, and we will be shaking the MfE donation buckets in time to Jingle Bells!!!
6pm at Nottingham Train Station – The Youth Bands will be playing festive music in the main ticket hall, so if you can drop by and support after work, they’d greatly appreciate it!

AND FINALLY!

Sunday, 11^th December at 3.30pm in the Nottingham Albert Hall – if you haven’t purchased your ticket for Christmas is Coming! yet, it’s going to be fabulous. We can’t wait! https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/christmas-is-coming/

The ‘O antiphons’, likely dating from the sixth century, were traditionally used at vespers on the last seven days of Advent in Western Christian traditions. They contain an interesting and clever twist, as the first letters of their titles appear to form a Latin acrostic Sarc Ore, which when flipped around become Ero cras, meaning ‘Tomorrow, I will be there’, mirroring the theme of the antiphons.

Christmas pun alert!

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

05/12/2022

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

Advent music: 10 best carols and hymns to begin the festive season – Classic FM

#MfEMonday – 28th November 2022

28th November 2022 Music for Everyone

We’re looking forward to a month of Christmas music and cheer from next weekend! The Nottingham Chamber Singers A Mystical Christmas concert on Sunday 4^th December at St Mary the Virgin Church, Bunny has now sold out, we have a waiting list if anyone is interested.

There are plenty more opportunities to join us for a festive performance though!

Join the Loughborough Daytime Orchestra next Tuesday 6^th December at the ‘Christmas Tree Festival Lunchtime Concert’! Details on the flyer here.

The annual Christmas is Coming concert is also selling fast, join us at the Albert Hall on Sunday 11^th December, 3.30pm for a traditional afternoon concert, featuring the Nottingham Community Voices and Vocals Youth Choir and a very special guest (we wonder who that could be…?) https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/christmas-is-coming/

Monday Motivation headline and website for Music for Everyone

Tomorrow is Giving Tuesday, a global day of giving

Music for Everyone is proud to be part of Giving Tuesday, raising awareness of the incredible work that charities around the world do every year. We would like to say a big thank you to all our wonderful staff, trustees, freelance musicians, volunteers and supporters.

Here’s how you can get involved on GIVING TUESDAY or any day for that matter:

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

Giving Tuesday was created in 2012 as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good. Over the last decade, this idea has grown into a global movement that inspires millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity. You can volunteer your time; donate money; share your skills; donate books or musical instruments.

And on 29 November, BE PROUD! Tell the world how proud you are to donate to, volunteer for or in any way support a good cause #mfe #givingtuesday @givingtuesday

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- Yesterday was the first Sunday of Advent, so we think it is now perfectly acceptable to start playing festive music in the office. Luckily for us, we don’t need to come up with our own playlist as Classic FM have once again made a playlist of the best carols and hymns to start the festive season! https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/occasions/christmas/advent-carols-hymns/

Wachet auf! ruft uns die Stimme. Wachet auf is a lutheran hymn, first published in 1599. It appears in multiple German and English hymnals, however, one of its most famous arrangements is the cantata by J.S. Bach.. The cantata was originally written for the 27th Sunday after Trinity; occurring immediately before advent.

www.classicfm.com

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

28/11/2022

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF