Stringwise

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 – 20th February 2023

20th February 2023 Music for Everyone

Tickets are still available for the Nottingham Chamber Singers’ Multitude of Voices concert at St Martin’s in Sherwood on 11 March. Join them as they dive into the rich, exquisite and relatively under-represented canon of choral works by female composers.

The concert, in the same week as International Women’s Day, will take the opportunity to celebrate 900 years of Passiontide themed motets, both reflective and uplifting from the 11th Century Abbess and Polymath Hildegard von Bingen through to the emerging and talented Kerensa Briggs (b.1991). Throughout the concert, acclaimed Saxophonist John Barker will be weaving transcendent melodies into and around our program, culminating in a second half performance of the beautiful Son of God Mass by James Whitbourn to ease you into Eastertide.

Click here for more information and here to book.

The youth groups are gearing up for a busy month of March, working towards their Mother’s Day concert on Sunday 19^th March at The Grange in Radcliffe on Trent, an instrumental treat for all! Click here for more information

We are really looking forward to welcoming 161 young instrumentalists to our Bandwise and Stringwise courses this weekend! After a weekend of being put through their paces by our crack team of experts they will then come together for a showcase concert at the Albert Hall on Sunday 05 March. We can’t wait to hear their joint performance of ‘Feelin’ Good’ arranged by our very own Josh Goodman. Perhaps most famously recorded by Nina Simone, it was first performed by Guyanese-British singer Cy Grant on the opening night of The Roar of the Greasepaint at the Theatre Royal in Nottingham on 3 August 1964!

Click here to find out what song was number one on the day you were born. The current range in the office is Fernando by Abba to I Owe You Nothing by Bros – but we’re not going to reveal who came out dancing to Abba!

Have a great week!

Your friends at MfE.

20/02/2023

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#MfEMonday – 7th November 2022

7th November 2022 Music for Everyone

Music for Everyone’s twice-annual mega youth event – The Big Youth Music Experience – kicked off its Autumn course with a bang this weekend. Over 150 young people, dozens of volunteers, five conductors, six instrumental tutors and many, many custard creams all assembled at South Notts Academy for a weekend of amazing music-making!

Bandwise 1 and 2 and Stringwise 1, 2 and 3 spent Saturday and Sunday preparing for next Sunday’s concert spectacular at the Albert Hall.

Tomorrow, November 7th, marks the 139^th Birthday of legendary British composer Arnold Bax. Why not celebrate with this gorgeous recording of his masterpiece ‘Tintagel’? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FX95ET4qSI

Incidentally, if you were interested in hearing this live, why not check out the Charnwood Orchestra’s concert on 26^th November! Details on the flyer.

Did you know that some new works by Vivaldi have been found? Musicologist Olivier Fourés has painstakingly reconstructed fragments of manuscripts found in libraries in Venice of works by composers including Antonio Vivaldi. The reconstructed works will be heard for the first time on an album coming out this month, featuring Ukrainian violinist Vadym Makarenko. Read the full story here.

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

07/11/2022

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 – 15th August 2022

15th August 2022 Music for Everyone

We had a great 3 days of music making at Summer School last week. You can find out what we got up and see pictures of the sessions and amazing guests we had on our blog page, there is a post for each day of Summer School: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/about-us/blog/

Announcing 2022/23 dates!

Details of courses, workshops and concerts are now available on our website for the 40^th Anniversary season. Information for regular groups (Daytime groups, etc) will follow soon including advance booking.

Website homepage with upcoming events in the Autumn: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/
Adult workshops & courses for 22/23: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/forms/
Youth workshops & courses for 22/23: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/workshops-and-courses/
Concerts in 22/23: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/whats-on/concerts/

The rain has finally arrived, bringing some much needed freshness to the air after the most recent heatwave. We decided to look at music inspired by rain, hoping a rain-dance would open the heavens sooner than expected!

Chopin’s Prelude Op.28 (‘Raindrop’) with it’s repetitive pulse through the texture is thought to sound like raindrops. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVau-JRGirg

An appropriately named piece The Welcome Arrival of Rain by Judith Weir, inspired by verse from the Hindu text ‘Bhagavata Purana’ – catching the sense of sudden rain and the renewal and growth that follows. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZU4PBYjDtkw

And something a little different to finish, here is a choir making the sounds of a rain storm using their hands and feet, impressive! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29qaN0M0o0s

We’ve all heard music that has been described as ‘out of this world’… well here is something that was produced from out of this world! NASA have released a soundscape of the Butterfly Nebula, created from data taken from images – sounding strangely dreamlike! https://www.classicfm.com/music-news/videos/nasa-sound-butterfly-nebula/

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

15/08/2022

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/recorder-consort-day/

#MfEMonday – 25th July 2022

25th July 2022 Music for Everyone

We can’t quite believe that our final event of the season is almost upon us, but there is already much to look forward to from September, with our 40th Anniversary season!

For all you recorder players there is a special playing and performance day on Saturday 3rd September with the chance to perform in the beautiful surroundings of Wollaton Hall. For further details follow this link:

We are excited that Brian Kay (founding member of the King’s Singers) is leading a Choral Workshop on Saturday 8th October. Book early to avoid disappointment:

https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/autumn-singing-workshop-day/

And the ever popular Big Youth Music Experience is back in November!

Bandwise for all young wind, brass and percussion players: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/byme-bandwise-2022/

Stringwise for all young string players: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/byme-stringwise-2022/

There will be lots more exciting events to come so keep your eyes peeled!

A short Monday Motivation today as I know many of us are winding down for the Summer!

On this day (25th July) in 1788, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completed his Symphony No. 40. The precise date of completion of this symphony is known as Mozart kept a full catalogue of his completed works.

It’s incredible to believe that this was one of three symphonies that he rattled off within just a few weeks – the 39th Symphony completed 26th June and the 41st Symphony on 10th August.

Wow. So if that’s not motivation to be more productive over the Summer then I don’t know what is!!

Click here to have a listen to Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic with a short snippet from Symphony No. 40: https://youtu.be/0sGqkMU-mGQ

Or follow this link for the full four movements with the London Mozart Players: https://youtu.be/CJkUpFWAIm4

Calling young string players! If you’re aged 12-18 and are grade 4+ on violin, viola, cello or double bass, have a look at this event running in August… contact Ellie McLay for more details (email on flyer)

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

25/07/2022

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#MfEMonday – 7th March 2022

7th March 2022 Music for Everyone

This weekend has been a busy one for MFE. Saturday saw the Nottingham Chamber Singers giving a concert in St Mary Magdalene Church, Hucknall. The first half was a performance of John Rutter’s Requiem with Sarah Trevers singing the soprano solo in the Pie Jesu and Lux Aeterna. The second half included a series of part songs by Schumann and Brahms and local composer Guy Turner’s Songs and Legends of Robin Hood.

Sunday was the culmination of our Big Youth Music Experience with a concert in the Albert Hall for family and friends. The 160 young players of the Stringwise and Bandwise groups gave sterling performances of music by Telemann, Holst, Bernstein, Bizet, to name but a few. The concert ended with all the players coming together in a special arrangement by Josh Goodman of the Frank Sinatra classic New York, New York.

The opening ceremony of the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games got underway at the National Stadium in Beijing on Friday night. Themed “Inspiration,” the countdown performance had two parts – Looking back at the history of the Paralympic Games and the Inspiration of the Paralympic Spirit.

These ceremonies always have spectacular dance and music presentations, and this year was no exception. However, you may not be aware of a dynamic arts organisation which is based much closer to home. The vision of Able Orchestra is to create a totally inclusive ensemble of disabled and non-disabled musicians. From its origins as an “iPad orchestra” for profoundly disabled students in North Nottinghamshire, Able Orchestra has expanded to bring together diverse young musicians and emerging music leaders with world-class professional artists from a range of music and digital genres.

Have a look at this introductory video to see what fantastic work they are doing –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkJt2pottZY&t=109s

Two local concerts you might be interested in…
Friday March 11th 7:30pm – Mosaic – A concert of music for Unaccompanied Voices. Church of our Lady of Mercy and Philip Neri, Melbourne, Derby DE73 8EJ
Saturday March 12th 7:30pm – Nottingham Symphony Orchestra – American Classics. Albert Hall Nottingham NG1 5AA. Special 25% discount for MFE members – use code MUSICALNOTTS! when booking online http://nottinghamsymphony.org.uk/

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

07/03/2022

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#MfEMondays – 4th October 2021

4th October 20214th October 2021 Music for Everyone

Coming soon, our Big Youth Music Experience! Saturday 6th November (Wind band workshop) Sunday 7th November (Strings workshop) with a joint concert on Sunday 14th November at the Albert Hall, Nottingham!

If you know any young instrumentalists who might enjoy playing in an ensemble there is still time to sign up, music packs are coming out this week! Follow the link for full details: https://www.music-for-everyone.org/event/big-youth-music-experience/

If, like us, you’ve been enjoying glitz and glam of this year’s Strictly Come Dancing, you may like to discover more about the fabulous musicians who bring the show to life.

Dave Arch and his orchestra are the musical backbone of Strictly Come Dancing, arranging and learning up to 14 songs a week for the celebrity dance show. Rarely seen on-screen, the 20-piece band have to master everything from orchestral suites to body-popping R&B! They only get together for a rehearsal on the Friday evening and then spend a very long day rehearsing with the dancers on the Saturday before the live show.

Follow this link to find out what goes on behind the scenes: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20811167

So how much do you know about the dances on Strictly? Take our quiz to find out… https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/49604374

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

04/10/2021

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

#MfEMondays – Keeping in Touch

21st June 2021 Music for Everyone

KEEPING IN TOUCH

Hello everyone,

Something positive – at last!

We have just had a wonderful weekend of LIVE music making!

Over 120 of our youth instrumentalists came along to Nottingham’s Albert Hall (wind band players on Saturday and string players on Sunday) and played a kaleidoscopic array of entertaining music. From Bizet’s Toreador March to Queen Greatest Hits, a Rameau Overture to Summer Stomp!! From 4year olds to late teens – they all had a great time.

A big THANKYOU to the conductors, helpers and MfE staff for making it such a great Covid secure musical success.

Here are a few pictures to give you a flavour of the event.

With all best wishes

Angela

How to prank a conductor in an orchestra and get away with it with a blast of the Imperial March in the middle of Prokofiev! https://www.classicfm.com/composers/prokofiev/imperial-march-orchestra-prank/

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

21/06/2021

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncct7–67BY

#MfEMondays – Keeping in Touch

29th March 2021 Music for Everyone

KEEPING IN TOUCH

Hello everyone

I hope you have all been enjoying today’s very welcome sunshine and also the first step ‘little steps’ in the relaxation of Covid regulations. Spring is definitely in the air and perhaps things are slowly getting back to some sort of ‘normal’.

Last week you should have all received a link to a YouTube message from me – if it didn’t arrive then just click here to see what I said! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLW4TmAnwDQ

And today, Chair of MfE, John Hess, has surrounded himself in Easter eggs and posted a message to you all. Here is the link

Our plans for youth activities continue to develop. Details about our Youth Wind Band afternoon on Saturday 19^th June and our Youth String Orchestra afternoon on Sunday 20^th June are now available from our website. This should be a great way to get young people back into playing so if you know anyone who might be interested then please do encourage them to come along.

Here is the link (click on the title of each event for more details): https://www.music-for-everyone.org/workshops-and-courses/

Next Monday is Easter Monday so MfEMondays is taking the day off!

Have a good Easter break.

With all best wishes

Angela

Online concert alert! Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky, performed by members of Sinfonia Viva in the atmospheric surroundings of Derby Museum’s Joseph Wright Gallery, all led by MfE Summer School tutor and Sinfonia Viva principal clarinettist Chris Swann. The concert is available until 23 April, here’s the link: https://www.sinfoniaviva.co.uk/Event/wind-quintet-performs-pictures-at-an-exhibition
To celebrate Bach’s birthday (31st March… although some debate it’s the 21^st!) here’s something interesting we found! Some very clever musicians designed this ‘musical signature’ using just a single note. Did you know that the Germans use the notation H for what we would call Bb, so if you rotate this very clever image starting at the bottom and name the notes from the corresponding clef (treble, tenor and alto) it spells B A C H!

Have a good week!

Your friends at MfE.

29/03/2021

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

10 Goose Gate | Hockley | NG1 1FF