#MfEMonday – 6th February 2023

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 40th 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 1st July (youth) and 2nd 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

admin@music-for-everyone.org

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

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#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.