choir

Summer School 2021

…a Grand European Tour

Music for Everyone’s 2021 Summer School is a wonderful opportunity to immerse yourself in quality music-making in a stimulating, friendly environment.

This year we are delighted that the Summer School will be hosted once again by Trent College. Their outstanding facilities, excellent bus and tram links and on-site parking make it the perfect location for an inspiring musical experience. And for those travelling a distance, the nearby town of Long Eaton has a selection of overnight accommodation and two hotels can be found at Junction 25 of the M1, just 2 miles away from Trent College.

This year we embark upon a Grand European Tour of choral and instrumental music, singing and playing works from many countries and centuries. Enjoy the expertise of our tour guides, including nationally and internationally recognised tutors and recitalists.

Repertoire for the orchestra will include Johannes Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No 5 and to remind us all of the annual New Year’s Day concert from Vienna, Johann Strauss’ Thunder and Lightening Polka. For instrumentalists and singers, Gabriel Faure’s haunting Cantique de Jean Racine, and to celebrate Beethoven’s 250th Anniversary, a special arrangement of Ode to Joy. 

The windband, string orchestra, and choir will explore especially selected repertoire, including – for windband, Holst’s First Suite in Eb for Military Band, plus the opportunity to work with guest recitalist Chris Swann. For strings an arrangement of Mozart’s Sinfonietta K381, and for choir, we travel to Italy with excerpts from Pergolesi’s sunny Magnificat and the atmospheric O Lux beata Trinitas by contemporary Slovenian composer Andrej Makor. Add to all this workshops and recitals given by top professionals and you have three days of superb music-making.

The Summer School Experience

Playing or singing, develop your music-making through a series of workshops and rehearsals led by our expert and friendly tutors and guest conductors. With them you will explore a range of repertoire, both challenging and fun. Copies of the music will be sent to you about four weeks in advance.

All workshops and rehearsals start at 10am with registration on Monday between 9.30 – 10am. Recitals from our guest artists on each day will last for around an hour. The Summer School Showcase Concert will take place early Wednesday evening. A detailed timetable and repertoire list will be sent out with the music packs.

Gain unique insights into performance through our special programme of workshops and recitals given by professional singers and instrumentalists of national and international standing.

 

Be part of the social buzz. Extended breaks give you time to chat to tutors, browse the stands and enjoy the school grounds. There will be a welcome ‘coffee and pastries’ on the first day and a ‘farewell buffet’ after the Wednesday evening Summer School Showcase Concert – lots of opportunity to meet new people in a relaxed social setting.

The Summer School fee of £110 covers all tuition, tea and coffee at mid-session breaks and Wednesday evening’s buffet. Please bring a packed lunch – the grounds of the school are ideal for a picnic – alternatively, cafés and sandwich shops can be found a short walk away.

 

Guest Artists

Workshop sessions will be led by Music for Everyone’s artistic team and our highly talented 2021 guest artists: Hilary Campbell, Richard Cox, Chris Swann, Sam Sweeney and Martin van der Brugge.

 

Conductors – Hilary Campbell and Martin van der Brugge

Hilary Campbell is a freelance choral specialist based in London. She is founder and director of professional chamber choir, Blossom Street, and Musical Director of Bristol Choral Society, Music Makers of London and Chiswick Choir. She has also recently been appointed assistant conductor of Ex-Cathedra. Hilary has released two award winning Naxos recordings and is a published and prize-winning composer. 

 

 

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Martin van der Brugge obtained his orchestra director’s diploma from the Rotterdam Conservatory in 1990, and in 1994 his choir director’s diploma from the Royal Conservatory, The Hague. In 1996 he gave concerts with the Vidin Philharmonic Orchestra as guest director, and was appointed regular guest director of the Mersin State Opera and Ballet of Turkey. Last year, Martin guest conducted MfE’s performance of Karl Jenkins’, The Armed Man.

 

 

 

Recitalists – Richard Cox, Chris Swann and Sam Sweeney

 

We are delighted that or regular accompanist Richard Cox is returning this year as both accompanist and recitalist.

Richard studied music at the University of Nottingham specialising in piano performance with Brenda May. He has combined a career of musician with that of running a mail-order and online business specialising in selling recordings of classical music to collectors all over the world.

 

 

Prize winning soloist Chris Swann studied at the Royal Academy of Music and has pursued a varied freelance career, playing Principal Clarinet with the BBC Symphony, Halle, Royal Philharmoni, BBC Philharmoni, Scottish Chamber, Manchester Concert and Sinfonia Viva orchestras.

He has made a number of concerto appearances including Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto with the RLPO and has performed chamber music with the Maggini, Allegri and Alberni String Quartets.

 

 

Former member of the award winning folk band Bellowhead, Sam Sweeney is recognised as one of the finest multi-instrumental English folk musicians.

Born in Nottingham, Sam won the BBC Radio 2 Musician of the Year Folk Award in 2015 and has gone on to further success releasing various albums and appearing at venues throughout the country.

The fiddler with the Midas touch… The Guardian

 

How to Enrol 

Online – using credit/debit card and PayPal (no card fees)

You can book online now via this link: Online Enrolment Form 

Post – by cheque (made payable to Music for Everyone)

Please complete and return this pdf Enrolment Form along with your cheque, to Summer School Enrolments, Music for Everyone, 10 Goose Gate, Hockley, Nottingham NG1 1FF

Summer Singing Workshop/Concert – ‘Let all the world in every corner sing!’

10am – 5pm at the Albert Hall, North Circus St, Nottingham NG1 5AA

Angela Kay, Rachel Parkes, Greg Treloar conductors

Angela Foan accompanist

Henry Parkes organ, New Classical Players

Any Covid security regulations still in place will be implemented in full.

   

 

 

 

 

Let’s open our lungs, exercise our vocal cords and sing together!

Music for Everyone invites you to a celebratory singing workshop at Nottingham’s spacious Albert Hall. The chosen music brims with joy and is guaranteed to lift your spirits:

Vaughan Williams – ‘Let all the World in every corner sing’ from Five Mystical Songs

Henry Purcell – Choruses from Come ye Sons of Art

John Rutter – I will sing with the Spirit, The Clare Benediction and Look at the World

Gustav Holst – Psalm 148

 

Listen to tasters of the pieces here:

Music Scores

PDFs of the music will be sent to all singers in advance. Original copies of the music will be available at the workshop.

Optional Zoom Rehearsal Sessions

To warm up the voices and introduce you to the music, Angela Kay, Rachel Parkes and Greg Treloar will lead four optional Zoom sessions before the workshop.  They look forward to meeting you ‘virtually’ and then in person!

Dates and Times – link to the sessions will be emailed to all workshop participants.

Session 1 – Saturday 24 April

Session 2 – Saturday 8 May

Session 3 – Saturday 15 May

Session 4 – Saturday 12 June

Workshop Day Timetable – Sunday 27th June 2021

9:45 – 10:00am           Registration

10:00 – 12:30pm         Morning session (with refreshment break)

12:30 – 1.30pm           Lunch (please bring a packed lunch)

1:30 – 3.45pm             Rehearsal with orchestra and organist (with refreshment break)

4.00 – 5:00pm             Informal performance for friends and family

Informal Performance (any Covid security regulations still in place will be implemented in full)

This performance is designed to be part of the workshop experience for participants to enjoy.  Friends and family will be welcome to attend, although numbers may be limited.  There will be no tickets but contributions in support of MfE will be much appreciated via a retiring collection.

Workshop Fee

The fee includes all music copies, four optional online rehearsals, the workshop experience and coffee or tea at the morning and afternoon breaks.

MfE Subscribing Members – £30; Non-members – £35.

N.B. Should the workshop need to be postponed due to an extension of Covid measures, full refunds will be given.

How to enrol

Online – pay by card:

Just click here and fill in your details: Summer Singing Form Payment can be made via PayPal or debit/credit card. NB The venue can hold 200 singers so please apply ASAP to guarantee a place.

By post – pay by cheque:

Please download and complete this pdf form and post it, together with your enrolment cheque (made payable to Music for Everyone) to Music for Everyone, 10 Goose Gate, Hockley, Nottingham NG1 1FF

For any further information, email admin@music-for-everyone.org or telephone 0115 9589312 (Monday – Wednesday, mornings only)

Summer School 2019, Day 1: Pastries and Tummies!

Helena Durham

This morning Music for Everyone’s three-day Summer School got underway once more, but at a new venue – Nottingham High School. About 150 instrumentalists and singers arrived looking cheery, pleased to have overcome the absence of trams and the road closures. Or perhaps at the prospect of fresh coffee and pastries…

The day was filled with a rich variety of rehearsals and workshops in preparation for Wednesday’s concert performance. The repertoire for all groups has been themed to complement the 50th anniversaries of both the moon landing and Sir Robin Knox-Johnson’s circumnavigation of the globe.

Fly me to the moon, and let me play among the stars!

More about the wind band and strings tomorrow – today’s focus is on the choir. Angela Kay, Music for Everyone’s founder and artistic director, led the singers through warm ups and into Ola Gjeilo’s Across the Vast Eternal Sky (one of her favourites, apparently). Then she had everyone swinging Fly me to the Moon before ending the morning with a first go at Handel’s Let their celestial concerts, superbly accompanied by Richard Cox. 

Lunch was followed by a recital and workshop with mens’ vocal quartet Scaramella. They entertained us with snatches and glees from 18th century gentlemen’s clubs – as you might imagine, the lyrics featured much wine and were at times on the naughty side! The workshop stretched the singers physically and vocally, and everyone enjoyed exploring Pearsall’s poignant Lay a Garland.

After a cuppa, Jane McDouall, fresh from the south, returned to a warm welcome and led a singing technique session followed by a Q+A. Everyone will be breathing (inhaling, Jane prefers) with shoulders down and the right muscles in play tomorrow. ‘Basically,’ Jane said, ‘there’s no point trying to hold your tummy in and look good if you want to have breath for singing!’ The choir is looking forward to Tuesday’s arrival of visiting conductor and choral director, Hilary Campbell.

“Let those tummy muscles go!”

Concert: A Kaleidoscope of Love – Wagner, Whitacre, Orff

Helena Durham

Saturday 3rd February 2018, 7.30pm | Albert Hall

Angela Kay MBE | Artistic Director

Victoria Barlow | Guest Conductor, East of England Singers

Nottingham Festival Chorus, East of England Singers and Nottingham Concert Orchestra

What’s interesting about this concert:

  • The Nottingham Festival Chorus of 220 singers is likely be the largest choir to perform a choral work of Carmina Burana’s scale in Nottingham this year. Experiencing this music (often used in films and TV) from a seat in the audience is a thrilling and uplifting experience.
  • Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll, peformed by the orchestra, and Whitacre’s Five Hebrew Love Songs, sung by the East of England Singers, are sensual works born of love: Wagner’s for his wife, Cosima, daughter of composer Franz Liszt, and Whitacre’s for his then girlfriend, now wife, the poet and soprano Hila Plitmann.
  • Carmina Burana, meaning Songs of Beuern, is the title of both the collected 13th century poems Carl Orff used as his text and of his composition. The choir sings words in Latin, Middle High German, Old Provencal and Old French. (We always provide translations in our programmes.) The themes of the poems are as familiar in the 21st century as they were when first written: the fickleness of fortune and wealth, the mystery of life, the joy of the return of Spring, and the pleasures and perils of drinking, gluttony, gambling and lust.
  • Singing in a choir and listening to classical music have been shown to improve mental and physical wellbeing. During rehearsals our singers are learning useful Latin phrases from the poems, such as ‘In taberna quando sumas non curamus quid sit humus’, which means ‘When we are in the pub, we do not think how we will go to dust!’

Click here for further information and tickets.