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Get involved in the UK’s biggest ever Thank You Party!
Post date: Monday, 14 June 2021 - 5:12pm

Making Music believes many members will be interested in this great initiative on Sunday 4 July – and it’s very light touch if your singing, playing or organising skills are a bit rusty after 18 months! Read on to find out more from the organisers.

After a hard 18 months, we’ve all got someone to say thank you to. Whether it’s the frontline staff, the delivery driver, conductors for navigating zoom rehearsals, bus drivers, or friends and neighbours – we want to get together to say thanks to them all.

Return to rehearsals member blog: Invicta Jazz Orchestra
Post date: Friday, 11 June 2021 - 5:01pm

With Step 3 now in effect in England, David Price of Invicta Jazz Orchestra outlines how his group made a safe and long-awaited return to in-person rehearsals.

Last year, after a few weeks of uncertainty, we held our final rehearsal of 2020 in the middle of March, while one by one our engagements for the summer were cancelled, including a planned trip to the Bath Fringe Festival.

Hopes of a return in the autumn were shattered by the second lockdown and the rapid spread of the Kent variant.

Adopt a Music Creator blog: A welcome in-person return
Post date: Thursday, 10 June 2021 - 4:30pm

Foss Foster of Aberdeenshire Saxophone Orchestra shares her group's delight on returning to in-person activity for Adopt a Music Creator 2020/21 – a special rehearsal which a spot of chilly weather couldn't prevent.

I'm writing this on 23 May and we’ve been in Scottish Level 2 restrictions since 17 May. This meant that we could meet outside and play in socially-distanced groups.

Return to rehearsals member blog: North Kingston Choir
Post date: Thursday, 10 June 2021 - 12:45pm

Penny Hamilton of North Kingston Choir reflects on a successful return to in-person singing and looks ahead to a sunny (fingers crossed) outdoor rehearsal programme over the coming months.

In early June, we held our first in-person choir rehearsal, more than a year since our last rehearsal was cancelled back in March 2020. Suddenly seeing everyone in real life was exhilarating and comforting in its familiarity. 

Safeguarding pressures — new report
Post date: Wednesday, 9 June 2021 - 6:11pm

Mark Foster of the Child Protection Company highlights how safeguarding responsibilities have shifted during the pandemic, and the importance of creating a safe environment for all your music makers.

Adopt a Music Creator blog: A month of ups and downs, but mostly ups
Post date: Wednesday, 9 June 2021 - 9:23am

Aberdeenshire Saxophone Orchestra's Foss Foster ponders the pros and cons of life on Zoom, and how the platform has framed her group's Adopt a Music Creator project - leading to further collaborations alongside their work with Ugie Voices and Ben Lunn.

Sir Charles Groves Prize awarded to Chi-chi Nwanoku OBE
Post date: Wednesday, 2 June 2021 - 3:40pm

Chi-chi Nwanoku OBE, Founder and Artistic & Executive Director of the Chineke! Foundation and joint winner of the 2020 Sir Charles Groves Prize, has been presented with her award by Making Music Chief Executive Barbara Eifler.

The presentation look place during the Chineke! Orchestra concert on Friday 28 May at London Royal Festival Hall – the first live-audience concert of Southbank Centre’s ‘Summer Reunion’ season. 

Cross-party consensus for free instrumental tuition in Scotland
Post date: Thursday, 27 May 2021 - 11:28am

After three years of campaigning from the music community, including Making Music, the future is looking bright for children learning instruments in Scotland.

The Scottish Parliament election is over, new MSPs are inducted and ministers are taking up their portfolios. ‘To do’ lists, dominated by pandemic and planning for recovery, will be longer than ever this year. And how many of those confident manifesto promises will become policy in the next five years?

Adopt a Music Creator blog: Zooming towards an in-person return
Post date: Tuesday, 25 May 2021 - 3:39pm

Bury St Edmunds Concert Band trombonist Gary Hawkes pens a diary entry for Adopt a Music Creator 2020/21, again pondering how Litha Efthymiou's Zoom workshops have got him to reflect on his musicianship.

So here we are, back on Zoom to go through these findings with Litha. Everyone else, with a lot more imagination than me, doing some very strange things. Litha is getting very enthusiastic with each musician, taking what they’ve come up with and trying other things out – what is going on? Admittedly, I am thinking, ‘Where is this going?’

Adopt a Music Creator blog: Sounds, bars and memories
Post date: Sunday, 23 May 2021 - 3:06pm

Bury St Edmunds Concert Band trombonist Gary Hawkes fills us in on another thought-provoking Zoom workshop with Litha Efthymiou for Adopt a Music Creator 2020/21.

We’re back on Zoom to meet up with one band representative from each section: trombone, clarinet, trumpet, saxophone, percussion, euphonium, flute and tuba.

Litha told us about a little project she’d like us to complete: three tasks to research, bringing our findings to the workshop in two weeks’ time. Here are her instructions:

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