News

Royal Shakespeare Company is looking for choirs in the Midlands to mark the Twelfth Night of Christmas
Post date: Friday, 29 September 2017 - 4:15pm

The Royal Shakespeare Company is looking for four choirs from the Midlands area to be part of an event to mark the Twelfth Night of Christmas on Saturday 6 January 2018 in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Coinciding with the RSC’s forthcoming production of Twelfth Night, the Company is holding a Wassail in and around the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Roughly translated as ‘be in good health’ wassailing is an English tradition taking place on the Twelfth Night of Christmas, which involves singing the health of apple trees in the hope that they might yield a good harvest.

Opinion: Are formal concerts more trouble than they're worth?
Post date: Monday, 18 September 2017 - 5:05pm

The majority of our members work towards and put on formal performances or concerts on a regular basis. This is a positive thing: it gives your members something to aim for, and allows people in your community (i.e. your audience!) to be exposed to music they might not otherwise get to hear in a local venue, creating a sense of occasion and connection for everyone involved. But putting on a concert can be expensive, and if audiences don’t come and you make a loss on the event it can be tempting to wonder why you put the performance on in the first place!

Otherworldly music from Adopt a Composer
Post date: Monday, 18 September 2017 - 3:13pm

KEMS Concert Band is now back from its summer break (complete with tour to Belgium), and rehearsals for our premiere on 15 October are in full swing.

Since the restart, we have done two sessions on what we expect to be the final version of Chris’s piece, now with the title of Martian Saloon, and we really feel we are getting our heads around it.  Even the whistling seems manageable now!

Surrey Performing Arts Library consultation deadline extended
Post date: Thursday, 14 September 2017 - 11:24am

Surrey Performing Arts Library (SPAL), currently based on the Denbigh Estate in Dorking, is one of the two largest collections of music sets in public libraries in the UK (only the Yorkshire Music Library, now housed in Leeds, is a similar size). It includes the Kirby Collection, owned by Making Music, purchased with a legacy from former Chairman Alan Kirby. SPAL is crucial not just for music groups in Surrey, but has national significance.

Apply to a scholarship for Sing for Pleasure's Young Conductors Programme
Post date: Wednesday, 13 September 2017 - 1:10pm

National choral charity Sing for Pleasure has announced that applications are open for scholarships for its 2017-18 Young Conductors Programme.

Funding has been secured to provide training for four young would-be choral conductors for this programme, launched in 2013, that offers a transformational learning experience for talented young musicians aged 18-25 who aspire to a choral conducting career, but who lack the financial means to access the specialised training they need to succeed.

Perform at one of 10 major railway stations next March for Give a Gig
Post date: Tuesday, 12 September 2017 - 6:10pm

Give a Gig is Youth Music’s flagship fundraising initiative, taking place from 16-25 March 2018. 

On Saturday 24 March 2018, Youth Music has slots for vocal groups to perform at 10 major railway stations across England: London Waterloo, London Kings Cross, London Paddington, London Bridge, London Victoria, Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester Piccadilly, Leeds, Birmingham New Street, and Bristol Temple Meads.

Call to respond to the Surrey Performing Arts Library Consultation
Post date: Wednesday, 6 September 2017 - 5:40pm

Surrey County Council are consulting on the future of the very large and locally as well as nationally significant Surrey Performing Arts Library, with one of the options total closure. The deadline for responses is 17 September.

A gala of opera, song and choral music in support of Grenfell Tower charities
Post date: Wednesday, 30 August 2017 - 12:51pm

Some of the world’s leading operatic stars will share the stage with exciting new talent at Cadogan Hall on Sunday 17 September 2017, 6.00pm, in the Grenfell Tower Benefit Concert, a gala of opera, song and choral music presented by Petroc Trelawny.

The event includes:

Composer Jenni Pinnock appointed as new Adopt a Composer mentor
Post date: Tuesday, 29 August 2017 - 4:43pm

We're delighted to announce that composer Jenni Pinnock, herself an Adopt a Composer alumna, will be joining our three current mentors this year to mentor one of the 7 pairings

Take it away instrument purchase scheme now available to all ages
Post date: Friday, 25 August 2017 - 11:45am

Since its inception 10 years ago, Creative United's 'Take it away' scheme has helped over 80,000 children and young people in England and Northern Ireland have access to musical instruments through £60M in loans. Now the scheme has been broadened to help even more budding musicians.

There have been some substantial changes announced to the scheme with the new partnership with Omni Capital Retail Finance, including: 

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