Imagine being 16 years old and conducting a choir of experienced singers in front of a full house. Last November, that daunting prospect faced Tasmin Sarkany, winner of the 2015 place in The Ripieno Choir’s Apprentice Conductor programme, as she prepared for her first public outing.
We were sad to hear of the death on 14 March of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (1934-2016), world-renowned composer, conductor and Making Music President for 27 years.
The English Folk Dance and Song Society has launched a nationwide search for talented young musicians to become the first members of the new National Youth Folk Ensemble.
In 2017, to celebrate the 70th birthday of composer Paul Patterson, Josef Weinberger are offering a selection of orchestral hire works to amateur orchestras at specially-discounted rates.
When I’m there working with the group, there’s a particular dynamic and working relationship which from the start has been very positive and enabling – but of course there’s lots going on that I don’t see, so it’s intriguing to read about how they see that relationship themselves, and how they’re experiencing the project.
Choir of the Year is teaming up with abcd to provide a series of choral Workshops, open to choirs of any age group or music genre/style, led by an experienced abcd workshop leader.
Come and play or sing or simply listen to some of the new music commissioned over the years by CoMA in a flexible and technically accessible format specifically designed for amateur ensembles.
An official Parliamentary petition asking the Department for Education (DfE) to include expressive arts in the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) has been signed by over 70,000 people.
Last year, many members wrote to and emailed Birmingham City Council when, as part of their budget consultations, they were proposing closing down the music library altogether. This at a time when the service had just moved into the brand new library building and was able to offer users fantastic – and as I saw for myself: much used – facilities, including for listening and playing.
