News

Blind dating an orchestra
Post date: Friday, 16 March 2018 - 6:06pm
It’s our second ‘date’ today. This time we are meeting in a Mexican restaurant. It’s all going really well, we laugh, we eat, we are less nervous than last time. Still, a tequila seems suddenly appealing to both of us and here we go…how do you do this again? First salt, then lemon? I don’t do Tinder. And if a friend would try to set me up for a blind date I would get really angry. So why have I then voluntarily signed up for being ‘blind-dated’ by a leisure-time orchestra? And not only for one awkward evening but for a whole year?
 

Flashback to last year...

Meet our new corporate member: Trybooking.com
Post date: Wednesday, 14 March 2018 - 3:47pm

Let's hear it! For super easy concert ticketing that’s quick to set up, flexible and always low cost. Trybooking, our new corporate member, is an online booking system to really sing and shout about.

No matter what size or type of event and venue, be it a village hall, city concert hall or a field, Trybooking takes all the admin of organising ticket sales and bookings off your workload.

Events can be live in 15 minutes.

Guest blog: A new dawn in music education as internet lessons fight back
Post date: Tuesday, 13 March 2018 - 6:52pm

For purist musicians, music technology can leave a bad taste in their mouth.  But what would it have been like if their own musical start in life was missed? If Mozart had not been taught, or Bach or Beethoven!

For people cut off from mainstream music education due to lack of local funding, medical conditions, geographical location or lack of time, a new digital dawn has arrived to make personal music lessons accessible to diverse groups of people who share the same passion and determination to learn. 

Calling all pipers and buglers: take part in a special tribute this Remembrance Day
Post date: Monday, 12 March 2018 - 7:00pm

Bell ringers, pipers and buglers/trumpeters are invited to join A Nation's Tribute on 11 November 1918 to mark the 100th anniversary of the ending of the First World War, along with paying tribute to the millions that lost their lives.

Finding the words
Post date: Thursday, 8 March 2018 - 11:18am

Three months into composer Edmund Hunt's Adopt a Composer collaboration with The Singers, he finds inspiration for the composition's text from a famous local figure.

The view from the back
Post date: Thursday, 8 March 2018 - 10:59am

Last rehearsal we were finally given the chance to see an early draft of the exciting, original composition Gaynor Barradell has been working on especially for teh Edinburgh Concert Band (ECB). The band seemed to be holding its breath as the music was handed out. I wasn't able to make it to the workshop in November and so I had no idea what to expect.

Sing the Pankhurst Anthem live on BBC Radio 3 this Friday at Sage Gateshead
Post date: Monday, 5 March 2018 - 11:09am

BBC Radio 3 and Sage Gateshead are inviting local singers and choirs to sing live on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune to mark an important anniversary for women’s suffrage. Radio 3's inspiring new commission, The Pankhurst Anthem, offers an opportunity for everyone to take part – so come along and join in!

On Friday 9 March 2018, Voices of Hope will perform The Pankhurst Anthem on Radio 3, live from Sage Gateshead. BBC Radio 3 are inviting singers from local choirs to come along and join in with the second section, Anthem. 

Surrey Performing Arts Library – update and how to support a solution
Post date: Friday, 23 February 2018 - 10:56am

The 8 February Surrey County Council (SCC) Communities Select Committee adopted some recommendations for the future of SPAL which will now be put – alongside recommendations from the council officers – to the full SCC Cabinet on 27 March.

Since the last meeting in November, four users and representatives of Making Music, FOSPAL (Friends of SPAL) and IAML (International Association of Music Librarians) have formed a new charity (NewSPAL) in a bid to take over the running of this music library.

Welcome to our new Corporate member - Travelbound
Post date: Friday, 9 February 2018 - 11:00am

Travelbound arranges music and performance tours to Europe and beyond. All our tours are tailor-made and offer each performer the opportunity to shine on an international stage, discover a new culture and develop as a performer and as an individual.

We cater for all types of music ensembles and have a wide range of performance venues to suit different standards and different types of repertoire. All performances are fully advertised to ensure the best possible audience numbers.

Read the results of a new study into the links between leisure time music groups and communities
Post date: Wednesday, 7 February 2018 - 1:08pm

Evidence of this impact is extremely useful when we are making the case for leisure-time musical activity, but we realised there was no research from the UK which examined the impacts of the groups’ existence on their local community, and how significant they may be.

That's why, in 2016, we approached Professor Stephanie Pitts and the Sheffield Performer and Audience Research Centre (SPARC) of the University of Sheffield, and began a joint investigation.

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