The Creative Lives Awards - formerly the Epic Awards - are an annual celebration of the achievements of voluntary and community-led creativity. These awards are particularly popular among our membership, with many leisure-time music groups having been nominated and won prizes over the years!
News
Post date: Thursday, 22 July 2021 - 5:37pm
Jen Beardsmore, secretary of Brewood Singers, outlines the steps her group took to make a safe return to in-person music making.
Post date: Wednesday, 21 July 2021 - 1:56pm
Now that the government has lifted the majority of lockdown restrictions, some music groups are starting to think about how to keep going and ensure that their members stay engaged. To help support our member groups with these concerns, we have pulled together a list of some of our relevant services.
Post date: Tuesday, 13 July 2021 - 1:12pm
Following the government announcement on 12 July, England will move to step 4 of the roadmap on 19 July when most restrictions will be lifted.
As of 13 July, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) have not updated their guidance to reflect the move to step 4, however we expect that they will before 19 July. Following Secretary of State Oliver Dowden’s announcement on 6 July, we expect that as of 19 July non-professional music groups will be able to:
Post date: Monday, 12 July 2021 - 11:54am
All four nations of the UK are starting to open up again after lockdown, each with a different roadmap and timeline.
Throughout May and June leisure-time music groups can expect to be rehearsing - and even performing - outdoors and in some cases indoors across the UK. However these routes out of lockdown are provisional only, with risk assessments and mitigations attached to each stage.
Making Music’s free coronavirus guidance tool reflects what the latest rules mean for leisure-time music groups in each of the four nations of the UK.
Post date: Friday, 2 July 2021 - 5:30pm
This consultation by the Home Office on a proposed ‘Martyn’s law’ – named after one of the victims of the Manchester Arena attack – would apply across all four nations of the UK and mean that any venue with a capacity of 100+ would have to assess the risk of terrorist threat in their locality and implement appropriate mitigating measures.
Post date: Thursday, 17 June 2021 - 5:46pm
The government is currently consulting on potential new legislation, the Protect Duty, which is about making publicly accessible buildings, and those who operate them, legally bound to assess and mitigate potential risks from terrorism.
The intention is to make the public realm safer and to prevent tragedies like the Manchester Arena attack. It is therefore intended to help the public feel safer when they attend events or activity in publicly accessible buildings and spaces.
Post date: Thursday, 17 June 2021 - 1:22pm
Gabriel Isserlis, CEO and founder of Tutti, tells us all about his startup for booking creative space.
Tutti is a one-stop shop for finding, comparing and booking rehearsal and performance space in London.
If you’ve ever felt frustrated at not being able to find somewhere to rehearse or have struggled to coordinate booking a space for your band, ensemble, quartet or choir, then Tutti can help.
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.
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.
