News

Post date: Thursday, 11 March 2021 - 11:57am

Ugie Voices member Sheila Biegala updates us on her group's music making with Ben Lunn, who has recently dovetailed Venezuelan poetry with the National Bard.

We are well into the new year now and can see light at the end of the tunnel as far as lockdown is concerned.

With regard to our ongoing project with Ben Lunn and Aberdeenshire Saxophone Orchestra, Ben has sent us a first draft of his compositions!

Post date: Tuesday, 9 March 2021 - 12:54pm

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement on 22 February and subsequent announcements in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, Making Music has updated its coronavirus guidance tool to reflect what the roadmaps to reopening mean for leisure-time music groups in the four nations of the UK.

England

29 March – 6 people can meet outdoors, including backgardens, meaning informal small rehearsals in an open space can resume.

Post date: Tuesday, 2 March 2021 - 11:22am

Bury St Edmunds Concert Band’s Gary Hawkes pens his thoughts on the group’s fledgling collaboration with Litha Efthymiou for Adopt a Music Creator 2020/21.

Post date: Monday, 1 March 2021 - 11:29am

Chair Foss Foster pens another diary entry on Aberdeenshire Saxophone Orchestra’s Adopt a Music Creator journey, with a special look at the wonder that is harmonic minor mode five.

We recently enjoyed our first rehearsal of 2021, and as we’re still in lockdown we Zoomed in in what has now become the usual way.

Post date: Wednesday, 24 February 2021 - 12:31pm

PRS is currently calling for views on how paid-for online live concerts should be licensed. This consultation will be of interest to those who have done or are considering doing such concerts.

Post date: Tuesday, 23 February 2021 - 1:58pm

A round-up of the changes you might need to make if your group is a charity that meets online, and Gift Aid rules around non-refunded cancelled ticket fees.

Updating governing documents to cover online meetings 

There can scarcely be a charity that hasn't had an online trustee or general meeting in the last year. While online rehearsals will fade away once they are no longer needed, online meetings look here to stay. 

Post date: Tuesday, 23 February 2021 - 1:16pm

2022 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Ralph Vaughan Williams, one of Britain’s most important composers and one of the great symphonists of the 20th century. The Ralph Vaughan Williams Charitable Trust tell us how leisure-time music groups can be part of the celebrations.

Composer of such popular favourites as The Lark Ascending and Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, which define an unmistakably British sound, Vaughan Williams’ extraordinary impact on British music cannot be underestimated.

Post date: Monday, 22 February 2021 - 12:06pm

Many Making Music members recently took part in a nationwide survey of music library service users, carried out by Dr Michael Bonshor (University of Sheffield), which was circulated alongside a survey of music library staff. The survey was designed to find out how music libraries are being used, and to explore ways in which library services could be developed in future. 

Post date: Tuesday, 16 February 2021 - 1:59pm

In Côr Meibion Mynwy (Monmouth Male Voice Choir)’s first blog of Adopt a Music Creator 2020/21, music sub-committee chair Peter Watts outlines how his group’s collaboration with Eloise Gynn is taking shape. 

Post date: Monday, 15 February 2021 - 2:00pm

New corporate member ABRSM introduce their Performance Grades, which bring the essential skills of communication, interpretation and storytelling to a regulated qualification.

Performance Grades are 100% assessed from recordings that you submit, so performances can take place at home, at school or in a community setting – perfect for all ages with the freedom to choose where to record and with whom, offering flexibility and accessibility.