News

Post date: Wednesday, 28 June 2017 - 11:27am

Zelkova Quartet won the 2017 St Martin's Chamber Music Competition with a fantastic rendition of string quartets by Haydn and Debussy. They are now available to hire by Making Music member groups for a fixed affordable fee (find out how to book them).

Post date: Wednesday, 28 June 2017 - 1:46am

Chris Swain, Musical Director of the Wycliffe Choral Society in Gloucestershire, has just returned from a summer choir tour to Riga: “Everyone absolutely loved Riga and Latvia,” he said. “It’s hard to think how anything could have been improved on this trip – it was superb in every way! The response to the whole tour has been entirely positive."

Chris went on an Inspection visit ahead of his tour which made all the difference.

Post date: Friday, 23 June 2017 - 2:19pm

Professional music organisations seem more likely to network amongst themselves and to talk to a similar musical ensemble, music education centre or concert venue in a different city, than they are to take note of the musical activity on their own doorstep.

All of them are likely to work for or with under-18s. But non-professional adult musicians are merely seen as audiences, never as a full part of the music ecology.

Post date: Tuesday, 13 June 2017 - 12:03pm

Following the busy weeks and months that led up to the premiere of my work Continuum by the Glasgow School of Art Choir, I can start to gather my thoughts and reflect on my time spent as their adopted composer – an experience that has been incredibly beneficial for me and, I hope, for them too.

Post date: Monday, 12 June 2017 - 11:48am

Since being paired with Croydon Bach Choir in September 2016, I have worked with the choir on numerous occasions, gradually feeding material from my new choral work. Homo Sum was conceived as a celebration of multiculturalism, reflecting both the diversity of Croydon and the Croydon Bach Choir for whom the piece was commissioned, in addition to reflecting the cosmopolitan city of London and the UK in general.

Post date: Monday, 5 June 2017 - 6:19pm

Now that the dust has settled on our Fifth Anniversary Gala Concert – and the world premiere of ‘Continuum’, by Shona Mackay – it is a chance to reflect on the work and our ensemble’s experience with the Adopt a Composer scheme.

Post date: Wednesday, 31 May 2017 - 2:36pm

In September of last year I found that I was to be paired up with the KEMS Concert Band as part of the 2016-17 'Adopt A Composer' programme. When I first met the band, I was pleased to see that they were a friendly bunch, a competent set of musicians of all ages that loved to play and were excited at the prospect of a piece being written especially for them!

Post date: Wednesday, 24 May 2017 - 10:44am

You’ve probably had your fill of campaigning already, but let me enthuse – or alarm – you by briefly looking at the parties’ manifestos from the perspective of leisure-time music groups.

Post date: Monday, 22 May 2017 - 1:09pm

The Certificate is a new one-year programme developed by Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, in partnership with the Open University. It gives you the opportunity to develop your practical music making and performance skills, so that you’ll feel more confident, skilled and well-rounded as a performer.

Post date: Tuesday, 16 May 2017 - 3:23pm

Fresh off our society’s 60th Jubilee concert at The Royal Northern College of Music, our return from Easter break brought us an unexpected gift: some music from our composer, Christopher Schlechte-Bond, with the intriguing title 'Curiosity Rover Finds An Alien Saloon Bar Hidden Deep Beneath The Martian Soil'