Music for Everyone gets Sherwood singing!

Nottingham based music education charity, Music for Everyone, is starting a new choir in Sherwood. 

Especially designed for singers of all abilities and experience, the choir will rehearse on a Thursday afternoon from 2pm - 4pm at Sherwood Methodist Church starting on Thursday 26th September.

When asked about the kind of members that they are looking for, conductor Alex Patterson said, “We welcome everyone. All that’s required is a love of singing and a sense of fun. I am really looking forward to our first session - I have some exciting repertoire planned. We will be singing some fabulous songs from classics to musicals, jazz to pop - something for all tastes”. This will be Music for Everyone's fourth daytime choir. Other groups rehearse and perform in Wollaton, Southwell and West Bridgford.

Member Mary Stokes talks of her experience of singing with Daytime Voices in Wollaton. “I went into the first rehearsal in trepidation as I thought I couldn’t sing in tune. When I arrived it was a relief to find that everyone was friendly and welcoming and they soon put me at ease. Singing with a large group has been a great experience for me. When you are together and you sing, it makes you feel good inside. I have been with the choir for 6 years now and believe I have improved!” When asked why the group is so good, Mary added “I love being a part of it as it is a really relaxed atmosphere and we seem to do as much laughing as we do singing! I have made some great friendships and the whole world of music has opened up in a way that it hadn’t before.”

So is Music for Everyone’s aim to get everyone in Nottingham Singing? Angela Kay of Newark, founder and Artistic Director of Music for Everyone for the past 30 years exclaimed “Let's hope so, we started with just one group in 1983 and now we have numerous choirs and other ensembles rehearsing and performing all over the city and county, so who knows!”

If you are interested in joining Daytime Voices you can try out a session for free on Thursday 26th September at Sherwood Methodist Church (2pm - 4pm). For more information contact Music for Everyone on 0115 9589312 email admin@music-for-everyone.org or visit our website www.music-for-everyone.org

It’s a Ginormous Choir

With the help of Music for Everyone 450 members of Girlguiding Nottinghamshire gathered in Nottingham’s Albert Hall on Sunday 14th July to build a ‘Ginormous Choir’ in a day. Those taking part included members of Rainbows (aged 5-7), Brownies (7-10), Guides (10-14), Rangers and Senior Section (14-25) from all over the county, supported by adult volunteers from Girlguiding Nottinghamshire.

Amongst those singing were girls from 4a Mansfield St Johns Brownies.‘It has been an awesome day!’ said Libby Bowler, aged 8. ‘It was really exciting to practice the songs in the morning and then perform to our families in the afternoon’. Her friend, Esther Lane, added ‘I really liked singing together with all the other Brownies. Especially the songs by One Direction and Coldplay!’.

Steering the day was Angela Kay, Artistic Director and Helen Hayes, singing specialist from Music for Everyone, who helped the girls polish up a diverse programme ranging from pop songs, rock anthems and favorites from film and stage musicals to folk and world music. The morning was filled by group workshops and rehearsals, with the whole Ginormous Choir rehearsing together after lunch.

The day culminated in a special concert for the participants’ families and friends. ‘All 450 girls worked really hard all day and I was amazed at the high standard shown in the final performance,’ says County Commissioner Kate Royse. ‘My thanks must go to all the helpers and, of course, to Angela Kay and her team, for all their time, energy and enthusiasm in making the day such a Ginormous success!’

Would your son or daughter be interested in joining a Ginormous choir? Click here to visit our website to read more about our Vocals events>>

Happy birthday to us!

On the Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th June we celebrated our 30th birthday and marked the occasion with a weekend of performances at Nottingham's Albert Hall.

On Saturday 29 June over 500 young people came together for a huge performance of Benjamin Britten's community opera Noye's Fludde! The concert opened with a colourful programme from all of our youth groups including well known numbers such as Circle of Life from The Lion King and Mr Blue Sky. In the second half they performed Noye's Fludde, an opera which brings the Biblical story of Noah's Ark to life. Conductor Alex Patterson commented ‘This event was a great introduction to opera for anybody that loves music and theatre. We were so pleased with the performance and have had some fabulous feedback.’

Sunday's performance 'Sing a Celebration' featured a choir of over 200 singers, the Nottingham Festival Chorus, and full orchestra Nottingham Concert Orchestra celebrating 30 years by performing a wonderful repertoire of celebratory music including a special world premiere performance of When Music Sounds, a piece of music commissioned especially for the event by the emerging composer Rebecca Dale as part of the Adopt A Composer scheme.

For the young composer, the commission from Nottingham has been a real boost. She entered the Adopt a Composer competition run by Making Music and was one of six selected out of 140 applicants. In between rehearsing When Music Sounds, Ms Dale expressed the importance to her of the anniversary commission. "It's a nightmare for young composers to get going. That's why this scheme is so incredibly helpful. One of the most difficult things for a young composer is the isolation. "You spend a lot of time on your own in your room and just hope your music will go somewhere." Angela Kay conducted the choir and orchestra for Sunday's performance, which was recorded by BBC Radio 3. "One of the great rewards of being a composer is being able to work with live performers," added Ms Dale. "Having spent a year working on these tunes, it was wonderful to hear real people sing it."

Choir member Morag Cumming of Lady Bay said ‘Music for Everyone is a unique and wonderful organisation and is a massive asset to Nottingham. People travel from all over the country to take part in their events and I was absolutely delighted to be a part of their celebratory concert – the buzz and excitement of performing at the Albert Hall Nottingham was fabulous!’ Long standing member singer Jane McDermott added ‘MfE is an inspirational organisation and I couldn’t have lived without it, I have made so many friends and had the time of my life rehearsing and performing as part of the choir!’ Artistic Director, Angela Kay added ‘We are absolutely delighted to be celebrating 30 years!’

MfE demystify opera!

On Tuesday 14th May Music for Everyone launched the beginning of a new community arts project that will bring together 150 local young singers, 70 instrumentalists, professional artists and talented amateur dancers for an enormous celebration of music making.

with funding by Arts Council England, the project will involve members of the local community in an unforgettable performance of Benjamin Britten’s opera Noye’s Fludde which brings the well-known story of Noah’s Ark to life.

Participants will work with professional artists and will be provided with the opportunity to sing, act, dance and make set, costume and props.

Noye’s Fludde, written by English composer Benjamin Britten, was originally performed by young members of the community and was specifically written for musicians of all levels of ability. Conductor Alex Patterson explains: “The opera is accessible for children of all ages and experience and a great introduction to opera for performers and audience. Britten was a great champion of community music-making and had a belief in great music for all. His legacy is one that Music for Everyone embodies on a daily basis and what greater way to celebrate the two anniversaries by a performance of this much-loved work.”

This performance will be a celebration of 30 years of music making for Nottingham based music charity, Music for Everyone and also forms part of the international Britten 100 festival taking place across the globe to celebrate Britten’s centenary year.

Noye’s Fludde will mark Music for Everyone’s first foray into opera and will be directed by local theatre-maker Robin Reece-Crawford: “I am delighted to be involved in helping to bring this unique production to life. Britten’s interpretation of the Great Flood story calls for a wonderful variety of instrumentalists and singers and I am confident that the combined forces of all the Music for Everyone Youth groups will ensure a dynamic and exiting performance that no-one should miss!”

The performance isn’t only a great introduction to opera for its participants; it is very accessible for audiences too. “This performance is great fun and we hope that it will inspire participants and audience to enjoy opera in the future” says Artistic Director of Music for Everyone, Angela Kay. “The audience can expect a lot of colourful costumes, set and music; a great night out for all the family!”

Member of Nottingham Youth Voices, Emily Hodkinson (18) from Calverton is delighted to be involved “It is going to be so much fun! This is an amazing opportunity and I absolutely can’t wait. It is so exciting to be taking part in such a big performance.”

American film Director, Wes Anderson’s latest film Moonrise Kingdom draws on the director's own experience of performing in Noye's Fludde - “my older brother and I were actually in a production of Noye’s Fludde when I was ten or eleven, and that music is something I've always remembered, and made a very strong impression on me."

The performance will take place on Saturday 29th June at 7.00pm. For more information about the project or to purchase tickets contact Music for Everyone on 0115 958 9312 email admin@music-for-everyone.org or visit the website www.music-for-everyone.org

East of England Singers form part of the composing process

We were delighted that, after a string of disruptions due to a few snowstorms and one avalanche (!), both ‘our’ composer, Rebecca Dale, and her mentor, widely commissioned orchestral composer Fraser Trainer, made it to Nottingham for their first joint visit on Wednesday evening 26 March. Following a meeting with Angela Kay, where there was lots to discuss about the further development of the new piece and the planning for its completion, Rebecca (supported by Fraser) spent an intensive hour in a developmental workshop with the East of England Singers (including Angela of course), trying out ideas for one movement in particular and drawing the choir members into the creative process.


The whole thing was audio recorded, to capture the reactions of Fraser and members of the choir to the experience of rehearsing Rebecca’s sketched opening for the work. Above all she wanted to collect the actual sounds improvised during the workshop, the effects generated as snatches of words and music were tossed around using different voices, dynamics and spaces. At one stage, four different teams of mixed voices were working on vocalising their own compilations of sound effects and note clusters, all in the same room! It was hard work but fun, and everyone enjoyed themselves. Each of the resulting individual team ‘performances’ was received with bursts of sympathetic and appreciative applause from the rest of the group, and seemed to be of real value to Rebecca, who heard a whole lot of inventive variants on her musical ideas to take home and mull over, before turning her final selection into a fabulous opening movement for the new piece!

This latest taster session means that the Festival Chorus and/or East of England Singers have now heard sample sections of three different movements from the new work. Good progress but still some way to go! Next time round, EOES will try out a draft of the completed choir parts – in mid April – before the vocal scores are made ready to send out to the whole Festival Chorus for test-driving in the sectional rehearsals in May. That celebration concert in June really isn’t very far away – excitement is already mounting!

Click here to see some photos from the rehearsal>>

Rebecca visits EOES rehearsal

Music for Everyone’s chamber choir members were delighted to welcome our adopted composer, Rebecca, on her first visit. We all met up in Nottingham on a normal Wednesday rehearsal evening in November. The plan is for Rebecca to include some material specially for this choir in the final piece, but also to try out some preliminary ideas with them when she is ready, going on to rework and develop them for the big choir setting.

But her first visit wasn't just a meeting and greeting occasion. Rebecca had opted to get to know the choir from the inside, taking a seat in the soprano section for an evening working on a Buxtehude Cantata and the Poulenc Christmas Motets. Her decision to ‘embed’ was really appreciated by the choir and everyone felt comfortable with her from the start. Angela Kay, MfE’s Artistic Director, was in action conducting the rehearsal; so Rebecca was able to experience Angela’s lively, skillful and motivating approach at first hand. Although the big choir is not auditioned and includes some less specialist singers, Angela’s ability to inspire everyone to achieve great performances narrows any ability gaps quite amazingly! Pictured at the end of the evening, Rebecca and Angela certainly look happy with the partnership.

We are currently discussing possible themes for the new work and hunting up interesting texts for Rebecca to consider setting to music – we’ll probably need a bit of a joint confab just on this, pretty soon! Meanwhile MfE’s preparations for the next big choir event are well under way and we look forward to welcoming Rebecca to our Verdi Requiem course and concert weekends in late January and early February, when she will really get the measure of the big choir and orchestra, the concert hall where her composition will be premiered and the cast of hundreds she’s going to be writing for!

Rebecca's first blog!

When, in my Adopt A Composer interview, I was asked "in an ideal world, if you could write anything, for any forces, what would that be?", I answered that, given no limitations, I would love to do something exciting for very large forces, involving both choir and orchestra. Never did I imagine that I would actually be offered the opportunity to work with both!

 So being paired with the wonderful Music For Everyone really is a dream come true for me - if the prospect of writing for a choir of 250 is a little daunting! The piece will celebrate the organisation's 30th anniversary, and at our first meeting we had plenty of ideas. We talked about the possibility a suite of short contrasting movements, so there is something for everyone, and keeping it broadly filmic in feel. Other than that I am keeping my mind open until I have got to know the ensembles a little better. Everybody involved has already been incredibly welcoming, and I can't wait for my first visit, which is coming up very soon.