Highnotes by Making Music

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Highnotes Issue 16 • June 2011

Making Music joins ACE's National Portfolio Alex Rumford

Wednesday 30 March 2011 is a date that will remain long in the memory – it was the day I heard that we were offered the opportunity to join the new National Portfolio funding scheme of Arts Council England (ACE). This means that Making Music is guaranteed public funding By Robin Osterley for three years starting Chief Executive Making Music from April 2012, alongside a range of the best arts organisations in England, and can now continue to work to enhance its position as the leading ally and advocate for voluntary music throughout the UK. Faced with a substantial cut in its own income, ACE was forced to make some very tough choices. 206 of

Orlando Gough

its previous clients were dropped entirely; a few lucky ones received increased grants, and many, like us, received a reduction in funding compared to our previous levels. But nobody owes us a living, and we are pleased to have received the recognition and kudos – not to mention the money – associated with being in the new scheme. The lower grant from ACE is obviously disappointing, but Making Music is in a very healthy position to weather such a reduction. We are in the fortunate position of receiving a substantial proportion of our annual income from subscriptions, and it is clear from our growing membership that we are still offering voluntary music groups excellent value for money for the wide range of services they receive. We will of course try to keep any increase in subscription levels as low as possible when we look at how to adjust our budgets from 2012 onwards, but ensuring that our services are sustainable as well as good value for money is a key priority. And there are many other opportunities to close the gap. We will be trying especially hard to ensure that fundraising from sources other than the public purse is given as much focus as possible, and two recent funding successes, from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and the Headley Trust, give us great cause for optimism. And of course we will be carefully looking at how to reduce costs throughout the Making Music operation in order to ensure we balance the books.

Our Voices Now festival at London’s Roundhouse in March and recent funding wins give us every reason to feel positive

Highlights

In short, Making Music will remain a vibrant and dynamic organisation. We are grateful to ACE for securing our future in the medium term, and we look forward to that future with excitement. Our new strategic plan, Making Music for Everyone, is well under way, and we are confident in our ability to deliver its forward-looking and inspiring objectives. Onwards and upwards! www.makingmusic.org.uk/mmfe

Page 4 Composer Orlando Gough reveals details of the anthem he is writing for members for 2012

Professor Robert Winston

Page 7 Find out who will be joining Professor Winston at our conference on Music and Wellbeing in September

Peter Stokes

Page 9 Our Head of Volunteer Management explains how we are changing our volunteer programme

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In brief

Welcome to our spring Highnotes. In this issue we celebrate the many volunteers that drive voluntary music making in the UK. Making Music knows a lot about volunteers – By Karen Cardy it has a Board of Marketing Director Directors made up of volunteers like myself, and a network of over 150 dedicated people all over the UK whose role it is to support your music group locally – and in June we will launch a new volunteer programme to value our volunteers more, and to reach out to a wider range of supporters to ensure voluntary music making continues to flourish. If you know of an outstanding Making Music volunteer, you can nominate them for an award (see pages 8 & 9). There are many new opportunities here for Making Music member groups: twinning with local Sing Up primary schools (page 5), Adopt a Composer with Sound and Music (page 4), and new music for the 11/12 season. We invite members to take part in our London 2012 project, featuring a new piece by Orlando Gough (page 4) or, programme Kerry Andrew’s new choral piece (see back page), or book one of the six talented Philip and Dorothy Green Young Concert Artists at a highly subsidised rate. We also announce two events – 123sing! with The Classic FM Foundation and Practice-a-thon with CLIC Sargent – which raise money for great causes and help to raise your profile. Finally, if you are the Making Music Rep for your group, please keep your group bang up-to-date by passing on Making Music ebulletins and this copy of Highnotes! Karen Cardy Editor and Marketing Director editor@makingmusic.org.uk If you have any suggestions for articles or you would like to contribute to Highnotes, please contact the Commissioning Editor, Sarah Hayward on 020 7422 8291 or editor@makingmusic.org.uk Copy deadline for the next issue of Highnotes, September 2011 is 1 July 2011 Any views or opinions expressed by external contributors may not necessarily represent those of Making Music

Voices Now inspires new singers By Matthew Swann, Voices Now Producer In March, over 7,000 people came to London's Roundhouse for Voices Now, a four-day festival of choirs and singing, with singers from all backgrounds joining groups such as the BBC Singers and the Latvian Radio Choir. A major part of Voices Now was the Making Music Open Stage, with 20 amateur and community choirs, from Afro-Cuban and beat-box to barbershop and classical, performing in the busy foyer spaces. It was fantastic to see choirs supporting each other. One performer said, 'I liked the interaction and diversity … and the chance to meet and listen to other choirs.' New singers were out in force. Over 250 people attending 'Come and Sing with Gareth Malone' had never sung before in choirs, and feedback suggests that up to 55% of all audiences were new to singing. More than 50% were inspired to either get involved or further involved in singing. Among my highlights were the Latvian Radio Choir – who gave some of the most incredible choral performances I've ever heard – and hearing more than 250 people in 'Come and Sing Spem in Alium'. Tallis' monumental 40-part motet is a piece that many amateur singers want to tackle, but opportunities are rare. One participant said, 'If I tell you that it has been my ambition for 30 years to sing Spem in Alium you will understand what a wonderful morning I had!' www.voicesnow.org.uk www.facebook.com/voicesnow

Katura Jensen

Welcome

Gareth Malone inspired new singers at Voices Now

Gift Aid update – key developments Making Music told you recently that our guidance to performing members on claiming Gift Aid on member subscriptions was changing. The new guidance is now available on our website and it is vital that all voluntary music organisations making use of the Gift Aid scheme understand how things are changing from 1 September. We're delighted that after significant negotiations with HMRC, Making Music has secured an agreement for groups to claim under the existing guidance so long as any such claim is made before 1 September 2011. From that point, groups will need to separate the tuition element from membership subscriptions and ensure that this is not included in the Gift Aid claim. Visit www.makingmusic.org.uk/giftaid to read the new guidance

Light Fantastic, 24-27 June In the last issue of Highnotes (February 2011) we invited members to celebrate light music by taking part in Light Fantastic, a festival of British light music created by BBC Radio 3 in partnership with Making Music. Light music thrives in the vibrant voluntary music scene, so we were delighted when BBC Radio 3 asked us to be involved. We received a flood of applications for a series of BBC recording events around the UK, created for voluntary music groups as part of the festival. 27 member groups were selected for the recording sessions with BBC sound engineers and these are well underway. Your existing light music recordings are still arriving and we hope more of you will be submitting CDs over the next few days. Light Fantastic culminates in a weekend of concerts at London’s Southbank Centre, performances by the BBC's six performing groups across the UK, and a host of on air activity between 24 and 27 June. www.makingmusic.org.uk/lightfantastic www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/classical/lightfantastic

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Celebrate 2012 with new music

Celebrate 2012 and what it means to be British! The Making Music Overture commission for London 2012 By Orlando Gough, composer When Making Music first approached me to write a piece that could be performed by all of its very diverse membership, I was at first daunted, then excited, then daunted again. I think I remain in both states, and probably will until the thing is written, which is due to be by the end of July. The piece will be scored for both choral and instrumental forces, in a flexible and 'mix and match' way, so that whether you are a small community choir singing a cappella, or a highly-skilled chamber choir, or an orchestra, or a jazz band, or a gospel choir, or indeed anything at all, you'll be able to perform this piece some time between its launch on 2 March 2012 and the start of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

More formal details will be given to each Making Music member shortly. In the meantime make sure you are thinking about how your group can participate in the Making Music Overture project – it's going to be one of the best things about the 2012 Olympics for sure! Visit www.makingmusic.org.uk/makingmusicoverture to register your interest

It's an incredibly exciting idea to have different versions of this piece going on all over the country in such a short space of time. We're aiming to have a minimum of 150 performances during the period, each of which will involve some kind of partnership between a voluntary music group and some other kind of group – be it a musical partnership, or a partnership with another artistic group, or a community group such as a care home or school. To facilitate the partnerships, and the realisation and personalisation of the piece for each group, Making Music is running two 'train the trainer' workshops for musical directors in the autumn, in conjunction with the BBC Singers. All participating MDs will be invited to take part in these exciting workshops and the skills they learn will form a lasting legacy for the project.

www.flickr.com/photos/gogovisual

I'm lucky enough to live near, and be great friends with, the British Caribbean poet John Agard. John was born in Guyana and has lived in this country since the early 80s, and has a great sense of what it is like to be British in our multicultural and diverse society. When I asked him to write the words (for those versions that need words!) he jumped at the chance, and between us we are going to create an anthemic piece, provisionally entitled One of Us, that will express the joys, the contradictions and the tribulations of living in this wonderful but problematic country of ours at such a unique moment as the London 2012 Games will provide.

Don't miss the action! We hope hundreds of groups will perform the Making Music Overture anthem in the run up to London 2012

Adopt a Composer Adopt a Composer partnerships are now well under way with first performances planned in the summer. This project is a partnership between Making Music and Sound and Music, funded by the PRS for Music Foundation and supported by BBC Radio 3. Each year six voluntary music groups are paired with an emerging composer and they work together over several months to produce a new work. It's an exciting challenge for the group and a chance to explore new music.

Daniel K. L. Oi

A member of Essex Symphony Orchestra, which is paired with composer Andrew Hall, says: 'There's a feeling among the players of trusting where Andrew wants to take us, and a willingness to give anything a try. That's what's making the journey such an interesting one.' We hope to open the 2011/12 scheme to new applicants over the next few months. To read the 2010/2011 scheme blog visit www.adoptacomposer.org www.makingmusic.com/aac

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2011 pairing: composer Emily Crossland with Strathclyde University Chamber Choir

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Sharing the joy of singing

Take part in 123sing! and support a great musical cause By Sophie Randles, Head of Fundraising, Classic FM There's nothing in the world that has the power to touch us as deeply and as profoundly as music. Bringing this healing and enlivening effect to thousands of UK children is the vision of Classic FM's new charity, The Classic FM Foundation. Funding a range of music education and therapy projects, the charity has already touched thousands of lives. This year The Foundation is funding over 4,000 Nordoff Robbins music therapy sessions for vulnerable children across the UK, helping children like Joshua and their families: Joshua's story: 'When Joshua was born we were told that he had a genetic syndrome. He isn't developing mentally or physically as he should. At 16 months old, he's still the size of a three-month old baby. We are all amazed and yet inspired at how well Joshua responds to music. Before he started music therapy he made little noise other than a bit of gurgling and cooing. Now, we're so pleased, because Joshua has started to talk. He can say 'Mama' and 'Dada'. Music therapy has given Joshua his voice.' The charity's Music Quest programme gave the gift of music to 15,000 primary school children in some of the UK's most deprived areas. Hundreds of teachers received training in music – giving them the confidence to make music part of the everyday curriculum rather than a rare treat.

Take part in 123sing! and help The Classic FM Foundation do more to help disadvantaged children through music

Making Music members can support The Classic FM Foundation by taking part in 123sing! 2011. All musical genres and abilities are welcome. So please, help to share the joy of singing whilst supporting this great musical cause. For more information about how your group can get involved in 123sing! visit www.makingmusic.org.uk/123sing and www.classicfm.co.uk/charity/123-sing-2011 123sing! is on 30 September – 2 October 2011. However events can be held at anytime throughout September and October.

Sing Up builds for the future Sing Up receives a further £4m in funding for the next year and announces a new pilot twinning scheme with Making Music. By Kate Gibson, Awards Executive Officer, Sing Up In 2007, Sing Up launched with the aim of providing high-quality singing opportunities to all primary-aged children in England. Almost four years on over 20,000 primary schools have signed up to the programme. Through a mix of training opportunities, resources, advocacy and support, Sing Up has helped to change the face of music education in England. Over the next year, Sing Up will be undergoing some changes to ensure its sustainability for the future. The priority is to ensure that Sing Up develops as an essential asset for schools and extends our reach to the wider music and education sectors. We are delighted that the Government recently decided to support Sing Up for another year with a further £4 million investment.

This news means that English primary schools can continue accessing the extensive resources and training opportunities on offer. Sing Up has recently partnered with Making Music to create a scheme to twin primary schools that have achieved Sing Up Awards with local Making Music member organisations. Almost 100 schools have expressed their interest in taking part in this pilot, which will help schools to develop links with their local music-making community and voluntary music groups to build strong connections with young people. www.singup.org

Scores of new music for choirs Surrey Performing Arts Library is to receive a substantial number of new vocal scores and their accompanying orchestral sets over the next three years thanks to a £175,000 legacy left to Making Music by Alan Kirby, one of the founders of Making Music, to encourage choral singing in Surrey. The Making Music Kirby Collection will give choirs access to a wider range of contemporary music, and more copies of standard repertoire in better condition. It will also enable the library to grow quickly and provide a better service. Surrey-based choirs can book scores up to six months in advance of their first rehearsal, and if the scores are not required locally they will become available to choirs throughout the UK through their own local library service.

Making Music presented the Sir Charles Groves Prize 2011 to Sing Up early this year for its outstanding contribution to British music

The collection is expected to launch in June and among the first pieces to arrive will be Aesop’s Fables by Bob Chilcott, and many copies of favourite choral works by John Rutter. www.surreycc.gov.uk/performingartslibrary

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Big Society in action

Music for Everyone By Pat Ashworth, Volunteer Press Officer, Music for Everyone At any one time, an estimated 2,000 singers and players will be enjoying what one member of the Nottingham-based Music for Everyone (MfE) community describes as 'joyful, uninhibited, quality music making'. Music for Everyone is part of the big society – and has been since its formation in 1983 by Angela Kay, a committed, energetic and innovative artistic director. 'We aim to provide opportunities for everyone, from the adult who wasn't allowed to join a choir to the highly-trained musician', she says. Open access workshops, performing groups, and high-quality concerts are all part of the mix. The 14 performing groups range from regular daytime choirs to twice yearly orchestral workshops, a choir for boys and weekend playing workshops for advanced string players. MfE is particularly proud of its current project to encourage children to sing through the transition from junior to secondary school – building on the work of the national singing programme Sing Up – and future plans include a Nottingham City Centre singing project linked to London 2012.

Much effort has gone into developing its website, with regular personalised email bulletins, good use of social media tools such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter to keep everyone involved.

Nottingham Boys Voices, one of Music for Everyone's 14 performing groups

Music for Everyone has been a member of Making Music for 27 years. 'It's proved invaluable as a resource in so many areas, from sourcing vocal scores to acting as an agent for CRB checks', says Angela . Music for Everyone enriches the lives of thousands of local musicians, and one concluded, 'It encourages singers and players to regard musical performance as a natural and essential part of life.' www.music-for-everyone.org

The organisation, grown from a large amateur choir, is run by an army of volunteers, supported by a general manager and an administrator.

Music for Everyone’s Blow The Dust Off Your Instrument course starts on 18 June

Choir at heart of once 'failing' community By Terry Pettitt, Chair, South Oxhey Choirs

The South Oxhey Choirs were formed as part of the BBC 2 programme The Choir – Unsung Town in 2009 under the inspirational baton of Gareth Malone with the sole aim of bringing together the disparate parts of this 'failing' community.

Sue Lacey

When the production company left and the local people took on the management of the choir, we decided to look for experts to give advice in the areas we were lacking – so we joined Making Music. The choir encourages young members to take centre stage

Join our online community! Looking for a musical director or a voice coach for your group? Running a composition competition or need help with finding repertoire for a workshop? Whatever advice you need on music making, marketing or any other aspect of running your group, you can post those burning questions on our discussion forums and get help from your peers and the experts. Whatever you want help with, our growing community of music makers, promoters and professional musicians will be sure to reach out. Do browse through our latest postings to see whether you can lend your expertise. www.makingmusic.org.uk/community

6 • Highnotes • June 2011

We are an unauditioned, inclusive community choir with around 150 members from all walks of life, races and ages. A shared love of music has brought some unlikely friendships and provided support to our members through difficult times. The community has taken the choir to its heart, inviting us to perform at all the major events. We perform a very broad repertoire, from Cheryl Cole to Toploader and Annie Lennox, as well as works by Barber, Vivaldi and Mozart. Almost our entire repertoire is unique to the choir, as our dedicated choral masters produce arrangements to meet our specific needs.

Sue Lacey

South Oxhey, Hertfordshire was described as 'failing' in the government's 'Standards of Deprivation' report in 2004 – with specific references to income, employment and the living environment. The situation is particularly bad for the arts, with low incomes and a lack of facilities crippling local peoples' access to cultural activities.

A member of the South Oxhey Choir prepares for her solo

Although we have performed in some world-class venues like St Albans Abbey and the Roundhouse, Camden, and even recorded a track at Abbey Road studios, some of our favourite performances are those we give to our families, friends and neighbours. The choir is run by volunteers, and the commitment from the people and businesses in the area always amazes us. www.southoxheychoirs.org South Oxhey Choirs’ next performance is on 16 June at Palace Theatre, Watford

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Music and wellbeing

Music and Wellbeing – join us at our conference and be inspired! 10-11 September, Glasgow Inspiring people to consider ways they can use music as a tool to improve wellbeing is one very important aspect of our conference in September. Another is helping delegates to understand the importance of showing the impact and benefits of such projects in a tangible way, if others are to learn from the example, and particularly if funding is to be sought from third parties. Making Music is really fortunate that Professor Norma Daykin will be sharing her expertise with us in this area. Norma is a social scientist working at the University of the West of England, and its first Professor of Arts in Health. In 2008, she was awarded the Royal Society of Public Health Award for her contribution to music and health research. She is actively involved in developing music and health projects – for example she is currently working on a three-year Big Lottery project on

music in young offenders institutions – and she is also currently conducting an evidence review for Youth Music on the impact of music with young offenders. From these projects there is a good deal of best practice guidance emerging, particularly in relation to evaluating music projects, which is a particular current interest; Norma is also involved in a project to develop evaluation and training tools for arts and health initiatives. Aside from her scientific and academic credentials, Norma is a saxophone player and composer, and is currently musical director of the Bristol Reggae Orchestra. Her musical interests are in contemporary jazz as well as latin and afrocuban rhythms, and she has written for a wide range of ensembles from amateur groups to professional big bands. A perfect match for the Making Music conference at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in September!

Mark Adkin

Over the two days there will be a mixture of speaker presentations, including a keynote speech from Professor Robert Winston (pictured right), plenary discussions, practical demonstrations and musical workshops. Amongst other things we will be exploring singing for wellbeing, music and mental wellbeing, how music therapy works, music in healthcare settings, the research aspect of music and wellbeing, music and public health, economic and political environment and the changing landscape. There will be opportunities to sing, to talk, to play instruments, to learn, and above all to share and be inspired with wonderful practical ideas and examples of what is possible to achieve when music is used as a tool to enhance wellbeing.

A young offenders’ project led by Norma Daykin and Live Music Now

Book your place now using the enclosed booking leaflet or online at www.makingmusic.org.uk/conference

Practice makes perfect – and helps children with cancer By Emily Felix-Davies, National Events Manager, CLIC Sargent CLIC Sargent is the UK's leading cancer charity for children and young people up to the age of 24. It provides clinical, practical, and emotional support to help the whole family cope with the impact of cancer and its treatment, life after treatment and, in some cases, bereavement. CLIC Sargent has specialist care teams including nurses, social workers, youth workers and play specialists, based at the regional children's and young people's cancer centres across the UK. The charity also provides financial help to meet extra costs, free accommodation close to specialist cancer centres and holidays in the UK.

Lack of funds means that CLIC Sargent can only help two out of three children and young people with cancer – that's why your support, by taking part in fundraising campaigns like Practice-a-thon, makes such a difference. Practice-a-thon is a national fundraiser for singers, dancers and musicians of all abilities. Groups and clubs are encouraged to hold sponsored events and raise money to help children and young people with cancer, and their families. From a simple group or section practice to a special summer concert – every event counts. CLIC Sargent provides a free downloadable event pack with everything Making Music members need, including event ideas, fundraising tips, advice on getting publicity for the event, and template certificates. Members that take part in Practice-a-thon will be able to claim back 10% of the money they raise.

Hold a Practice-a-thon event to polish up for your next concert or involve kids from local schools

CLIC Sargent is Making Music's charity partner for 2011-12. Making Music is aiming to help raise £50,000 to support its work through Practice-a-thon. To find out more about Practice-a-thon or to sign up, visit www.makingmusic.org.uk/clicsargent

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Valuing volunteers

Valuing Volunteers Making Music is in the process of developing a new volunteer programme through our Inspiring Volunteers Action Group (iVol). The group, made up of Making Music staff, board directors and volunteers, meets every two months to discuss how best to attract, inspire and retain volunteers so we can grow our volunteer force from 150 to 1,000 by 2015. Our five-year plan, Making Music for Everyone, is ambitious and the new volunteer programme will need to be equally so for the plan to be fulfilled. With over 3,000 member groups, Making Music has an incredible potential resource in terms of volunteers. It's vital that we inspire our members to volunteer for Making Music and demonstrate that helping us will also benefit their own group and others like them. By Peter Stokes, Head of Volunteer Management

As well as volunteers from our member groups, it is also important in terms of growing the organisation that we are able to attract volunteers from outside our own core membership. There are thousands of other local and national voluntary organisations who use volunteers, so we are giving a lot of consideration to how to make both Making Music, and our volunteer vacancies as appealing and rewarding as possible.

the start, achieve reconciliation if things go wrong and to accept responsibility. The '3R Promise' came along at a very good time for us, especially in terms of getting it right from the start. To be focusing on that at a time when we're putting together a new volunteer programme helps us to ensure the new programme is volunteer-friendly and ultimately good for the organisation. Full details of the new volunteer programme will be revealed by Making Music internally during Volunteers Week (1â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 7 June), before being officially launched at the Making Music conference in Glasgow in September. We felt it was important that our existing volunteers were told first about the changes being made through the new programme. As well as the new Volunteers' Policy, an induction handbook for new volunteers is in development along with role descriptions for new roles being developed with staff and volunteers in the regions and nations. Volunteers' Week will also give Making Music the chance to celebrate the achievements of our volunteers and to thank them for their support. As an organisation that was run by volunteers for many years we want to make sure we recognise and celebrate their contribution, while also looking to the future and developing new and innovative volunteering opportunities within Making Music. Several ideas are being developed through iVol, including a volunteers 'wall of fame' on the website, so watch this space. www.makingmusic.org.uk/volunteers

Although attracting new volunteers is vital for our future success, retaining the skills, experience and enthusiasm already present in our network of regional committee volunteers is arguably even more important. We can put as much work as we like into developing exciting, attractive new roles but if we are losing volunteers it will ultimately be off-putting to potential new ones. It's important for us to make the change to our new volunteer programme at a manageable pace and with consideration for our existing volunteers. So the new programme isn't about replacing existing volunteers with new volunteers; it's about enhancing the existing volunteer team to help them build on their fantastic efforts so far. The first step in developing the new programme was to consult with staff and volunteers to ensure their views were taken into consideration. The results of this consultation have been collated and have helped to form the basis of the new Volunteers' Policy, which has been approved by iVol. Making Music has also taken the chance to sign up to Volunteering England's '3R Promise'.

Lindsay Wilson

Bric Photographers

The '3R Promise' is a call to action arising from the Volunteer Rights Inquiry. We are among 50 third sector organisations already signed up to the '3R Promise', which asks organisations to pledge to get it right from

We couldn't have put on the Verdi Requiem Big Sing in the West Midlands without our volunteers

8 â&#x20AC;˘ Highnotes â&#x20AC;˘ June 2011

Making Music volunteers help run events such as the Big Busk in the North East

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Bric Photographers

Valuing volunteers

The North East’s Big Busk was a three-day outdoor event with street performances in town centres and parks and participatory music and dance workshops

£84,000 in new funding for Making Music By Evan Dawson, Head of Programmes and Development Since the start of the year, we've been busily applying for funding from lots of different sources, sensing the precarious road ahead. Our plans to renew our volunteer structure have been greeted with enthusiasm from all corners, and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation awarded us a grant of £29,000 to help us put it all into action. We're delighted to be working with them on this, and grateful for their support. We have also been granted £50,000 by the Headley Trust towards a project called Vocality, working with Sound Sense to create new community choirs around the UK. We're really excited about this new initiative, which will help us strengthen community life in some of the UK's most disadvantaged areas.

Finally, we've been granted £5,000 by the PRS for Music Foundation towards the Making Music Overture commission (see page 4). Their ongoing support for new music is vital to us, and to composers and music groups all around the UK. As the UK's number one organisation for promoting music making and its benefits, Making Music is of increasing importance to people and communities. We will continue to develop innovative projects and seek out new funding, and would be delighted to hear from any readers who can suggest new avenues to pursue, or might even donate money to us. evan@makingmusic.org.uk

Outstanding volunteer! By Linda Young, Making Music Director The President's Award was established in 2009 to recognise volunteers who have made an outstanding contribution to Making Music. The 2010 President's Award was recently presented to Donald Sheppard in the presence of his friends and colleagues at Bournemouth Chamber Music Society. Don's involvement with Making Music began in 1973 with his election to the former Southern Region Committee, and he served as Secretary not only there but also for the new South Region and latterly for the South West, a total of 17 years in that particular office and over 35 years involvement in the regions.

Donald Sheppard receiving the President's Award 2010

Following his election in 1982 to the NFMS Executive Council, Don served there for ten years and was involved in many radical changes to the organisation. Even after standing down, he remained very active with special projects, including an analysis by hand of all the responses to the large membership questionnaire that preceded the first five-year plan, Serving Music, 1996-2000. Nominations for the 2011 award are now being accepted with a closing date of 30 June. For full details visit www.makingmusic.org.uk/awards Highnotes • June 2011 • 9

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Musical musings

My cultural daydream By David Sulkin, Chief Executive, Musicians Benevolent Fund I like all kinds of music and where a genre isn't my favourite I am happy for it to excite others. I'm a great admirer of good beatboxing. I love it when rap turns from chanting and droning into singing. Some of the more confident and skilled rappers can do that. But when push comes to shove, it's to the opera house that I'll go when in need.

encouraging singing universally in pubs, arts centres, community halls – even sports stadiums. The National Singing Programme – Sing Up – has cost £40m over four years. What a snip it has been. That's 0.5% of the £8bn being spent on London 2012. However, the Cultural Olympiad – on the periphery of the Games – is starting to make an impact with a rich diet of national and international artists and over 1,000 events around the UK. Last year Ruth Mackenzie, Director of the Cultural Olympiad, said: 'From 21 June to 9 September 2012, across the whole of the UK, new work from the best artists, musicians, writers, comedians, film makers and other creative talent will be presented in the largest festival in the country.

That made me think of access to opera, great opera stars, broadening and David Sulkin developing the repertoire – and the Olympics. What a marvel it would be if we were spending £8bn on a two-week international opera festival in 2012.

Making Music is doing its bit with the commission of a new overture for London 2012. There are other strong ideas in the mix like Youth Music Voices and River of Music produced by Serious, so I shall be looking out for the tastiest cultural morsels in 2012. Even so, I shall still be hankering after that two-week opera festival with a new opera house in every region. Ah well … back to the real world.

Could we build a new opera house in every region – each with a permanent endowment? Could we quadruple the meagre support given to the National Opera Studio? Could we have outreach and young people's programmes not run on a shoestring? Could we have performances in unusual places like Wookey Hole and Hadrian's Wall? And another thing ... opera singers working in communities where opera rarely penetrates. A national programme of singing, building on Sing Up and

The Musicians Benevolent Fund celebrates its 90th birthday this year with 90 years: 90 big ideas, a festival of 90 events around the UK. www.helpmusicians.org.uk

Young artists – highest quality, widest choice The standard throughout our 80 young artist award auditions in April seemed higher than ever, but there were some clearly outstanding performers who were selected by our adjudicators (Joy Mammen, Mark Forkgen and Jeff Cohen) for their exceptional qualities: Alex Rumford

2011 winners Yasmin Rowe & Yelian He & Recommended Artist Tanya Sweiry

This year we are also continuing our partnerships with the St Martins Chamber Music Competition and the Musicians Benevolent Fund to extend our range of outstanding young artists – visit www.makingmusic.org.uk/artistschemes for further details.

Daniel Broncano, clarinet Caroline MacPhie, soprano Robyn Allegra Parton, soprano James Sherlock, piano Huw Wiggin, saxophone Y 2 – Yelian He (cello) & Yasmin Rowe (piano)

Alex Rumford

Making Music members can now engage these artists for recital or solo performance opportunities, at a fixed fee of £250, claiming back £120 through the Philip & Dorothy Green Award for Young Concert Artists scheme. See the enclosed leaflet or visit www.makingmusic.org.uk/ayca to find out more about the artists and booking.

2011 winners Huw Wiggins, Caroline MacPhie and James Sherlock

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Highnotes • June 2011 • 11

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energetic dedicated insp inspi inspiring ring g powerful ow owerful passionate nate po talented NYOS Summer Season 2011 8 AMAZING ENSEMBLES 9 UP-LIFTING FTING CONCERTS S Let The National Youth Orchestras of Scotland inspire you this summer For more information iio visit www.nyos.co.uk www.nyos.co

2-FOR-1 TICKET OFFER FOR MAKING MUSIC MEMBERS Quote: NYOS Par Partners tners 2 for 1 at box office

88784 MM__ 19/05/2011 14:14 Page 13

Sherborne Summer School of Music 31 July - 21 August 2011

Piano & Vocal Masterclasses Five Choirs Jazz Five Conducting Courses Chamber Music Composition Wind Ensemble Three Orchestras Sherborne

www.benslow.org www w.benslo .be enslo ow.org Tel: T el:: 01462 459446

Email:: inf info@benslow.org fo@benslo o@benslow.org

Little Benslo Benslow w Hills, Benslo Benslow w Lane Lane,, Hitchin, Her Hertfordshire, tffordshire, SG4 9RB A Compan Companyy limited by by guarantee Registered Registered in England No 408404

Summer School of Music

Formerly Canford Summer School of Music e mail: su m me rs m usicschool@b ti n t erne t.c o m t el: + 44 (0)1342 893963

www.sherbornesummerschoolofmusic.co.uk

Charity No 313663

Learn more about Barbershop Harmony HARMONY COLLEGE

Residential Summer College 26 to 28 August 2011 Jubilee Campus Nottingham University View & Book Online Visit the BABS web site to view the full College Prospectus which gives details of all the courses.

www.singbarbershop.com The British Association of Barbershop Singers Druids Lea, Upper Stanton Drew, Bristol BS39 4EG Registered Charity No: 1080930 Affiliated to Making Music and the Barbershop Harmony Society

The British Association of Barbershop Singers (BABS) has been running its own Harmony College for 33 successful years. It is open to both men and women who wish to increase their knowledge of barbershop harmony. The college is a two and a half day residential event that takes place at the Jubilee Campus of Nottingham University. The cost of attending includes course fees, learning materials, all meals and single en-suite accommodation.

What would you like to do? Learn about Theory

of Harmony Sing in a barbershop

Chorus Start barbershop

It has become a highly respected event and you can choose from a wide selection of courses that will give you a greater insight of barbershop harmony.

Arranging

Whilst it is primarily an educational event, the weekend is also full of fun and laughter with plenty of opportunities to sing. Over 300 normally attend and we look forward to welcoming you to a great barbershop learning experience!

Performance Try barbershop

BABS is a registered music education charity, so applications will be considered for help with course fees.

Discover

For details and to view the online prospectus visit the Harmony College link from our web site. Alternatively, email marketingdirector@singbarbershop.com with your name and address for a printed copy in the post. Try some barbershop harmony for yourself!

Understanding

Directing Your Voice

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The gleeful reinvention of Choral music continues apace… …with new POP classics

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Classified section

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motets, carols and anthems for upper voice and SATB choirs

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including music for beginner to intermediate level ensembles & three string quartets contact: Chris Wiggins, Tilsdown Lodge, Dursley GL11 5QQ Phone: 0796-266 8098 e: chris_wiggins21@hotmail.com Web: www.cdwigginsmusic.com NEW MUSIC FOR A NEW CENTURY

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The Creationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The Seasonsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; by Joseph Haydn Scored for reduced orchestra. Both are available for hire. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The Creationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; using nine fewer wind players has been successfully performed by choral societies throughout the country. Now Haydnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The Seasonsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; using twelve fewer wind players is also available for hire. Also â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Mozart Requiemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 2 trumpets and 3 trombones reduced to 1 trumpet and 1 trombone is available for hire. More details from Ian Bauers Email: ianbauers@samphire.demon.co.uk Telephone: 01502 714061 Website: www.musickle.com

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Tim Lowe (cello)

Pure Brass (brass quintet)

Yuka Ishizuka (violin)

The Young Artists Platfform orm scheme offffers ers promoters sponsorship towards concert ffees. eees. More details from Katie Avey: 0845 070 4969 inffo@thetilletttrust.org.uk

www.thetilletttrust.org.uk www w.thetilletttrust.org.uk

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Would you like to see your advert in a future issue of Highnotes? Making Music members benefit from a discount on display and classified advertising. Please contact Sharon Maslen at Space Marketing directly on 01892 677740 or email: sales@spacemarketing.co.uk for reasonable rates and bookings

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Highnotes â&#x20AC;˘ June 2011 â&#x20AC;˘ 15

88784 MM__ 19/05/2011 14:14 Page 16

Noticeboard

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Nominate your commissions and composers BASCA (British Association of Songwriters, Composers and Authors) has announced that nominations for this year's British Composer Awards have opened, including the call for the Making Music Award, which recognises composers working within the voluntary music sector. The closing date for entries is Friday 23 September 2011. These awards provide a wonderful platform for nominated and winning composers, as well as voluntary music groups, with exclusive coverage on BBC Radio 3 leading up to the ceremony, and a special show on Sunday 4 December. The ninth annual British Composer Awards take place at on Wednesday 30 November 2011. They are sponsored by PRS for Music in association with BBC Radio 3.

MPA commission for choirs Last year's Making Music Award was won by Kerry Andrew (pictured below) for Fall, her choral setting of a poem by Robin Robertson, commissioned by the Joyful Company of Singers. In a new initiative the Music Publishers Association has commissioned Kerry, as the award winner, to write a new work for Making Music choirs. We would like to encourage groups to include the piece in their 2011/12 season programmes. The work is inspired by British traditional music and folklore and scored for SATB with keyboard accompaniment. It is about 15 minutes long and split into five separate songs. The piece will be available for members to download from our website for free from July. To read Kerry's description of the music visit www.makingmusic.org.uk/ mpacommission

Letters Dear Making Music I was interested to read in Highnotes, Issue 15 (February 2011) that Kerry Andrew won the Making Music category in 2010 British Composer Awards. We ran an International Commission Competition last year in order to commission a new choral piece for the City Chorus' 90th anniversary. We had over 105 entries from around the world and the winner of the competition was Kerry Andrew! Her new piece will be premièred at St Sepulchre-without Newgate, London on Friday 8 July 2011. Kind regards Caroline Weiner Publicity Manager City Chorus Send your letters to editor@makingmusic.org.uk

If you need us to make any of this information more accessible, please call Making Music on 020 7422 8280 or email info@makingmusic.org.uk To subscribe please contact us directly. Highnotes is the official journal of Making Music, The National Federation of Music Societies 2-4 Great Eastern Street, London EC2A 3NW Tel: 020 7422 8280 info@makingmusic.org.uk www.makingmusic.org.uk A company limited by guarantee, registered in England no. 308632 Registered Charity in England no. 249219 and in Scotland no. SC038849

2010 BCA winner Kerry Andrew has been commissioned by the MPA to write a new choral piece for Making Music members

16 • Highnotes • June 2011

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