Around the UK

AROUND THE UK

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Music making a difference Member groups go all out to support key workers

From rainbow drawings in windows to clapping and pot bashing on Thursdays, public support shown towards our NHS and key workers produced some of the most uplifting moments of the COVID-19 lockdown. Some of our talented member groups used music to help bring a muchneeded smile to people’s faces in these challenging times.

Highlights included Blackpool Symphony Orchestra who created an impressive performance of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow,’ arranged by their own Composerin-Residence, Edward Rugman. The orchestra used the video to launch a fundraiser for the local Blackpool Food Bank, which has so far raised £3,011, no less than 860% of their original target.

As a special thank you to NHS staff and key workers, the Pandemonium Drummers put together a special lockdown performance of ‘And I Will Kiss,’ which they first performed together at the opening ceremony of the London Olympics when they were first formed, eight years ago.

Members of the City of Bristol Band created a special sociallydistanced version of the iconic ‘Wallace and Gromit’ theme tune to raise money for the Bristol Children’s Hospital Grand Appeal. The hospital charity shared the video with patients, families, and staff across the hospital to help spread a little cheer during these difficult times.

Rainbow Chorus, guest-starring comedian Hannah Brackenbury, recorded a parody of TLC’s 1999 hit ‘No Scrubs,’ showing their members working together (via video!) to produce scrubs for the NHS as part of the For the love of Scrubs campaign.

To watch the videos mentioned here, visit: makingmusic.org. uk/news/members-supportkeyworkers. Congratulations to these and to all of the many music groups across the UK that have been fundraising and supporting causes throughout the pandemic!

Did you know?

Making Music’s Virtual Concerts starring member groups have been viewed over 11,000 times on our YouTube channel

LONDON Formed 11 years ago, the Deutscher Chor London rehearses mostly in German, and the singers are made up of mostly long-term German expats, and several other nationalities. The choir has turned the crisis into something creative by launching the Corona Commissions project, which is supporting composers. The project was inspired by a tweet when musical director Barbara Höfling’s social media was flooded with stories from friends who lost all their work for the rest of the year within the space of a day or two. Consulting with the choir’s trustees they launched a fundraising campaign, and are using the £5,000 they raised to commission composers to write new choral pieces during the pandemic, for future Deutscher Chor concerts.

deutscherchorlondon.org.uk

WEST MIDLANDS The People’s Orchestra has been busy in lockdown with the first performance of its pilot virtual commonwealth orchestra, in celebration of the Commonwealth Games in 2022. Working alongside composer John Koutselinis in his latest commission for the orchestra, War Of The Titans, musicians recorded their parts from living rooms, bedrooms and kitchens across England. The orchestra invited L’Orchestre Philharmonia Mundi de Montreal in Canada and Orchestras Central in New Zealand to join them. The People’s Orchestra performed in the handover ceremony back in 2018 in Birmingham, and are looking forward to continuing their commemorative projects in the build-up to the games.

thepeoplesorchestra.com

Member announcements New appointments, anniversaries, awards and projects

Jeremy Jackman is stepping down as music director of the Cecilian Singers of Leicester in December after 30 years at the helm. Over the years, the Cecilians have sung many of Jeremy’s arrangements and compositions including the first performance outside London of his new English version of Bach’s St. John Passion. The choir hope to say goodbye to Jeremy properly in a final Christmas concert in Stamford on 11 December. Jeremy will be succeeded by Benjamin Kirk in January 2021. ceciliansingers.co.uk New Egham Singers, Progeny also from Egham, Windsor Soundswell Choir, and Voices Anon from Maidenhead have carried on singing throughout the crisis, thanks to music director Guy Bunce who set up online rehearsals for them all, and has gone on to make ‘how to’ tutorials and resources that are being viewed all over the world. The choirs plan to livestream rehearsals when they resume in person so that members who are concerned about returning can still take part. Bristol a capella group, Fascinating Rhythm, made the Voluntary Arts People’s Choice Epic Award shortlist for their work with Down syndrome charity Ups and Downs Southwest, with whom they made a film to mark World Down Syndrome Awareness Day in 2019. The choir learned a song from the film The Greatest Showman and Makaton signing, and spent a day with children and young people performing and filming. Vote for your favourite arts project: voluntaryarts.org/ epic-awards-peoples-choicevoting Virtual Concert Series

How long has the group been running, and how many members do you have? Stockport Ukulele Players was formed about eight years ago. We have about 70 active members and attract about 35 members to our regularly weekly meetings. What sort of music do you play? Anything from old-time standards to pop, rock & roll and rock. Anything that we can play and sing along to. How do you accommodate your players of different abilities? Our weekly meetings are divided into three parts: the first with easier songs and some mentoring; the second with more advanced songs, and the third is spent working on arrangements. We publish a beginner’s guide and ‘Tips & Tricks’ on our website. Three performing groups have been formed by members of the club – Dr. Uke, The Crukes and No JoKe. They all perform regularly in local pubs and clubs, when conditions allow. The ‘Psycho Killer’ video used in Making Music’s Virtual Concert was one of the lockdown videos produced by Dr. Uke, ‘Stockport’s Finest Electric Ukulele Rhythm & Blues Band’ https://www.bitly.com/DrUke Where and when do you play together under ‘normal’ circumstances? We meet weekly at The Fingerpost, a local pub. We also have a monthly Saturday afternoon session, in another Throughout the summer, members were busy recording virtual performances, which we have been curating into concerts and broadcasting online every fortnight. Groups of all shapes and sizes took part, from brass bands to choral societies, accordion orchestras and symphony orchestras to community singing groups. If you want to experience the breadth of wonderful leisuretime music that’s being made all over the UK, visit our YouTube channel to catch up on the

60-second interview

Mark Rawthorne introduces the Stockport Ukulele Group, one of the groups that starred in Making Music’s Virtual Concerts

60 second interview

Describe your group in three words? Fun ukulele singalongs concerts!

pub (can you spot the theme?!). We perform at local community and charity events and raise in excess of £2,000 for charity every year. The club appeared in the Co-Op Christmas TV advert in 2017. Have you managed to keep meeting or playing music together virtually during lockdown? We have a regular Zoom meeting every Monday with about 35 people attending. Recently a few members have also met up in a local park for a socially distanced strum, sing and chat. What are your plans for when you’re able to meet again? We can’t wait to get back to the pub and have a good old singalong. Then we need to find a few local events to perform at. https://stockportukulele.blogspot.com