Friends' newsletter october 2012

Issue No.59

Friends Newsletter Double Your Money! ’

October 2012

Contents...

page one & two Double Your Money! page three & four Say Hel lo to our Assoc iate Compose r page five 50 0N May Festival ew Faces 2013 page six Fr iends’ News MitC Updat e

page seven Just a Note page eight A Look Ahead

Help us raise £83,500 and we could double it to £167,000 In May this year, we were successful in our bid to Arts Council England’s (ACE) new, one-off Catalyst match funding scheme. This presents us with a wonderful opportunity to achieve a number of artistic ambitions with your help, and to encourage new supporters. In brief, up until May 2014, ACE will match £1 for £1 any additional or new money we raise through individual donations, including grants from private trusts and foundations. From June 2014 until June 2015 they will continue to match

New smaller size!

Thank you to those of you who suggested we reduce the size of the Newsletter to save on postage.

fund, but at the lower level of £1 for every £1.50 we raise. The extent of their match funding to Music in the Round over the whole three-year period could total £83,500.

organising them, please do get in touch.

Our very special Ebony and Ivory Dinner on Tuesday 11th December, co-hosted by David Moody, the Lord-Lieutenant of South Yorkshire, will feature This couldn’t have come Paul Lewis and Tim Horton at a better time as we plan performing a programme of exciting festivals and mini- solo and four-hand piano pieces festivals for the next three followed by dinner at Cutler’s years, invite more wellHall. There are still a few places known artists to Sheffield, left for the dinner, so please do commission new work for get in touch with us if you’d like Ensemble 360 for both adult to find out more. and family concerts, and replace the Steinway C that If you can’t make the dinner, you can still contribute to the we’ve had since 1993 and which will be past its best as Ebony and Ivory Fund through the Buy-a-Key campaign, which a concert piano in a couple will be launched at a Friends’ of years. post-concert drinks and raffle We’re planning a number in the Adelphi Room after Tim’s of ways that Friends can Beethoven recital on Thursday get involved and help Music 25th October. If you have in the Round continue anything you can contribute to to provide inspirational the raffle, or would like to book concerts by some of the best your place, please get in touch. musicians around. We hope It’s not too late to support you’ll enjoy the activities we’ve got lined up, but if you have ideas for other activities or might have time to help with

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purpose, so that people can donate as and when it suits them, and help us plan better to include these artists. We’ll still be inviting you to contribute towards the cost of specific guests and will circulate our Music in the possible names at regular Community commission, intervals, but it won’t be Sir Scallywag and the at such short notice. We’ll Golden Underpants, which also be inviting Friends to premieres on Tuesday suggest names of artists 9th October for schools, they’d like to see in the and will be the family programme. We can’t event of the year at The promise to present all Octagon on Saturday 1st of them, but we’re open December before touring to suggestions however the country. If you know ambitious they might a child who is coming to seem. the concert and would like to become a Knight of the To find out more please Music in the Round Table visit the Support Us section of our website or – just get in touch with have a chat with us at one Chloe on 0114 281 4660 of the concerts. or chloe@musicintheround.co.uk.

We want to make sure If you make a donation, that our fundraising we’ll send a child of your activities are inclusive nomination a certificate and fun; that people to acknowledge their can help us whatever Knighthood. their means. However, if anyone is in a position In the New Year, we’ll launch a new Angels Fund to make a significant to support the appearance donation by becoming a Lifelong Patron, or is of special guest artists. considering making a Many of you have been bequest in their will to the Angels over the years, making one-off donations Lindsay Foundation to ensure the legacy of fine on request for specific music-making and music artists to appear in the education for the city, Sheffield programme. please do contact Deborah We’d now like to set up Chadbourn via the office an ongoing fund for this

or talk to Deborah or Jane Chapman at a concert.

The Andrew McEwan Fund Music in the Round recently received a substantial donation in memory of Andrew McEwan* who died earlier this year. The Andrew McEwan Fund has been set up to further Andrew’s lifelong commitment to education, his love of music, his strongly held beliefs in the breadth of benefits that musical education can bring and, most importantly, that it should be available to all. The Fund will be used to support Music in the Community’s Early Years and Access & Opportunity programmes which provide Music Box workshops, Come In performances by Ensemble 360, and resources for children throughout Sheffield to take part in music-making from as young as two. It will have an emphasis on providing disadvantaged children with opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise have to be introduced to music and musical education.

This is a significant contribution towards the musical lives and futures of many children in the city and we are hugely grateful for it. *Andrew McEwan (1958 – 2012): Former Senior Lecturer at Hallam University

www.musicintheround.co.uk | 0114 281 4660

Say Hello to our Associate Composer Charlie Piper is an exciting young composer who has already written for world-famous ensembles, and he’s our first ever Associate Composer. We chatted to him about his first MitR commission and his life as a composer.

When did you first get into composing?

I started writing little piano pieces when I was about ten. They had titles such as “Piece for my mum” and generally consisted of C major scales. They are still awaiting public performance. I guess I properly got into composing when I was about fifteen or sixteen having realised that my original plan of being a worldfamous violinist probably would not transpire. I decided composing was a good way to make music without having to talk to anybody. After winning a couple of local prizes I made the foolish decision to devote the rest of my life to this.

What other groups have you written for?

I’ve been very fortunate to work with lots of exciting performers around the world, including Britten Sinfonia, the London Sinfonietta, the London Symphony Orchestra, Sentieri Selvaggi (Italy) and L’Orchestre des Jeunes de la Méditerranée (France).

What is your career highlight so far?

Hmm, that’s difficult. I guess working with the LSO was amazing (and terrifying) but I most relish the opportunity to travel abroad. For example last year I had a wonderful and busy summer: a performance in New York; followed by a residency in Gotland, Sweden; a performance in Milan; and an orchestral performance in the Aix-enProvence festival.

Tell us about your new piece for MitR

My first work for Music in the Round is a sextet for clarinet, bassoon and string quartet to be premiered in October. It is still very much in its early stages!

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Have you written for this combination of instruments before?

I have not written for this exact combination before, although I have written an octet (Schubert Octet instrumentation) which has the addition of a horn and a double bass. I also wrote a septet last year (Bruch Septet instrumentation) which is the same as the Schubert but missing a viola.

Therefore this sextet seems like a logical progression. Maybe I should continue all the way down to a solo work! The sextet combination is wonderful to write for - very rich and warm and there is also a vast palate of colouristic possibilities available to me.

How is it working with Ensemble 360?

I am really looking forward to working closely with the players. I came recently for a week to the May Festival, which was a wonderful experience. I attended many concerts and spent a lot of time getting to know the players. I was deeply moved and impressed by the level of musicianship and passion for playing, as well as a healthy appetite for all forms of music. I know I will learn a lot from my time with the ensemble.

How does writing for a chamber group compare to writing for orchestra?

These are quite different beasts. When I approach a new orchestral work I think more about large shapes, texture and colour, big instrumental groupings, movement. In chamber writing my initial concerns are with line and melody, interaction between individual players, intimacy. In small-scale works there are certain things, such as intricate rhythms, that become much more difficult when applied to an orchestral context.

What other projects have you got coming up?

In a few weeks I shall be trading off the glorious British summer for a week in the Midwest - I am heading to a festival in Missouri to have a new work played by an ensemble called Alarm Will Sound.

After that I shall going to Utrecht in The Netherlands to work with the group Asko Schönberg. Then I aim to write a set of cello pieces for a friend. rld premiere of You can hear the wo ssion for MitR , a mi com t firs ie’s Charl soon and string bas et, rin sextet for cla Studio Theatre, ble uci quartet, at the Cr 10th October. ay Sheffield on Wednesd

500 New Faces

We are delighted to announce that over the last two years we have seen more than 500 new people at our South Yorkshire concerts.

We’ve introduced several new initiatives during this time including £5 tickets for first time bookers and under 35s, and a Pay What You Want concert in Sheffield last autumn. Our programming has reached out to new audiences, including Parampara, which combined jazz, classical and Indian music styles, and our Warm Up for the Olympics participation event at the English Institute of Sport – Sheffield and the Doncaster Dome.

As we move into a new series of concerts we are looking to attract even more new faces to our concerts and invite you to help us! We have now introduced Friends’ Recommendations in our series brochure and on our website, which highlights pieces that Friends are most looking forward to hearing. Thank you to all of you who have contributed so far. We’re sure that this will help encourage new audiences for our concert series and

that with your support it won’t be too long until we have another 500 new faces at our concerts!

make a If you would like to t have not recommendation bu about on ati orm inf ed receiv tact con ase ple so how to do 4660 or Marty on 0114 281 nd.co.uk. marty@musicintherou

May Festival 2013 Turtle Soup: A Story of British Music, Music-Making and Musicians After visits to Central Europe and Paris, the May Festival 2013 returns to Britain to focus on a proud musical tradition that stretches back over many centuries and celebrates the areas of excellence – performance, composition, music education and more – that makes this country’s music-making the envy of the world.

Forthcoming Highlight Thursday 9th November, 7.45pm

The Orlando Consort, including our very own Angus Smith, performs a fascinating programme of medieval music and readings at Sheffield Cathedral, joined for some pieces by Abbeydale Singers and the Sheffield Cathedral Songmen and Girls’ Choir.

We will explore the standing and achievements of old, current and new British composers, setting their music alongside that of a host of eminent visitors to these shores, not least Handel, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Dvořák and Grieg. We will examine the extraordinary and enduring reputation British performers have earned amongst their foreign counterparts. And we will take an in-depth look at the long and distinguished history of outstanding chamber music concerts in Sheffield.

There will be great stories and fascinating discoveries along the way and we hope that you will join Ensemble 360 and our guest artists for what we anticipate will be a revelatory experience.

Music Group

Some Friends of MitR have formed a music discussion group, which has previously discussed the May Festival and Oliver Sacks’ book Musicophilia. If you’re interested in joining the group, please contact Liz Cashdan on 0114 236 8361 or lizcashdan@onetel.com.

Friends Re-Launch

Thank you so much to all of you who have already returned your new Friends form, and thank you for your generosity.

Without you we wouldn’t be where we are now!

If you haven’t yet returned your form, please complete and return it to Daisy at the Music in the Round address.

If you prefer you can update your standing order directly with your bank, but please contact Daisy to say that you have done so. If you have any questions do get in touch with Daisy at the MitR office.

MitC Update It’s been a busy summer for our Music in the Community team, with lots of exciting projects. As well as another two inspiring PowerPlus concerts, which gave fifty GCSE music students the chance to hear their compositions played by E360, and a soldout performance of The Chimpanzees of Happytown at Wigmore Hall in London, we’ve embarked on two new projects.

Each year the Royal Opera House leads a Fanfare Competition, which offers young people the chance to have their music orchestrated, recorded by the ROH Orchestra and conductor Antonio Pappano, and broadcast throughout the venue as their three-minute audience calls. Keen to offer this opportunity to children across the country, the ROH invited Music in

the Round to organise workshops with Tapton and High Storrs schools, which were led by composer Duncan Chapman.

Following the workshops, the young composers were encouraged to enter the national competition, and we were delighted to find that Junaid Rehman from High Storrs was one of the ten winners. Consequently, Junaid was invited to London to workshop his fanfare and see it recorded by the orchestra. The Sheffield fanfares were also showcased by the Harlequin Brass ensemble in a soldout concert with Sheffield Young Singers.

We were also very happy to welcome our Children’s Composer in Residence, Paul Rissmann, to lead On Fire! as part of the Sheffield Children’s Festival. Paul, along with Tim Horton, Polly Ives, flautist Amina

Hussain and clarinetist Richard Russell, worked with Year 5 students from Phillimore Park Community Primary School and Nether Green Junior School to write pieces inspired by the Olympic torch. Over four days the musicians spent seven hours with each class, encouraging creativity and helping the children to write and develop their own lyrics and melodies. The children and musicians concluded the project with a fantastic concert in the Crucible Studio.

We’re now working hard to get autumn’s exciting Music in the Community events ready to go, and are very excited about Sir Scallywag and the Golden Underpants, our latest commission written by Paul Rissmann, to be premiered on Tuesday 9th October, as well as our other workshops and concerts.

xJust a Note

Photo: David Shapiro

Friends' News

Paul Rissmann, our Children’s Composer in Residence, answers our questions…

What’s your favourite piece of music?

Harmonium by John Adams. I’ve listened to it about a million times and it still gives me goosebumps. The modulations are simply life-changing! I honestly thought I was in heaven the first time I heard it live.

Who or what is your biggest influence?

Easy. It would have to be every single person who encouraged me musically - at school and at music college. I feel so fortunate to have experienced such inspirational teachers and am eternally indebted to them for sharing their love and knowledge of music with me.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I run. I love it. I’m totally addicted. My mother thinks this is hysterical as I refused to do any sport as a child! Now I always have my trainers with me when I tour.

What book are you reading?

I just got a kindle which is brilliant for being on the road. I’m half way through book two of The Hunger Games trilogy.

lly Ives Ensemble 360 and Po piece for est lat s premiere Paul’ and the MitR , Sir Scallywag for schools Golden Underpants, er and for tob Oc 9th ay on Tuesd ay urd families on Sat 1st December.

What’s your favourite place in the world?

I was born on the Isle of Bute off the west coast of Scotland, so being by water is very important to me. I’ve just bought a flat as close to the Thames as I could afford - so I’m not that close! But you can see water from my studio. If I had to choose just one place it would be the ferry from Circular Quay to Manly in Sydney. The views are incredible.

If you hadn’t become a composer, what do you think you would have chosen as a career?

It’s hard to imagine any other life, but I guess I’m so fascinated by technology that I’d probably have done something involving computers - maybe with design. Geeky but still creative!

In one sentence sum up your average working day

If I’m preparing for a concert, and I’m a bit nervous, I end up spending a lot of time in the bath - see, being next to water is SO important to me. The more nervous I am the cleaner I get! Whoops - that was not one sentence.

A Look Ahead to Spring...

Crucible Studio Theatre, Sheffield: Theatre of the Ayre Thursday 24 January, 7.45pm Lutenist Elizabeth Kenny, counter tenor Robin Blaze, recorder player Pamela Thorby and viols player Alison McMillivray celebrate the 450th anniversary of John Dowland’s birth.

Music Box Workshops Saturday 26 January Polly Ives and E360 explore songs and percussion games with 3-6 year-olds.

Tim Horton Saturday 26 January, 7.45pm Tim continues his Beethoven piano sonata cycle.

Exploring Mozart Weekend Friday 1 – Sunday 3 March Featuring Ensemble 360 and Kungsbacka Piano Trio concerts as well as a masterclass, lecture-recital, talk and symposium.

Trevor Pinnock Wednesday 6 March, 7.45pm The world-renowned harpsichordist performs Vivaldi and Bach.

O Duo Wednesday 13 March, 7pm The duo returns with a family concert.

Brentano Quartet Thursday 14 March, 7.45pm The US-based quartet performs Purcell, Beethoven and Brahms.

Emmanuel Methodist Church, Barnsley: Ensemble 360 Friday 1 February, 7.30pm E360 performs music by Mozart and his contemporary, Johannes Andreas Amon.

Ensemble 360 & Polly Ives Friday 15 March, 1.30pm Schools’ concert of Sir Scallywag and the Golden Underpants.

Ensemble 360 & Maggie Steed Friday 15 March, 7.30pm In a Paris Salon: A semi-staged performance celebrating Parisian salon hostess Winnaretta Singer.

Priory Place Methodist Church, Doncaster:

Ensemble 360 & Polly Ives O Duo Saturday 16 March, 1.30pm Wednesday 13 March, 1.30pm Family concert of Sir Scallywag and the The dynamic percussion duo performs a Golden Underpants. concert for schools.

Ensemble 360 & Maggie Steed Saturday 16 March, 7.30pm In a Paris Salon: A semi-staged performance celebrating Parisian salon 4th Floor | Sheffield Central Library hostess Winnaretta Singer.

Surrey Street | Sheffield S1 1XZ Tel: 0114 281 4660 Fax: 0114 281 4661 Email: info@musicintheround.co.uk www.musicintheround.co.uk Registered Charity No. 326811

Plus more concerts on tour around the country, as well as a variety of talks and Q&As.