Conference brochure 2013

MUSIC MAKING FOR THE FUTURE MAKING MUSIC AUTUMN CONFERENCE 2013 CBSO Centre, Birmingham Saturday 12 October

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 September 2011 PROGRAMME GUIDE

Conference guide

WELCOME AND SUPPORTERS

WELCOME

CONTENTS I’m thrilled that Making Music is hosting its autumn conference in Birmingham, where I went to university 50 years ago.

We had impressive musical facilities in the city in those days, ranging from the Barber Institute at the university to the town hall; but these did not compare to the nationally renowned centre that hosts our conference today.

This is our first Midlands conference for many years.

Coming myself from the Midlands, I’m conscious of the region’s musical legacy – going back to Elgar and Butterworth, and including such events as the world premiere of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem in Coventry Cathedral.

Making Music is here to enable all kinds of voluntary music groups to get on with making music. We aim to give you the support and tools necessary to run a successful group, as well as offering you ways of becoming involved in the wider musical community.

We have a flourishing structure in each area of the United Kingdom, but it’s here that all of our members can meet together.

6 Timetable 7 Programme 12 Speaker biographies 16 Sponsors 17 Exhibitors 20 Bedrock music

As Area Manager for Making Music in the West, I am delighted to be welcoming you to the CBSO Centre for the 2013 autumn conference.

I hope that you will take advantage of the array of sessions we have arranged for you, and when you’ve soaked in all the information on offer and spent time discussing and networking, that you will join us for the reception and enjoy some great music from a few of Making Music’s members from the area.

Our theme of ‘Making music for the future’ should leave you with some food for thought, while hopefully enabling you to tackle the challenges of music making in the years ahead.

Members of our national and area teams will be on hand too, and we all look forward to meeting you throughout the day.

Stuart Isaac Area Manager – West Member Development Manager – Wales

I wish everyone a most enjoyable conference.

Peter Lawson Chair, Making Music

Share your experiences of the Making Music conference on Twitter using the hashtag #MMConf.

To find out more about Making Music – the UK’s number one organisation for voluntary music – please visit www.makingmusic.org.uk.

OUR FUNDERS AND PARTNERS

Front cover photo by Stuart Leech

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TIMETABLE

NOTES All refreshments and meals will be served in the foyer and café foyer.

A range of organisations is represented at a trade exhibition held throughout the day in the foyer (see page 17 for a list of exhibitors).

Sessions Making Music events Breaks Music

Hall

Ratcliff Room

Studio 1

Café foyer

Coffee and registration

10.15–11.00 11.00–13.00

Foyer

CBSO string quartet open rehearsal

12.00–13.00

(11.00–11.50) Performing Rights explained

(11.00–11.50) Organising tours

Music education hubs

Dos & don’ts of marketing your concerts

Choral workshop

Lunch/Goldman Ensemble

13.00–14.00 14.00–14.15

Keynote speech: Simon Frith

14.15–15.15

Main panel debate: Programming

Recording your events and your music

Funding: how did YOU do it?

Advice surgeries 1) Charity Commission 2) Making Music Insurance Services 3) Making Music staff

Coffee

15.15–15.30 15.30–16.30

Meet the Charity Commission

Composers don’t bite

Where’s your music from?

Advice surgeries 1) Making Music Insurance Services 2) Making Music staff Closing address and awards presentation

16.40–17.25

17.25–19.00

Drinks reception (17.30–17.50) The Choir with No Name (18.15–18.45) Birmingham Symphonic Winds

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Drinks reception

PROGRAMME

10.15 Registration opens Tea and coffee will be offered to delegates on arrival.

Foyer

MORNING SESSION 11.00–11.50 Performing Rights explained Ratcliff Room Nicola Dillon, PRS for Music A chance to meet PRS for Music’s Nicola Dillon, who will seek to explain the fundamentals of copyright and royalties, as well as giving an overview of what PRS for Music does. There will be time at the end of the session for Nicola to answer your questions.

11.00–11.50 Organising tours Studio 1 Eleanor Harvey, Ally Wellington and Nicky Astle, Rayburn Tours Ever wondered what it would be like to go on tour and perform to European audiences? Now’s your chance to find out! Staff from Rayburn Tours introduce us to groups that have travelled on a European concert tour. European audiences and the overall inspirational experience for groups will be explored. Start planning something special!

11.00–13.00 CBSO string quartet open rehearsal Hall String quartet, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; Andrew Penny, conductor A string quartet of CBSO musicians will present an open rehearsal during which delegates are encouraged to contribute to the artistic and technical aspects of performance preparation. The CBSO musicians will discuss and work with the contributions from the delegates before performing the work, informed and inspired by your involvement.

11.00–13.00 Choral workshop Café foyer Ula Weber, Choral Director, CBSO Community Choir Join leading animateur Ula Weber for a workshop of choral singing and vocal fun. Explore what your voice can do, learn to sing in a different language and harmonise to your heart’s content with repertoire from around the world. The ability to read music isn’t necessary so come along and be inspired!

12.00–13.00 Music education hubs Ratcliff Room Robin Osterley, Making Music (chair); Fiona Pendreigh, Arts Council England; Karen Brock, THAMES One year on from the formation of ‘hubs’ as a way of delivering music education in England, we explore how Making Music members have made connections with their local hubs, as well as discussing what the benefits and pitfalls are.

12.00–13.00 Dos and don’ts of marketing your concerts Studio 1 Sarah Hayward and Ollie Mustill, Making Music A quick overview of how to effectively market concerts, led by Sarah Hayward and Ollie Mustill from Making Music’s marketing and communications team.

13.00–14.00

Lunch

Café foyer

There will be an informal performance in the café foyer from professional chamber group the Goldman Ensemble, which will perform: Mozart Allegro from Eine kleine Nachtmusik Brahms Lullaby Offenbach Can-Can Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue Schubert Ave Maria Strauss The Beautiful Blue Danube Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 8 ‘Patetique’

AFTERNOON SESSION 14.00–14.15 Keynote speech: Simon Frith Hall This year’s keynote speech, from sociologist and music journalist Simon Frith, will look at the social value of music.

14.15–15.15 Main panel debate: programming Hall Robin Osterley, Making Music (chair); Simon Webb, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; Stephen Newbould, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group; Graham Merriam, Sowerby Music Learn from the experts about what the key ingredients are for programming, and how good programming can lead to successful events and flourishing groups.

14.15–15.15 Recording your events and your music Ratcliff Room Gary Skyrme, Just Music Productions; Pete Du Pon, MixPixie Our member groups are often put off making and selling recordings for various reasons: the recording process can be too difficult or too costly; organising and paying royalties is too complicated; you normally have to buy CDs in bulk, meaning you end up with boxes of unsold units sitting in the garage. This session seeks to demystify the whole process, and show that groups can create and sell CDs easily and affordably.

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PROGRAMME TIMETABLE

14.15–15.15 Funding: how did YOU do it?

Studio 1 Simon Purkess, Birmingham Symphonic Winds; Carolyn Date, Bournemouth Symphony Chorus; Stuart Isaac, Kate Allen and Cheryl Bennett, Making Music A chance for groups to share their fundraising success stories and learn some simple dos and don’ts for attracting funding.

14.15–15.15 Advice surgeries 1) Charity Commission 2) Making Music Insurance Services 3) Making Music staff

Café foyer

15.15–15.30 Coffee 15.30–16.30 Meet the Charity Commission Hall Mike McKillop, Charity Commission This session will look at the changing face of charity regulation. There will be plenty of scope for questions and answers, and the session will be informal (so no death by Powerpoint!).

15.30–16.30 Composers don’t bite Ratcliff Room Andrew Potter (chair), Alan Bullard, Emily Howard A session outlining the pros and cons of commissioning new music, led by Andrew Potter of Making Music’s New Music Group, and featuring composers Alan Bullard and Emily Howard.

15.30–16.30 Where’s your music from?

Studio 1 Peter Lawson, Making Music (chair); Ric Taquelim, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; Tim Brooke, Faber Music; Peter Baxter, International Association of Music Libraries Where should you turn to to obtain the sheet music that you need for your group? And how can you do so affordably? This panel will discuss the different options, the advantages and disadvantages, and how you can get the best deal. Plus the session is your chance to ask questions of the professional librarian of City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, a supportive music publisher, and the chair of music libraries in the UK. 15.30–16.30 Advice surgeries 1) Making Music Insurance Services 2) Making Music staff

Café foyer

16.40–17.25 Closing address and awards presentation Robin Osterley, Peter Lawson and Linda Young, Making Music

Café foyer

16.40–19.00 Drinks reception Featuring informal performances from Making Music member groups the Choir with No Name and Birmingham Symphonic Winds.

(17.30–17.50) The Choir with No Name Programme: Johnny Nash I Can See Clearly Now Bob Dylan Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door traditional Mexican song) (18.15–18.45) Birmingham Symphonic Winds Programme: Philip Sparke Second City Ceremony (2010 commisssion) Guy Woolfenden Mockbeggar Variations

Phil Oakley Electric Dreams Ritchie Valens La Bamba (arrangement of Labi Siffre (Something Inside) So Strong

Eric Whitacre October John Rutter Finale from Partita (2013 commission)

Disclaimer We reserve the right to alter the published programme and speakers without prior notice.

Making Music, 2–4 Great Eastern Street, London EC2A 3NW Telephone: 020 7422 8280 Fax: 020 7422 8299 Email: info@makingmusic.org.uk www.makingmusic.org.uk Making Music, the National Federation of Music Societies. A company limited by guarantee.

Registered in England no. 308632. Registered Charity no. 249219.

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SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

PETER BAXTER, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MUSIC LIBRARIES Peter Baxter is the Senior Librarian of the Surrey Performing Arts Library and the President of the InternationalAssociationofMusic Libraries (UK & Ireland Branch).

He has been involved in supplying music to amateur choirs and orchestras for the past 27 years and has a wide knowledge of the repertoire and availability of music in libraries throughout the UK. He has also been involved in the establishment and development of the Making Music Kirby Collection of vocal and orchestral sets at the Surrey Performing Arts Library over the past three years.

KAREN BROCK, TOWER HAMLETS ARTS AND MUSIC EDUCATION SERVICE Karen Brock is Head of the Tower Hamlets Arts and Music Education Service (THAMES).

She taught music in schools for many years, was Deputy of the Hampshire Music Service and then subsequently the County Music Adviser for East Sussex. In 2000 she was seconded to the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority as Principal Officer for Music, where she contributed to the development of the National Curriculum. Since 2005 she has worked in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, where she was tasked with creating a new music service. She is currently Vice-Chair of the Greater London Authority Music Education Steering Group.

TIM BROOKE, FABER MUSIC Originally from West Yorkshire, Tim studied music at Exeter University before moved into classical music publishing by joining Faber Music. In Faber Music’s promotions department, Tim worked closely with composers such as Thomas Adès, Jonathan Harvey, Peter Sculthorpe, Oliver Knussen and Carl Davis, promoting their music to performing bodies and musicians worldwide. Latterly, he began to set up and negotiate composer commissions, and in 2008 moved to head up the newly formed Repertoire Development department, scouting for and developing performance-based copyrights and managing composers such as Howard Goodall, Jonny Greenwood and Gabriel Prokofiev.

His choral music, both sacred and secular, has been performed in a range of venues in the UK, USA and elsewhere. A recent recording of his cantata Wondrous Cross was welcomed by Choir & Organ magazine as having ‘dramatic shape and meditative logic that few can match’. Alan has also written educational music including the Joining the Dots sight-reading series (ABRSM) and, jointly with his wife Janet, the Pianoworks series (OUP). www.alanbullard.co.uk

CAROLYN DATE MBE, BOURNEMOUTH SYMPHONY CHORUS Recently retired, Carolyn was the Service Manager for Libraries and Arts at Bournemouth Borough Council, where her achievements included securing funding for lifelong learning as well as for arts and projects.

She has been Secretary and Chorus Manager at Bournemouth Symphony Chorus for almost 20 years, and was recently awarded an MBE for Services to Music in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

NICOLA DILLON, PRS FOR MUSIC Nicola is the Key Accounts Manager for public performance licensing at PRS for Music. The key accounts team is responsible for managing relationships with large corporate accounts, live music venues and festivals, ensuring that customers have a dedicated single point of contact to assist with the entire licensing process. Nicola joined PRS for Music in 2006, having previously worked within the telecoms industry.

PETE DU PON, MIXPIXIE Pete has been working in the music sector for over eight years with extensive experience from various aspects of the industry.

Previously employed with roles in private equity and digital media, Pete became a full time professional musician in 2005, having secured a major music publishing deal. Sponsored by Gibson guitars, he went on to release several albums and tour the UK and Europe. In 2011, Pete joined MixPixie, the world’s first personalised CD website, working with artists such as Lionel Richie, Olly Murs, Westlife as well as music bodies including Making Music and Sing Up. www.mixpixie.com

ALAN BULLARD, COMPOSER Alan Bullard has been writing music for over 40 years, and frequently undertakes commissions for amateur and professional ensembles.

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MAKING MUSIC AUTUMN CONFERENCE 2013

SIMON FRITH We are delighted to have Simon Frith as this year’s keynote speaker. Simon is Tovey Professor of Music at the University of Edinburgh

MIKE MCKILLOP, CHARITY COMMISSION Mike has worked as a manager in the Charity Commission for 22 years in a variety of roles including registration, review visits, charity disputes and recently as a manager in the Partnership Development Team. In this latter role, he aims to strengthen relations with a range of national representative bodies, including Making Music.

ELEANOR HARVEY, RAYBURN TOURS

GRAHAM MERRIAM, SOWERBY MUSIC Variously an accountant, furniture maker, singer, pianist and church organist, Graham is one of the three founders of promoting group Sowerby Music, now in its 27th year.

Committed to quality and variety, he has been deeply involved in the planning and organisation of the 11 concerts that Sowerby Music promotes annually alongside other associated projects. With a vast network of friends and contacts within the music profession, he takes full advantage of an enormous address book to produce a series that, even after this length of time, still attracts a steady and discerning audience.

EMILY HOWARD, COMPOSER Emily Howard came to critical attention with Magnetite, commissioned by Liverpool European Capital of Culture 2008 for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Vasily Petrenko. Magnetite is the first in a series of strongly imagined and acclaimed works that are now regularly performed and broadcast, and that are receiving international attention from promoters and performers. Her commission from the WM Festival, Calculus of the Nervous System, received its UK premiere with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andris Nelsons in August 2012 at the BBC Proms. Future plans include a BBC orchestral commission and a new work for the Elias Quartet.

Peter Lawson is the Making Music Chair. Alongside an active career in senior management (including with IBM and pharmaceutical company Pfizer), he has been an amateur musician since learning the violin at school. He was Musical Director of the Meistersingers Choir in West London, and is now Chair of promoting society Music in Lyddington. He joined the Making Music Board in 2008, and is also on the Governing Council of Leicester University, Chair of Trustees at Oakham School, a Trustee of the Peterborough Cathedral Trust, and Chair of local arts charity Arts for Rutland.

STEPHEN NEWBOULD, BIRMINGHAM CONTEMPORARY MUSIC GROUP

CREDIT © ALEX RUMFORD

CREDIT © SAM FAIRBROTHER

Eleanor joined the Concert Tours team at Rayburn Tours in 2005. She has a degree in French, German and Spanish from the University of Nottingham, and in addition to a background playing the violin in county and university ensembles she is a keen singer and performer, performing twice a year with Long Eaton Operatic Society, for whom she is also Publicity Manager. During her time at Rayburn, Eleanor has developed her expertise in arranging concert tours to the Costa Brava and Segovia in Spain, Normandy and Paris in France and not forgetting the wonderful little country of Estonia.

PETER LAWSON, MAKING MUSIC

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

and a Fellow of the British Academy. He has a PhD in Sociology from the University of California and has had a journalistic as well as an academic career, acting as the rock critic for both the Sunday Times and the Observer. He is presently working on a three-volume history of live music in post-war Britain – the first volume, covering 1950-1967, was published by Ashgate in May. He has chaired the judges of the Mercury Music Prize since it started in 1992.

Stephen Newbould has been Artistic Director of Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (BCMG) since 2001, having helped found the group from within the CBSO in 1987.

Regarded as one of Europe’s leading ensembles, BCMG places the commissioning and performance of new music at the heart of its work. Stephen is an Honorary Fellow of Birmingham Conservatoire and an Honorary Associate of the Royal Academy of Music. In 2011 Stephen and Jackie Newbould (BCMG’s Executive Producer) received the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Leslie Boosey Award for their contribution to contemporary music.

ROBIN OSTERLEY, MAKING MUSIC Robin Osterley is Making Music’s Chief Executive. He joined the organisation in 1997 and is responsible for Making Music’s overall direction, including the implementation of the current five year plan, Making Music for Everyone. He acts as an ambassador for Making Music, meeting with key personnel from local and national government, music, voluntary and education sectors. He also looks after our corporate partnerships, is our key media spokesperson and handles all political enquiries.

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FIONA PENDREIGH, ARTS COUNCIL ENGLAND Having worked as a local authority music adviser for 10 years, Fiona is now a Relationship Manager for the Arts Council, working with the 18 south west music education hubs. She is responsible for devising creative professional development programmes, and sees her role as a communicator and facilitator, helping establish structures to enable high quality provision.

ANDREW PENNY, CONDUCTOR Andrew Penny has been Musical Director of the Hull Philharmonic Orchestra since 1982. He was until recently Head of Instrumental and Vocal Teaching at Hymers College, where he has been a woodwind teacher since 1977, and is a member of the Hub Advisory Boards for both Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire. Since 1992 he has made over 50 recordings for the Naxos and Marco Polo labels. Much of the repertoire is of British music and includes symphonies by Sir Malcolm Arnold and Havergal Brian, film music by Vaughan Williams and Walton, theatre music by Arthur Sullivan and Joseph Holbrooke and light music by Eric Coates and Sir Malcolm Arnold.

ANDREW POTTER, MAKING MUSIC Andrew Potter is the former Chair of Making Music, having formerly also held positions as Director of Music Publishing at Oxford University Press and Chair of the PRS and Music Publishers Association. He is now Chair of Making Music’s New Music Group.

SIMON PURKESS, BIRMINGHAM SYMPHONIC WINDS Simon started playing clarinet and piano from a young age, and was a member of Birmingham Schools’ Wind Orchestra. After university, Simon became a founder member of Birmingham Symphonic Winds (BSW), which has since become one of the premiere wind orchestras in the UK. Simon is a chartered accountant and a partner at KPMG, the global accountancy firm. He puts his finance background to good use, acting as Honorary finance director for Birmingham-based music charities Birmingham Contemporary Music Group

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

Robin oversees the financial control of Making Music and is responsible for management of all staff.

and Ex Cathedra, as well as being Treasurer of BSW.

RIC TAQUELIM, CBSO LIBRARY Ric is responsible for providing the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra with all of the necessary material for each performance. This involves organising, cataloguing and maintaining collections; providing instruction in use of the library; answering reference inquiries; hiring or purchasing materials for performance; and liaison with artists and conductors regarding versions, editions and arrangements.

SIMON WEBB, CITY OF BIRMINGHAM SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Simon Webb began his career as a cellist, spending 10 years with the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) where he also chaired the board of trustees and played a leading role in their education programme. Since leaving the LPO in 2005, Simon has run Music in the Round in Sheffield, programmed the Sheffield International Concert Series and worked for Arts Council England.

In 2008 Simon joined the CBSO management team, where he has responsibility for the orchestra, the choruses and the learning and participation programme. Simon is a trustee of the National Children’s Orchestra. He lives in Sheffield with his wife and three children.

ULA WEBER Ula is an experienced choral animateur, singer, teacher trainer, conductor and workshop leader whose work has taken her as far afield as Poland, Ukraine, Thailand and China. A former primary school teacher, Ula is now Vocal Projects Manager for Sandwell Music and Arts Service where she is working with schools and teachers to promote classroom and choral singing. As well as singing with the renowned choir Ex Cathedra, Ula is also one of their leading vocal tutors and co-created Ex Cathedra Education’s internationally acclaimed Singing Playgrounds project (featured on Teacher’s TV and the BBC Radio 3 programme The Choir). Co-founder and co-director of Vocal.Point, Ula is also a lead vocal strategy consultant for Dudley Performing Arts.

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SPONSORS

SPONSORS Making Music Insurance Services (MMIS) was launched in January 2013 and has revolutionised the way Making Music members can access insurance, making it simple for them to obtain the cover they need. With a range of standard options that are competitively priced, plus a custom option for larger groups and those with more complex needs, MMIS takes the hassle out of arranging the right insurance cover for all occasions.

Rhinegold Publishing is one of the leading UK publishers for music and the performing arts information. They produce specialist magazines for the music and drama industries (Classical Music, Opera Now, Music Teacher, International Piano, Choir & Organ, Early Music Today and Teaching Drama) and a number of directories, supplements and guides aimed at parents, teachers, students and enthusiasts. Rhinegold Publishing is also the organiser of Music Education Expo, the UK’s largest and completely FREE conference and exhibition for music educators, as well as the Music Teacher Awards for Excellence. www.rhinegold.co.uk

Our members spend a long time finding the right insurance cover, get worked up trying to understand music copyright and PRS, wish they had an expert to turn to, wrestle with how to use social media, spend their evenings looking for different funding schemes, wish it was easier to run a voluntary music group, and then get on with making music.

Let us cross the boring stuff off your to-do list.

We fight for the best deals and provide the expertise, networks and support you need to set up, run and thrive as a voluntary music group.

Call us or visit our website now 020 7422 8280 | makingmusic.org.uk

We welcome the following organisations and partners as exhibitors at this event. Please visit them in the foyer throughout the day, or see the inserts they have provided in this brochure.

Allianz Musical Insurance is the UK’s leading musical instrument insurer.

With over 40 years experience we have developed our policies to meet the specific and unique requirements of musicians and the music industry. For more information, visit our website www.allianzmusicalinsurance.co.uk or call us on 0800 197 5783.

The British Association of Barbershop Singers (BABS) is a registered charity and the umbrella organisation for male barbershop singing in the UK, with almost 2,500 members. BABS has run 200 of its own Learn to Sing courses, in addition to 12 courses run in partnership with Making Music and Choir of the Year.

Chamberlain Music is celebrating 25 years of supplying schools with thousands of products for music making and performance. It’s not easy offering such a wide selection of musical instruments as we do – and the nature of our business usually means urgent last minute items are required. Speed is everything to us so whether you order online, by phone or fax we aim to process and ship all orders in lightning time! “Great, superb Chamberlain service as always” – see what our customers think at www.chamberlainmusic-education.co.uk.

Faber Music is a leading independent British publisher of classical, contemporary, media, and printed pop and educational music. At the core of Faber Music’s catalogue are tutors, repertoire and educational publications by world-renowned figures in their respective fields, including Howard Goodall, Carl Davis, Benjamin Britten, Paul Harris and others.

The International Association of Music Libraries (United Kingdom and Ireland Branch) exists to represent and promote the interests of music librarians and libraries, promote cooperation between them, and provide training. It organises an annual study weekend, meetings and courses, and publishes a journal and newsletter.

Just Music Production specialises in making fine recordings for choirs and ensembles throughout the country. Allinclusive packages make recording simple with everything taken care of: recording, production, editing, booklet design, manufacture and delivery.

LABBS is a national ladies barbershop singing association with over 50 member clubs and quartets. LABBS member clubs perform in the community, in concerts with other local music groups, and in music festivals and national competitions. LABBS has an exciting yearly convention (and party!) with competitions, shows and international guests.

Les Howard is the ‘captive’ VAT expert working with Making Music members. He has lots of experience of advising charitable organisations, and he can help guide you through the VAT maze! You can meet him at the conference, or contact him through the Making Music website.

The UK Association for Music Education – Music Mark is the new charitable, independent organisation (created by the Federation of Music Services and the National Association of Music Educators) representing and supporting music services, music education hubs and over 12,000 instrumental and classroom music teachers, music tutors, assistants, consultants, advisers, inspectors and lecturers in Initial Teacher Education.

OneStage Specialist Concert Tours is a team of musicians and travel experts providing tailor-made tours for all types of music group. It is one of the few tour operators dedicated solely to concert tours.

Opera Anywhere stages opera productions up and down the UK, actively seeking partnerships with Making Music members that would like to host and jointly promote performances. It is also licensed to stage highdefinition screenings of productions from the Royal Opera House.

Oxford University Press has an unrivalled range of choral publishing covering classic masterpieces, famous and invaluable anthologies, Christmas carols and brand new choral works. OUP’s impressive catalogue also includes a huge spread of orchestral and chamber works, both on sale and available from its Hire Library.

Rayburn Tours has been creating great value, tailormade concert tours abroad and within the UK since 1965. The experienced and knowledgeable team is on hand to help bands, choirs, orchestras and youth ensembles create the perfect tour from start to finish!

The Really Big Chorus (TRBC), Britain’s largest choral society, comprises individual singers and those from choral groups throughout the UK. TRBC thinks everyone should enjoy the thrill of choral singing, even if their experience is limited, and offers regular Royal Albert Hall concerts, choral cruises and extended weekend singing excursions all over the globe. Learn more at www. trbc.co.uk.

The Schott Music Shop has been in London for over 100 years and is based in the heart of the West End, close to Oxford Circus tube, at 48 Great Marlborough Street. It offers a wide range of sheet music from all of the major publishers as well as a variety of instruments, accessories and musical gifts.

TicketSource is a free online box office system enabling users to sell tickets for any size or shape venue, directly from their website, Facebook or Twitter, using either a quota or onscreen seating plan.

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EXHIBITORS

EXHIBITORS

BEDROCK MUSIC

Bedrock music Voluntary and amateur music making is thriving in the UK, and Making Music is there to champion the cause, Chief Executive Robin Osterley tells Toby Deller

T

here is a an office reorganisation going on when I arrive at the modest offices of Making Music to meet its chief executive Robin Osterley. The charity representing amateur music in the UK is planning its October conference in Birmingham, and ahead of that I have come to find out about the latest news. Evidently, they have more to do than rearrange the furniture.

Over the past year or so the organisation has been expanding its efforts beyond the kind of membership services you might expect into two areas in particular: lobbying and advocacy on the one hand, participation and wellbeing on the other.

Wellbeing here applies not just to individuals but, by extension, to communities. The organisation’s 2012 project Vocality is one example. A community choir initiative in eight disadvantaged areas, it was set up in

partnership with the community music organisation Sound Sense specifically to assess how, if at all, group singing might play a role in promoting community and personal development.

With funding support from the Headley Trust and Rayne Foundation, academics from the University of Central England devised a way of evaluating the project – and potentially other projects run elsewhere in the future – on these terms. The 45-page report, entitled The Heroes Inside: Building Communities in Community Choirs (it is published on Making Music’s website), finds that singing can indeed have a positive impact and calls for further research to outline the best models for harnessing the potential.

‘There are all sorts of models of community choirs out there arising out of Gareth Malone’s work and that sort

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DIANA FIELD

Huge demand: Rock Choir

ALEX RUMFORD

BEDROCK MUSIC

Culture champion: Robin Osterley

“If you want to keep people interested and happy and engaged ... then culture’s a damn good way of doing it.”

of stuff,’ says Osterley. ‘This was a slightly different one, working with some very specific communities with some very specific problems. We’re also looking at how we might carry forward a more general community choirs approach as community choirs are springing up all over the place.’

The growth in the public eye of choral singing has been so marked over the past few years that I wondered if there isn’t a danger of overkill as the whole classical music industry descends on people who, until recently, had no idea that singing in choirs was something they could even do.

‘I suppose that isn’t impossible,’ he laughs. ‘But there are examples out there of organisations like Rock Choir which are being highly successful in doing these kinds of things, and there doesn’t appear to be much limit to the amount of demand. What I would like to see is a way of making those kinds of activities much more inclusive and much more able to meet the needs of all different types of singers from all different types of backgrounds and in particular with all different types of financial situation.’

Among its newer members is Merton Music Foundation, one of England’s new music education hubs. Although these are primarily administrative bodies responsible for providing music education in regions across England, there is the potential there, thinks Osterley, for voluntary music groups to be involved. He urges his members to make themselves known to their nearby hub leaders, and drops a hint to the body overseeing the hub network: ‘I’d be disappointed if it wasn’t a more significant part of the Arts Council’s criteria, when they look at applications to run hubs next time round, that there was some clearly visible work with community groups,’ he says. And while acknowledging that professional groups will always have a part to play, he adds: ‘The professional group that comes in to a local environment will inevitably do some very good work and then go away again.

Whereas if these hubs are able to establish working relationships with local groups they will be permanently located there and can be tapped on a permanent basis for permanent links.’

The organisation’s advocacy work is taking it into local

government administration too. ‘We were alerted about three years ago to the fact that the new National Policy Planning Framework which the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) had produced, in its first consultation reference draft had no reference to culture. At all. A number of us, particularly the Theatres Trust – who I should credit with having uncovered all these issues – got together and went to see DCLG and said, you know, basically this is wrong.

And they said, basically, we agree, it’s wrong!’

As a result, the Town and Country Planning Association involved Making Music alongside various other bodies in developing a planning toolkit giving advice for planning authorities on how to give due priority to culture (and sport). It also aims to be a starting point for local groups to engage with the planning process, an important way of ensuring that local cultural activity is picked up by the rather creaky local government radar.

‘Local authorities often do have very little idea of what takes place within their communities because very often they don’t fund them and local authorities don’t care about people they don’t fund, in general.’

On the plus side, as he points out, the year-old Community Right to Bid gives community groups the ability to register amenities – they could be pubs, libraries or shops – as community assets, giving them the right and the time to compile a bid for their purchase.

But while it is a welcome piece of legislation, he emphasises that the lobbying and chivvying of local government officials needs to continue so the message gets through.

‘If you want people in your community to thrive, if you want to keep them out of residential care for longer, if you want to keep them coming in to your area, if you want to keep them investing in your area, if you want to keep people interested and happy and engaged and not sitting around being bored and throwing bottles at each other, then culture’s a damn good way of doing it.’ www.makingmusic.org.uk This article was originally published in Classical Music magazine in August 2013

MAKING MUSIC AUTUMN CONFERENCE 2013

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