Welcome

I am really delighted to welcome Elaine Knight to the arts team. She is now in her second week here and is still smiling!

Artists wanted for exciting project

               

 

Artist Brief for ‘Create Your Way to Losing Weight’

Create Your Way to Losing Weight is an exciting, new pilot arts project being run by Worcestershire County Council, Worcestershire Arts Partnership and Wychavon District Council in the Evesham area.  The aim of the project is to provide high quality and enjoyable arts activities for adults who are thinking about losing weight, are on a diet or who want to maintain their weight. It’s a new creative course for people who would like to build up their confidence and self-esteem.

As far as we know a project of this kind has never been run before in Worcestershire so we are breaking new ground here.

We would like to run the project on a weekly basis for a period of up to 10 weeks on a Thursday evening.  It could combine different art forms or focus on 1 art form. We will run various taster sessions for the first workshop and then the group will decide what they want to do.  

The project is free to the participants.  There is also a strong social element within Create Your Way to Losing Weight and each session must contain enjoyable (and good humoured) activities.  Having said that, Create Your Way to Losing Weight is first and foremost an arts project.

We are looking for 1 artist to run a weekly 1.5 hour workshop taking place on a Thursday from the 5th October to 14^th December 2017, not including half term (26 October) from 7 pm to 8.30 p.m. in at least 1 or more of the following artistic systems:

             Visual arts

             Creative writing

How to apply

Application

To apply, please send your CV and letter of no more than 2 sides of A4 outlining your skills, suitability for the job and the following information to Susan Marsh, Business Support Assistant, Smarsh2@worcestershire.gov.uk:

 

             Evidence of previous experience working in a community setting

             Detailed description of what artistic skills you have

             Experience of running weekly workshops to a wide group of participants

             Have creative ideas for working with adults who have mental health issues

Fee

£100 per session or £1,000 in total although additional costs can be requested for materials. Plus 2 meetings at £40 a meeting. If however, numbers are low after the first 4 weeks / sessions, we will unfortunately have to end the project.

 

Closing date

Applications to be emailed to Smarsh2@worcestershire.gov.uk  by no later than 4pm on 21st Sept

Please note we would prefer to receive applications from artists based in or have a track record of working in the Worcestershire area.

If you require any further information or have any questions, please contact either Stephen Wilson, swilson@worcestershire.gov.uk, tel 01905 765754 or Jenny Davis, jenny.davis@wychavon.gov.uk , tel 01386 565396.

JAZZ SATURDAY….  An exciting, upbeat jazz workshop led by three professional jazz artists. 

For young musicians & singers aged 13+

 

Saturday 30 September 2017

Lyttelton Well Rooms, Great Malvern

 

Funded by Severn Arts in partnership with Best of Young Jazz – Free of charge.

 

Dear young musicians, parents and teachers

 

I’m delighted to invite you/your young musician to an exciting, upbeat day of music making on Saturday 30 September 2017.

Whether you're a singer or instrumentalist, on Jazz Saturday, you will receive bespoke support from our three fantastic professional jazz artists (details below) to create a new arrangement of work bringing together these two essential elements of jazz music.

 

Sometimes, the full ensemble – instrumentalists and vocalists – will work together and learn from one another; and at other times, we will split the group to focus on techniques particular to each element. 

 

The key objectives for the vocalists will be about singing in harmony, learning different ways of approaching improvisation including 'scatting', how to improvise over chord changes and what to listen for to ensure a good working relationship when working with instrumentalists.

 

For instrumentalists, the workshop will also explore different improvisation techniques as well as composing from scratch without traditional musical notation, with a focus on learning how to work cooperatively and in harmony with vocals.   

 

Participants will be invited to work in different ways with their instrument and voice, and be given the opportunity to perform informally to parents and friends at the end of the day. The workshop will be delivered in such a way that students at various levels of experience can be involved, have fun and develop their musical understanding, skill and interest in jazz.

 

Jazz Saturday will take place on 30 September at the Lyttelton Well Rooms, Great Malvern.

There are accessible toilet facilities as well as a lift to the first floor room suitable for wheelchair access.

The rooms are situated in the grounds of Great Malvern Priory.

Address: The Lyttelton Well, Church Street, Malvern, Worcs, WR14 2AY

https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+Lyttelton+Well+Ltd/@52.11144,-2.32787,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x4142b741cfaac56c!8m2!3d52.111183!4d-2.327865?hl=en-US

 

Details of directions, drop-off and nearby parking can be found at the end of this document.

 

The workshop will be led by three professional jazz musicians and can accommodate up to 20 instrumentalists and 15 vocalists on a first come first served basis.

 

This practical day is part of a series of inspiring jazz programmes being delivered across the county to develop skills and enthusiasm associated with jazz music. Managed by Best of Young Jazz and financially supported by Arts Council England, The Bransford Trust, Severn Arts and The David Morgan Trust; the opportunity is offered free of charge to young jazz musicians across Worcestershire and beyond. 

 

The day-of-jazz will be led by three professional jazz musicians and educators, all alumni of Birmingham Conservatoire and a tour de force of the jazz scene, locally and much further afield -

Jonathan Silk: http://jonathansilk.co.uk/  |  Chris Mapp: http://www.chrismapp.co.uk/

Holly Thomas: https://www.hollythomasmusic.co.uk/about

• Jazz Saturday will run from, 10.00am – 4.00pm, including an informal end-of-day sharing at 3.40pm, which family and friends are invited to attend.  
• Participants will need to bring their voice and/or instrument, and a packed lunch. Light refreshments will be provided at break time.
• RSVP to Marie Oldaker, Assistant Project-Manager - Best of Young Jazz, as soon as possible to secure your place: oldaker_m@hotmail.com / 0785 559 5287

 

Join us:

Twitter: twitter.com/bestofyoungjazz
Instagram: Instagram.com/bestofyoungjazz

www.facebook.com/bestofyoungjazz

 

TRAVEL/PARKING

 

. Venue Address: The Lyttelton Well, Church Street, Malvern, Worcs, WR14 2AY

https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+Lyttelton+Well+Ltd/@52.11144,-2.32787,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x4142b741cfaac56c!8m2!3d52.111183!4d-2.327865?hl=en-US

 

There is room to pull up outside the venue for transferring heavy/bulky instruments. Time there will be limited as this area is shared access for the Lyttleton Rooms and Great Malvern Priory.

 

. Great Malvern train station (with taxi rank). The Lyttelton Well Rooms are about a 10 minute walk or a couple of minutes by taxi: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Great+Malvern/@52.10921,-2.31827,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xbbb9fb5cbae3c4e8!8m2!3d52.10921!4d-2.31827

 

. Local car parks:

https://www.malvernhills.gov.uk/malvern-car-parks

 

Severn Arts Trustees Wanted

Severn Arts is seeking to appoint its first Board of Trustees for its official launch as a charitable company in 2018.

Currently part of Worcestershire County Council, Severn Arts provides music education to over 18,000 young people annually, and leads Worcestershire’s Music Education Hub. 

As a charitable company, Severn Arts intends to develop its remit to encompass a broader spectrum of Arts activity for people young and old, across Worcestershire and beyond.  Over recent years the service has grown many partnerships with the wider arts community, and the new charitable company would wish to play a more strategic role in the arts generally, including arts development and brokering arts activity.

We now need to recruit a Board of Trustees with a mix of skills and backgrounds – including business, education, arts, fundraising, inclusion, marketing, legal expertise and more.  This is an exciting time to be joining the Board of Severn Arts, as it embarks on its new journey from a very strong starting position.  As a Trustee, you would have the opportunity to influence the development of Severn Arts’ business plan and strategic objectives.

More information about Severn Arts, and about the skills and experience required to be a Trustee, as well as the application process, can be found here: https://www.severnarts.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Severn-Arts-Trustee-Information-Pack-2017-08.pdf

 

The closing date for applications is Friday 17^th November 2017.  Interviews will be held w/c 4^th December 2017.

 

 

News from Forthright Productions

 

 

 

 

 

FIRST for Worcestershire Theatre Company

Forthright Theatre are  very excited to announce that, as a  pilot at The Artrix , Bromsgrove, the performance of their work-in-progress of Baby Blues will be live streamed at 2.30 pm 24^th September.

Obviously we’d love to see you in person but if you can’t make it then please join us digitally at:

http://bit.ly/BabyBluesStream

just copy and paste the url into your web browser and the show should start automatically.

 

 

Bromsgrove Young Musicians

An exciting opportunity for your young musicians to take part in The Bromsgrove Young Musicians' Platform

This is a once a year musical opportunity for talented young musicians still at school to compete and perform. Successful finalists will play before a live audience on Saturday, 24^th February 2018 when an experienced panel of adjudicators will select the two most outstanding performances in each of the Junior and Senior sections. Those performances will be rewarded with generous financial awards to help the performers' musical development.

This exciting new classical music platform is only open to young musicians aged 9-17 who play instruments, and singers if aged over 13, who are resident or in full time education in the following areas; The West Midlands (inside a radius of 30 miles of the centre of Bromsgrove) together with the whole of Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire. They have to be of a standard that is equivalent to Grade 4 (Junior Section aged 9-13) or Grade 6 (Senior Section aged 14-17).

There is a two-day Audition Round to select the finalists. The young musicians selected from that round go forward to play before a live audience at the Finalists' Concert. Both the Auditions and Finalists' Concert next year will be held in the new Routh Concert Hall at Bromsgrove School. Total bursary monies of £2,550 (£1,000 Senior winner, £750 Junior winner and £400 for each second prize) offer talented young musicians the chance to buy music lessons, sheet music or a new instrument. This opportunity is part of and carries on the traditions of the renowned Bromsgrove International Musicians’ Competition, now in its thirty-eighth year, held at Bromsgrove School annually for musicians worldwide.

Please do not let any of your young musicians miss this valuable opportunity to perform! The deadline to apply is 21^st January 2018. Applications can be made online via our website at www.bromsgroveplatform.com or by post.

I enclose a poster for your information (we will mail you some copies too) and look forward to receiving entries from your musicians.

Yours sincerely,

Monica Toso

Chairman - The Bromsgrove Young Musicians' Platform

Next show at Bishampton

TARANTARA in CONCERT

This versatile choir will get any audience foot tapping, smiling, even shedding a tear with their style and delivery of a range of music to suit all tastes.

 

Tarantara perform the complete concert, with soloists, duets, sextets, barber shop, comedy etc. all from the ranks of the choir.

 

Date:- Saturday 16th September

Venue:- BISHAMPTON VILLAGES HALL WR102LY

Time:- 7.30pm (doors open 7.00pm)

Tickets:- £10 each including complimentary drink and light refreshments

Box office:- 01386462306 or Bishampton Stores.

Licensed Bar, Hot Drinks and Icecreams on sale

 

 Reserve your tickets now from Sue by email  sandt38@btinternet.com or buy them in person from Zoe at Bishampton Shop

Sue

Museums Against Homlessness

Workers from Worcester City and Worcestershire County Council have come together and are organizing a charity concert “Musicians Against Homelessness” on September 22nd at the Marrs Bar. It will support Crisis (https://www.crisis.org.uk), a national organization fighting to eradicate homelessness from British streets.

This is a national campaign, organized by the legendary Alan McGee, owner of Creation Records and managers of such major acts as Oasis and Primal Scream.

We managed to secure really great names -bringing together the most promising new bands and local musical heroes such as Vinny Peculiar (who earned himself a blue plaque for his work on Manchester music scene, but who was born in Worcestershire) or Rita Lynch (founder of first all-female rock band in UK and punk legend, life-long resident of Bristol who loves our county and gigs here regularly).

From the young bands we have nth cave – who just have been debuted on 6 Music on August 4th by Steve Lamacq himself (he even said he will observe the band closely) and Lost Tigers to The Wild – a duo who are currently represented by Talent Agency (one of the most prestigious agencies and PR companies in the country). For more information please check out:

https://www.facebook.com/events/106395143421500?__mref=mb
https://www.facebook.com/mahgigs
http://www.marrsbar.co.uk/events/musicians-against-homelessness-2/
https://www.wegottickets.com/event/413506   

News from Steve Wilson

Dear all

 

After 9 years of being County Arts Officer I have decided to leave the post.

 

There are a number of reasons as to why I am doing this but the main one is that I simply want to do something else with my career and life too!

 

I am going to do some exciting part time work with Meadow Arts  and  look to do some freelance work.

 

I want to thank you all for everything you have all done in supporting me in the role. Without your help and friendship  I wouldn't have stayed this long and you have made the job be rewarding and very satisfying. It's been a hell of a ride and now it's time to get off and do something else.

 

I have always been so proud to be the County Arts Officer and I hope I have done the job with the values I hold dear namely fairness, empathy and humour.

 

Thank you from my heart. I will be in touch before I leave too!

 

Steve

Jump Start - New Plays Needed!

 

Jump Start - Malvern Cube Thursday 9th November - part of FEAST festival

 

Jump Start are looking for submissions for the next showcase performance event at Malvern Cube on 9th November. Jump Start is an initiative run by Worcestershire Arts Partnership to provide opportunities for new theatre works to be performed. 

We are looking for:

 

• New theatre work that has not previously been performed 
• Work that is 10 - 15 minutes long 
• Work that is low-tech and does not require any get-in or get-out time 
• Work that is rehearsed and ‘off-script'
• Ideally, work from Worcestershire-based practitioners 

We can also provide an opportunity for writers to link with directors & actors so don’t worry if you have a text or an idea but no company!

 

Submissions (either an outline of the work or a script) should be made by email to me by FRIDAY 21st SEPTEMBER 2017. We will then select 4-5 submissions and  invite people to a meeting in late September / early October where writers, practitioners & actors can link up and start rehearsing. The performance night will be THURSDAY 9th NOVEMBER 7pm at Malvern Cube. There may be some rehearsal space available at the Cube, but generally each group will be expected to rehearse independently and to sort out their own space & timings. 

 

The 4-5 selected submissions will receive £400 towards the production on receipt of a signed contract.

 

If you’re an actor / director who’s interested in the project, please drop me a line and I’ll keep you up to speed with the meeting date.

 

PLEASE pass this message onto your networks & anyone who might be interested.

 

Malvern Cube website www.malverncube.com

 

The Jump Start Facebook group is here - https://www.facebook.com/groups/248446278623071/ - so please like it & use it to share details, ideas, questions etc.

Thanks everyone, please let me know if you have any questions. We look forward to receiving your submissions!

 

Lee Farley and Steve Wilson