Promoting the enjoyment and understanding of music composed before 1800
Interactive workshops in day care centres and residential care homes are continuing in the Worcester area. Rosie, Brian and Barbara play and sing shanties, folk songs and dance tunes offering opportunities to join in singing the songs or on instruments.
We are grateful to Worcester County Councillors for their support from the Division Fund to enable these workshops to take place.
On European Early Music Day (21st March) the Waites of Gloucester played in the beautiful great hall, to museum visitors. A collection of bagpipes, shawms, recorders, crumhorns, hurdy gurdy and flutes were played in various combinations. The music was chosen from sources with a Dutch connection and included works by Clemens non Papa and Susato.
On Make Music Day (June 21st) Merrie Noyse played to the museum visitors, again in the great hall. An array of instruments were introduced and played, and the audience were invited to sing in the chorus of one of their songs. An opportunity to have a try on the instruments was offered and the audience members engaged in playing and talking to the musicians at the end of the performance.
New to our festival this year was a family concert given by Fontanella Recorder Consort and sponsored by Border Marches Early Music Forum.
The programme was entitled “If you go down to the woods” and included pieces inspired by the natural world..there were frogs and nightingales, cuckoos and of course a teddy bear or two.
The children were able to get up close and personal to the recorders and were offered crayons and paper to illustrate some of the pieces to ensure the young people’s continued involvement. All in all it was a delightful event much enjoyed by the young and not so young!
On Friday 14th June the students from the Early Music department presented a programme of Early Music in Saint Martins in the Cornmarket. This was our third collaboration with the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire students who played a variety of instruments and pieces to an appreciative audience. We heard music for a Jacobean Masque played on a consort of recorders, a Pepusch Concerto played on Baroque flutes, recorders and Baroque bassoon and a trio sonata by Vivaldi played on recorder, bassoon and organ.
The audience included a class of children from a nearby primary school who enjoyed front row seats and were happy to be invited to talk to the artists after the concert.