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It has been an incredible year for our 13 ensembles with so many highlights. To name a few:
Southampton Youth Concert Sinfonia starting their community project – Make Some Noise.
Southampton Youth Brass band getting out and about performing at fairs and bandstands across the local area.
Southampton Youth Wind Band and their incredible achievement being invited to perform at the Music for Youth National Festival.
Southampton Youth Orchestra about to take part in the Fulltone festival.
Studio Band giving such an incredible performance at the Concorde Club back in June.
However, our top tier groups couldn’t give such amazing performances without the foundation work that is done in our initial and mid tier groups.
Huge congratulations to all our ensemble players on all their achievements this year. We are looking forward to what next year will bring.
“There is so much musical talent in the young people of Southampton. Their performances
have been of such an incredible standard this year. We are so proud of all their
achievements”
- Zoe Hunting (Manager, Designated Safeguarding Lead at Southampton Music Services)
On Sunday 26 June Southampton Music Hub was, once again, joined by members of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for a fantastic afternoon of music making.
An inclusive ensemble was put together specially for this workshop consisting of children that are currently members of an ensemble as well as children that are learning an instrument or sing but have never played in an ensemble before. All were welcome, from beginners to the more experienced players.
One of the performers said:
“I was so nervous when I got here. I didn't know anyone and it was so noisy when I walked in. I made lots of new friends this afternoon and it was so great to play with other people.' Another added 'I really didn't think I could play as I didn't understand the music. but by the end of the afternoon I was totally joining in. It makes me very proud.”
The group of 60 children were taught the new Southampton anthem for the Women's Euros — it's first ever playing! You can listen to the final performance of it below.
This isn't the final time that it will be played though. The Royal Philharmonic will be returning to Southampton on Friday 15 July for the fan party in Palmerston Park. Once again we will be welcoming schools and players to work with the RPO to deliver some inspiring performances of the Southampton Euro Anthem! Do join us if you can.
Southampton Music Hub had the privilege of working with local charity African Adventures Foundation this term on a very unique and special project.
Via African Adventures the music hub connected children from schools in Southampton with The Walk Centre in Nakuru, Kenya which is supported and maintained by African Adventures Foundation. Over Zoom the children and young people got together to plan out a choral exchange concert, choosing songs that they would like to perform for each other and songs they would love the other group to perform. The young people involved also asked lots of questions about what life was like in the other country and a variety of brilliant questions which we set about answering as part of this too.
On Tuesday 14 June all the Southampton based schools came together to celebrate the project at Turner Sims Concert Hall and took part in a filmed concert performance which also featured some fantastic video footage of The Walk Centre Choir performing and answering the questions that were originally posed.
Participating Southampton schools are now going to start to help with fundraising for their new friends in Nakuru Kenya. A final video of this performance and the footage from our partner school will be available for participants friends and family to watch after making a small donation to African Adventures Foundation.
Nia Collins, Partnerships Manager, says:
“We are looking forward to getting some of our young people back together on a Zoom call with our counterparts in Kenya afterwards to see what they all thought of their performances and to continue to grow the connections between us.”
A participant says:
“ I loved hearing the children from Africa sing because it made me feel so happy. It was really great being able to do a concert with children from another country. I would like to do more of that.”
Kath Page, Hub Lead, says:
“This has been such an amazing project to be a part of, designed and led by the children themselves. This concert is really the tip of the iceberg and it will be fascinating to see what kind of music the children would like to perform in the future – their voices will be paramount in shaping the music hub offer in the future.”
Rachel Northover, Head of fundraising at African Adventures Foundation, says:
“African Adventures Foundation was delighted to collaborate with Southampton Music Hub on this fantastic event to celebrate cultural exchange and the power of music to connect children from different backgrounds. It was really special to see the enthusiasm and efforts of the pupils from the various schools involved, and they created an amazing atmosphere for the choral exchange. This has been an exciting project for African Adventures Foundation to be involved in and we are keen to maintain a connection with the schools to continue the exchange that has been initiated.”
Fusion Brass and Brassroots performed at MAST Mayflower Studios on Wednesday 30 March 2022.
Kath Page, Hub Manager, says:
“It was wonderful to see the players so focused, engaged and enjoying their music making. The audience were thrilled to be a part of the performance and joined in enthusiastically when directed by Fusion Brass director Simon Farrendon. Brassroots performed fantastically - for some members this was their first concert!
James Gardener, director of Brass Roots says:
“I've ben proud of how hard Brassroots have worked this term, especially when they're such a young band. I think they really enjoyed the experience of playing live and I can't wait to see where we can take this band in the future.”
“I've really missed being able to perform. it makes me feel proud to perform to an audience - it was really weird being online because you couldn't hear anyone else. Making music with other people is really important and it sounds cool.” - Eleanor from Fusion Brass
On Thursday 5 and Friday 6 March 2020, Mayflower Theatre hosted 1,000 young performers, brought together by Southampton Music Hub, to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower. The Mayflower’s pioneering voyage 400 years ago created connections that changed the world. In response, these two show stopping performances saw young people at the heart of the start of a year of cultural programming for the city.
