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The official newsletter of the lead organisation of Coventry Music Education Hub.
Follow us on Twitter and check out our website for all the latest news.
Included in this update:
For all the latest news visit our news page on our website.
Wow! What a half term at Coventry Music.
We have seen some amazing collaborations across the Music Education Hub. You will be able to hear more about some of our programmes and events below but I would like to share some thanks for the people and teams that have made the many opportunities possible for our young musicians this term.
- MOBO Awards/In Celebration of MOBO – Massive thank you to our colleagues across the city for bringing this event to Coventry and for putting on opportunities for our young people to perform.
- Gig Night – Thanks for a brilliant event showcasing our bands at HMV Empire – thanks to the TIN Music and Arts and the ‘Live On Stage’ Coventry Music team members for making it possible.
- NYO Inspire – Thanks to the CCEP partners for helping us bring NYO Inspire to Coventry for February 2022 and Schools takeover’s in Summer 2022.
- Positive Choices – Our new Youth Music Programme has ran taster sessions in Foxford, Cardinal Wiseman, Barrs Hill and Westwood Schools – with full provision starting in 2022
- Stringcredibles/Power Up – Thanks to our student and tutor string quartets who have worked with the Stringcredibles this term performing in schools across the city.
- Moving into Drapers’ Hall – Thanks to Historic Coventry Trust, Council teams and the whole Coventry Music team for making this move happen – look out for our new groups starting in January 2022.
Finally, on behalf of Coventry Music, I would like to wish you all a happy Christmas and a music-filled New Year.
 Coventry Music are excited to be based at the magnificent, newly-restored Drapers' Hall. From January 2022, we will be offering music tuition, music groups and events at our new venue.
After more than 30 years shut, this impressive Regency hall in the heart of historic Coventry is being repurposed and reinvigorated as an intimate venue for music and music education.
The Grade II* listed Drapers’ Hall is one of the few Regency buildings in the city and was built in 1831-2 as the headquarters of the Coventry Drapers’ Guild. The current building is the third Drapers’ Hall on the site, replacing the previous medieval and post-medieval buildings which the wealthy Guild of Drapers constructed as places to do business, to socialise and to hold events.
Designed by Thomas Rickman and H W Hutchinson, the current building is in Greek Revival style and consists of a series of grand ceremonial spaces lit by rooflights: a Ballroom, Tea Room and Reading Room. Each of these has decorative plaster ceilings and chimneypieces. In the basement the original kitchens, plate store, wine store and sculleries survive with all their fittings. Parts of the basement were also used as air raid shelters in both World Wars.
The building was last used as a youth magistrates’ court over 30 years ago. Working with The Princes’ Foundation, Historic Coventry Trust is restoring the building as a home for Coventry Music Service and a music and events venue.
This project is supported by funding from Alan Edward Higgs Charity, Arts Council England, Coventry City Council Cultural Capital Fund, Coventry Drapers, Foyle Foundation, Garfield Weston, London Drapers, The Prince’s Foundation, Swire Charitable Trust and Wolfson Foundation.
Drapers' Hall will also be a fantastic venue to host our future shows and performances and we can't wait to showcase our talent in this beautiful historical space. See below for information about our music lesson and groups.
Read more about Drapers' Hall.
Sign up is now open to start lessons in the new year.
You can request lessons at your child's school or if that isn't an option then we can now offer individual tuition in the evening at Draper's Hall. Lessons are billed by monthly Direct Debit - see our full list of prices.
Sign up for lessons (choose your school or Drapers Hall and then the kind of instrument you would like to learn and we will be in touch.)
If you require any assistance with registration or have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at music@coventry.gov.uk
We are launching some fantastic new groups, alongside some of our more established groups, at our new music centre at Drapers' Hall, Bayley Lane.
We will be running our music centre at Drapers' Hall on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings, with a range of groups for all instruments and abilities across the three days.
Our groups will be free for the spring and summer terms of 2022, so it is the perfect chance to come along and try out one of our groups. We are welcoming new members, and you are welcome to stay for more than one group or session, according to your level and ability.
You can see the full range of groups we offer and sign up for any that interest you on our website.
(Times and groups are still subject to change - all members will be notified of any such changes)
Coventry Music’s new afterschool creative music making programme - Positive Choices, is set to launch in January 2022.
The Positive Choices team will be working with four different schools in the city, working with identified ‘at risk’ young people, after a successful consultation period meeting the young people in the selected schools and finding out their musical interests.
We have now built teams which best complement the schools musical interests ranging from music production, lyric writing, vocals and instrument tuition covering a wide range of genres such as UK Drill, Rap, Afrobeat, K-Pop, and Reggae.
There have been a few some slight delays in the launching of this project but we have continued to push forward and strengthen our relationship with the schools, West Midlands Police and Youth Music, and the full provision will launch in 2022.
Positive Choices will see the young people create original musical content and we already have recording and performance opportunities pencilled in for next year.
On Saturday 4 December the In Celebration of MOBO busking festival took over the city centre. This event featured many up and coming musicians from across the city and Coventry Music were proud to support the event.
Throughout the day Coventry Music showcased a range of musicians on both the Future and Bandstand Stages.
All the acts performed brilliantly and the passing shoppers were treated to many musical sounds and genres, from gospel choirs to young rappers, and steel bands to our very own session band.
We would like to thank everyone involved in the festival and for everyone who stopped to watch despite the cold wintry day.
A big shout out to performers from Lyng Hall, and the two talented young rappers from Swanswell ELC who performed despite their nerves.
Joe Cook who has been working with two of the students who performed at the festival said: "One of the students has gone back into mainstream but still came along to perform material which was created in the ELC; showing the importance of long term engagement and continued support to find opportunities for these young people musically. Both the students did a brilliant job, performing their original lyrics over backing tracks which they had created, to members of the public and fellow ELC staff who had also come along to perform. This was both students' first public performance.
Both of the tracks performed will be released as part of City of Culture’s CVX Festival and ‘Art Against Violence Symposium’."
All the artists got the chance to attend the main MOBO event at the Coventry Building Society arena on Sunday 5 December with their friends and family, as a reward for their brilliant performances and hard work, as did some of our music team.
Check out the photos and videos on our social media.
 
On Monday 6 January the HMV Empire was the venue for our talented Live on Stage Bands's Gig Night. Spectators were treated to a night of rock and Indie music, from our resident and new bands: Project Overload, Cold Blooded Figure, Meltality, Permanent Daylight, The Tin Smiths and Mugshot.
It was such a fantastic opportunity to perform in such a prestigious venue, and the bands were more than up to the job.
Check out the photos and videos from the event, and well done to everyone involved. It was fantastic to be back out putting on events again!
We are looking forward to welcoming lots of young people into our new home, Drapers’ Hall for the Holiday and Food “Festive Fun” programme this December.
There will be a mixture of musical sessions to include learning Christmas tunes on keyboards, ukuleles, working on composition skills and some percussion work using samba drums and fun games. We might even sing Christmas carols around beautiful Christmas tree! We can’t wait to fill our new music centre with sound!
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In November we had the chance to take some of strings players to the Warwick Arts Centre to take part in the NYO Inspire event. They really enjoyed the opportunity and got the chance to finish their workshop with a live Q&A with the amazing #BrodskyQuartet before watching the Brodsky Quartet perfrom.
We would like to thank Warwick Arts Centre for a brilliant partnership that means together we are able to provide brilliant opportunities such as this for our young musicians.
We can't wait for the next exciting event.
The Coventry Music String Quartet was out and about this week, delivering Christmas-themed interactive concerts to over 1500 children in Coventry Primary Schools.
They visited Hollyfast, Allesley Hall, Longford Park, St John’s C of E, Sidney Stringer Primary, Radford, Keresley Newlands, Keresely Grange and Ravensdale schools and had some wonderful feedback from children and staff. Email Cathy.ScottBurt@coventry.gov.uk to find out more about a live performance from the quartet in your school later in the academic year.
Heres what Jeniffer Page from Sidney Stringer Academy said about the perfomance:
"I just wanted to say a huge THANK YOU from all the children at Sidney Stringer Primary. We thoroughly enjoyed your performance, it was so lovely how you included all our (very excitable) children in the show.
Thank you again and we look forward to having you come and play for us in the future."
This term the Year 6 pupils at Spon Gate school have been learning about World War 2, and aspects of this topic have been appearing in all areas of the curriculum including music. On Tuesday 7 December they invited parents and carers into school for a socially distanced WW2 Tea Room, where they served their guests cakes and biscuits made using recipes from the time of rationing. They also displayed some of their artwork and they sang and played their ukuleles sharing with their audience a selection of music from the 1940s including Run Rabbit Run and Knees Up Mother Brown. They really enjoyed showcasing the musical skills they've picked up in their weekly lessons with Coventry Music and they also managed to raise an amazing £151.85 for Zoe's Place Baby Hospice.
Our Inclusive Soundabout Choir is now meeting face-to-face once a month and online fortnightly.
Everyone is welcome and there is chance for a cup of tea, some cake and a chat after the music making has finished.
This is what one of the parents said about the first Coventry meeting:
"We went to Soundabout's inclusive Choir for the first time last week. My son doesn't always enjoy music as he is very sensory with noises and sounds, but we thought we would give it a go.
From the moment we walked in we were made to feel so welcome. The girls made such an effort to include us all at whatever level we felt comfortable. My son loved exploring all the different kinds of instruments. Karen and Vicky had such a great way of keeping the children engaged and all joining in with the signing and singing.
When my son had had enough, he went to the corridor and had some time away from the group but it wasn't a problem. Vicky took him an instrument out and had a few minutes of 1:2:1 time with him. It was so lovely to be in an environment where the children were free to express themselves with no judgement, which as a SEN parent is priceless. It was a wonderful morning and I cannot wait for the next session."
The choir currently meets on zoom on alternate Saturdays from 11am-12pm. In the autumn the choir will also begin offering face to face sessions in Coventry.
See the choir’s most recent recording.
For more information visit our website or sign up.
choir@soundabout.org.uk 01235 797 474.
Claire has always been involved in performing and playing music from beginning piano lessons at the age of 6 to joining the Coventry Schools’ choir and wind band and starting flute lessons whilst at Mount Nod Primary School.
She then enjoyed playing and singing in many music groups at Tile Hill Wood School and went on to study GCSE and A Level music which allowed her to further her music education at the University of Liverpool where she was the first female student to graduate with a Music and Popular Music BA Hons degree. Whilst at university she joined the music and musical theatre societies and started to enjoy singing and performing in musicals and also being the accompanist and musical director.
After graduating Claire decided to return to Coventry and immediately joined many of the local amateur theatre societies and choirs to continue her love of this genre of music whilst having the opportunity to use her expertise. She also took on some weekend work as a singing teacher for Stagecoach Theatre Arts which then started her journey into music education. She eventually completed a primary PGCE at Warwick University and began her teaching career at Whitmore Park Primary School in 2002.
During the next 19 years Claire worked in a wide variety of education settings including a secure training centre, a preparatory school, a performing arts college and many other mainstream primary and secondary schools. She now uses all her teaching experience as part of the Coventry Music team, starting off as a Music Engagement Officer and now as a Learning and Development Lead, engaging with Coventry schools and education settings, managing projects and promoting music activities for all children.
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To get into the Chrstmas spirit - this edition's recommended songs have to be the fantastic album: "The Season's Back Again" by Jeff Meegan & David Tobin - recommended by our vey own Mark Allison
Bet you can't resist dancing and singing along!
Keep an eye on our website for events and exciting news coming soon.
Visit our website for news, information and to find out more about what we offer.
If you would like these monthly updates to include what your organisation is doing for the children and young people of Coventry, please sign up or contact amy.randall@coventry.gov.uk.
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