Music for a Summer’s Day

There’s a range of musical events taking place up at the University of Kent next week, in a five-day festival celebrating the end of the academic year.

Summer Music starts Wednesday 6 June with a free lunchtime concert from some of the Music Scholars at the Gulbenkian Theatre; later in the evening the Big Band Gala will include special guests, the Simon Bates Quartet.

Thursday lunchtime sees the Sirocco Ensemble and Brass Group in a free lunchtime concert on the University Labyrinth, overlooking the city; bring a picnic!

On Friday, two choirs present a concert at St Mildred’s Church, Canterbury, in praise of the Virgin Mary, whilst the University Music Theatre Society tell us ‘There’s No Business Like Show-Business!’ at the Gulbenkian Theatre on Saturday night.

The festival concludes on Sunday 10 June in the annual Music Society summer afternoon concert, complete with cream teas, flag-waving to rousing Elgar, and balloons!

Visit the What’s On page for all the details; something for everyone.

Family festival fun tomorrow at the Gulbenkian

Coming up tomorrow, family events (and free entry for children) at the Gulbenkian Theatre.

Part of this year’s Sounds New Festival taking place in Canterbury at the moment, Sunday sees Worldwide Mother’s Day, celebrating international Mother’s Day with a feast of family-oriented fun, with musical performances every hour, art and drama workshops, dance, face-painting and more.

The event starts at 11am and runs until 3.30pm. Children go free when accompanied by a paying adult, tickets are £5.

More details on the Sounds New website here.

Festival of contemporary music in Canterbury: Sounds New starts this Friday

Canterbury’s very own festival of contemporary music, Sounds New, bursts into life starting this Friday, on 4 May.

‘Theme GB’ celebrates the best of British music and musicians, with a range of renowned national and international performers, including the London Sinfonietta and the King’s Singers, performing a feast of new music at various venues in and around Canterbury until Tuesday 15 May.

For jazz enthusiasts, British jazz giant Julian Joseph will be appearing at the Gulbenkian Theatre, as will the BBC Big Band together with Norma Winstone and Mike Gibbs.

There’s a host of free events for children, including Worldwide Mothers’ Day celebrations at the Gulbenkian on Sunday 13 May, with free art, music, dance, drama and more throughout the day. A range of educational concerts, ‘All for One,’ will introduce new music and extended instrumental techniques to children across a series of three events. Other free events include lunchtime concerts, a poetry workshop, and more.

Children under the age of sixteen can attend any concert absolutely free (provided they are accompanied by a paying adult); a chance for young people to engage with new music, and perhaps be inspired to become the performers, composers and audiences of tomorrow!

Full details about the festival on the Sounds New website here.

Music to your ears…

Olympic Torch Route Announced

Street by Street Thursday 19th July 2012

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/19_03_12_day62_deal_maidstone.pdf

 Image: bbc.co.uk

Tennis Coach Wanted

Do you know anybody who could teach children tennis in the DCA tennis court after Easter?

Unfortunately, our tennis coach has cancelled so we need to investigate other options – can you help??

Thanks!

 

Ofsted report damns one in five schools as ‘inadequate for music’

A new report from Ofsted declares that a fifth of schools is providing an inadequate music education.

A damning report, as indicated yesterday in Music Teacher magazine,  also states that there is not enough emphasis on practical music-making in sessions, and that there is a ‘scarcity of good vocal work in secondary schools.’

Amidst a litany of depressing statements, detailing the failures and short-comings Inspectors found in their assesment of music in schools across the country,  one terse fact rings out:

Too often, inspectors simply did not see enough music in music lessons.

Read the report in full here.

Exchange Cafe

The Exchange Cafe will not be running this term – we will be back in April and will run along-side after-school tennis lessons for children with a professional tennis coach. Day and Time to be confirmed, please email miriam@machin.f9.co.uk  to register your interest and we will keep you informed.

Thank you to everyone who has supported the Cafe over the last year and we look forward to seeing you after Easter!

Tales of two cities: from London to Canterbury with the visitor’s attraction in town

To visit the Canterbury Tales attraction in the centre of Canterbury is to travel from a London inn to Canterbury Cathedral in the space of an hour, as you follow in the footsteps of Chaucer’s band of pilgrims.

Image credit: centre's website

Situated entirely within the confines of the former St Margaret’s Church in the heart of the city, the tour takes visitors through a series of individual rooms, each staging a tableau depicting either a stage in the pilgrimage, or one of five of Chaucer’s famous tales, with life-size mannequins and authentic sound-effects and smells working to bring each story to life. An audio guide (separate ones for adults and children) narrates your way through the stories, and introduces some of the characters and scenes encountered on the way. Effective lighting and automated props whirr and bustle to life as you enter a room, whether a medieval inn complete with comatose patrons, a leafy glade, an entry into the walled city, or a visit to the Crypt and the site of Becket’s martyrdom.

The experience is an immersive one; from the outset, you are plunged into the murky world of the Tabard Inn and its crackling fireplace, where the voice of Harry Bailey greets you and warns you of the perils that lie ahead on the arduous journey to Canterbury. Clever lighting also serves to illuminate different characters and features in rooms as the accompanying tale unfolds. From flickering candles, starlight, illuminated windows and an array of sound effects, you finally emerge from visiting the Crypt into the light of day with some surprise.

A family ticket (two adults and two children) costs twenty-five pounds which, for a visit which lasts well short of an hour, might be more attractively priced at twenty. And here is the main issue with the visit: shepherded through the individual rooms by the audio guide, which cues the automatic opening of doors into the next room, there isn’t time to explore each room and the characters and scenes in each. This is a real shame, as the wealth of detail packed into each room is extraordinary; from the stables packed with pilgrims and animals preparing for the journey to the crypt’s frescoes and paintings, there is a rich profusion of detail which we would have liked more time to explore with the children, the chance to really bring out the features of medieval life on display. But one has to move on when prompted by the audio guide as the doors ahead open, otherwise the narration gets out of sync, and there is scant opportunity to revel in the details in the realisations.

Image credit: centre's website

Apart from this, however, the visit was a terrific success with our children, who came out and immediately wanted to go round again! They enjoyed the animated effects – the emergent behinds of Nicholas and Alison in the Miller’s Tale as they were poked through the window in particular was greeted with great delight. The audio narration is an effective guide, and includes some famous voices taking part; I’m sure I heard Bernard Cribbins… There’s the opportunity for children to dress up in period costume before they go in; parents should be mindful that, when the tour finishes and we are invited to go out ‘into the market-place’ that what is really meant is ‘marketing-place,’ and you are herded straight into the inevitable gift shop…! Be strong.

The attraction’s website can be viewed here.

[Reviewed by Tom O'Bedlam]

Read all the reviews in this column here.

Local loan fund to support enterprise in Swale

As indicated in this month’s copy of the ‘Hernhill News,’ Swale’s Head of Community Services is considering the creation of a Local Loan Fund to support voluntary, community and social enterprise sectors in the local area.

Applications to join need to be submitted by Friday 2 March.

Loans will only be granted to organisations, not individuals.

Interested parties can obtain details from the Clerk, Terry Smart: details in the newsletter which will be online here (although not as yet updated since December, previous copies of the newsletter also contain the details).

Hernhill Horticultural Society

The Hernhill Horticultural Society will welcome Families or Children who would like to join.

The AGM will be held at the village hall on Thursday, February 16. After the business meeting, Len Olive will give a talk on growing and showing dahlias. Mr Olive is an RHS judge and has exhibited dahlias and narcissi internationally. Members are welcome to bring along guests for the talk.

The spring show will be on March 24 and the summer show on June 9.