Hello!
Welcome to the January edition of our Bridgewater For All Playback, where we look back at the highlights of the Learning and Participation programme at The Bridgewater Hall for this month. From mastering the Marcussen organ to discovering prehistoric lands, January has been a month of delving into the unknown (and having lots of fun along the way).
We wish you a very Happy New Year and hope you enjoy reading what we’ve been up to in January.
The L&P Department
Bridgewater Hall Singers – 17, 24, 31 Jan
After a great end to 2023, this month our community choir, the Bridgewater Hall Singers, kicked off the new year by jumping into some new songs. One of the new songs is Cyndi Lauper’s beautiful ‘True Colours’, and our singers have been sounding better than ever. Practicing this in a round has been key in helping everyone stay in tempo and tune, whilst also teaching us to listen to each other. We’ve also been busy rehearsing away from our home at the Bridgewater Hall, practing at Halle St Micheals and Halle St Peters in Ancoats – both lovely spaces. It’s been a great opportunity to see other parts of the city that we typically don’t visit. Our Singers have been itching to get performing too, so January is a month where we can look at the year ahead, and get some exciting opportunities lined up!
To find out more about the Bridgewater Hall Singers click here.
Music Makers – 22 Jan
January’s Music Makers was led by the amazing Sarah and Benji. Together they took us on a journey back in time to prehistoric land of the dinosaurs! We naturally time-warped via doing the hokey-cokey and met lots of dinosaurs along the way. Little ones were able to get up close to a range of instruments in this session, including the guitar, flute, and accordion! Our Music Makers sessions invite babies and toddlers to enjoy creative sensory play and music and are led by different Music Maker leaders each month – perfect if you want to introduce your little one to the world of music!
To find out more about Music Makers click here.
Organ Open Day – 22 Jan
It was fantastic to see so many people attend our first Organ Open Day at the Hall this month. We had an amazing array of individuals of all ages who joined expert David Wood to learn about the secrets of the organ and try their hand at playing this gigantic 2,500 piped instrument. Throughout the day, the Hall was filled with an array of music – bet you’ve never heard the James Bond theme played on an organ? Us neither! It was great to hear the range of music coming from the group, including one patron’s original piece! It really was lovely to see strangers coming together over a mutual interest in music and this amazing instrument. Whether you’re a professional organist or have never seen an organ before, we’d love to welcome you to the Hall for our next Organ Day. Keep your eyes peeled on our website and socials for the next one!
Be Hear Now – 28 Jan
For January’s Be Hear Now we welcome Live Music Now musicians Jamie and Matt from the wonderful Dovetail Duo to the Hall. With Dovetail’s focus on English folk and traditional music, this was a great session to discover some more unusual instruments, such as the concertina. Paired with some foot stomping sea-shanties, there was no stopping the dancing in this session. Beth Bishop then led our interactive workshop where we experimented with a range of percussion instruments and worked to keep tempo with each other and the musicians.
To find out more about Be Hear Now click here.