Hello!
Welcome to the November 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. In November, we welcomed friends new and old to get a peep into the exciting things we’ve got lined up this winter.
We hope you enjoy reading what we’ve been up to this month.
The L&P Department
Music Makers – 24 November
In November’s Music Makers we were joined by Nancy who took us on a musical adventure as we explored the music of the Carnival of the Animals! Using a range of instruments, we bounced like kangaroos with boomwhackers, then with chime bars, floated with the fish. We met a big snake who slithered along whilst a harp played, and then a trombone trumpeted as we met a heard of elephants showing off their trunks! Our little music makers then each got a turn to play the Steinway piano! It was a lovely session, and great opportunity to discover a range of different instruments. Our next session will be on 22 January where we’ll be going on a Jurassic adventure – any ideas who we might see along the way?
To find out more about Music Makers click here.
Be Hear Now in the Community – 21 November
This month saw the start of our new project – Be Hear Now in the Community. Over the next few months, we’ll be visiting our friends at PossAbilities Witley Road Day Centre in Rochdale, and taking our Be Hear Now sessions into the community. This month, Beth Bishop, Alice Phelps and Live Music Now’s Sam Rodwell led an amazing music workshop to over 40 service users. We had some top-notch soloists, conductors, and lots and lots of singing. We’ll be visiting PossAbilities groups over the next few months, showcasing lots of different musical genres and musicians to our participants all with the aim to bring a special concert to the Hall in June.
Find out more about PossAbilities here.
Bridgewater Hall Showcase evening – 14 November
Our Showcase Evening was a great chance to show our patrons, new and old, the best that the Hall has to offer. It was lovely for the Learning and Participation to be a part of this event too. We had our lovely Bridgewater Hall Singers welcoming guests with a performance in the Stalls Foyer. This was then followed by Live Music Now’s Ste Forshaw entertaining guests on Circle Foyer with his laid-back tunes. We also had items out from the Bridgewater Hall archive for guests to browse through. These included images from when the Queen visited in 1997, programmes throughout the years as well as items from the Free Trade Hall.
Be Hear Now – 12 November
Be Hear Now this month featured the lovely Sam Rodwell, a classical guitarist from Live Music Now. In this session tailored for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, Sam taught us all about the different features of his guitar, and what it takes to be a professional musician. Did you know classical guitarists have to keep their fingernails at a certain length to strum correctly? Neither did we!
Find out more about Be Hear Now here.
Tenebrae Schools Concert – 6 November
Ahead of their International Concert Series: A Prayer for Deliverance, one of the world’s finest choirs, Tenebrae led a very special free schools’ concert for over 700 over Manchester KS1 students. Together, we celebrated Diwali by singing Patake! By Shivani Rattan in a round on the main stage. Did you know that ‘patake’ means firework in Punjabi and Hindi? It was a great opportunity to get up close with some high-quality choral music. Big thank you to Tenebrae and all the school groups that attended.
Find out more about the International Concert Series here.