Hello!
Welcome to the September 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. After the summer break, this September we’ve jumped right back into the action, welcoming new friends, and familiar faces back to the Hall for a range of great events. We hope you enjoy reading what we’ve been up to this month.
The L&P Department
Live at Lunchtime
On the 1st September, Bachata and Salsa singer July Julay and his trio, the Mambo Kings, brought the party to Live at Lunchtime. We had some salsa moves up and down the aisle from the audience – nothing welcomes in the weekend like that! On the 8th September, Quincey Brown transported us to another world with her hauntingly beautiful original songs and harp playing – you could hear a pin drop. Following this was the stunning voice of Neo-Jazz singer Ni Maxine on the 15th September. Accompanied by Jesse and Ryan on double bass and guitar, Ni’s setlist had it all. From Billie Holiday to her own original Bossa-Nova song ‘Strange Love’, the audience were fixated for the entire performance.
Live at Lunchtime has ended for 2023 but will be back May 2024 with an amazing line up. Thank you to everyone who came and supported the series this year, we hope you enjoyed coming, it really was great to see so many familiar faces at each concert. We look forward to welcoming you back next year!
Be Hear Now, 17 September
This month’s Be Hear Now featured the amazing talents of percussionist David Kelly, and guitarist and singer Ste Forshaw. As well as some epic drum solos, David talked us through the history of the drum kit, its different components, and the sound they each make. Participants each had their own chance to give a solo, which was so much fun. This was all followed by a sing-along with Ste and Beth Bishop on guitar and flute!
So Many Beauties Dementia Friendly Festival Launch, 22 September
On the 22 September, So Many Beauties took over the Hall with a launch event for their Dementia Friendly Festival which will be taking place at the Hall next year. So Many Beauties are a great organisation who work co-creatively in health and social care settings with older people living with dementia and their carers. This was a special event, in which Dementia groups, carers, and NHS staff came together to share and celebrate the music they had written together, as they were performed by the wonderfully talented So Many Beauties Collective. We also showcased some highlights from the Bridgewater Hall archive, with programmes, photographs and ticket stubs dating all the way back to the Free Trade Hall. It was a joyous day, and great sneak peek into the Festival planned for 2024!
Live Music Now Specialist Schools Concert, 25 September
‘You’ve got a friend in me…’. We all know this song from Pixar’s classic Toy Story, but we’d never heard it sang by the amazing Baritone, Edward before! Accompanied by pianist, Rachel, this relaxed concert for specialist schools had us all clapping and singing along. Thank you to all the schools who came along, it was great to see some familiar faces, and as always, thank you to Live Music Now for helping make these concerts possible.
Bridgewater Hall Singers, 27 September
It was great to welcome back our Bridgewater Hall Singers after a long summer break, and to see so many new members – a big Simply Singing welcome to you all! Our Singers were on top form and sounding great. We warmed up our voices and bodies with a compilation of three songs, walking around the foyer and clapping in rhythm to our sections. It was then time to start learning an original song that the Singers wrote themselves with the lovely Alice Phelps tilted, Sing From Your Soul which sounded amazing. We’ve got a great term planned with lots of special performances and can’t wait to get started!