Dear Friends,
As we approach the end of the year, we would like to
take this opportunity to thank you for your support and wish you a
wonderful Christmas and New Year! Below are some of the projects we
have been working on in 2016 and also some ideas for celebrating Chinese
New Year 2017. Our office will be closed until Tuesday 3 January 2017
but we look forward to seeing you in the New Year!
With best wishes,
The
Music for Change Team
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Cliftonville
Community Singers
Thanks
to funding from the People's Health Trust and the Overstone Fund
(through Kent Community Foundation), we started a community choir
in Cliftonville, Margate in the summer of 2016.
The
group is open to all, free of charge and meets every Tuesday evening
at 7.45pm at Cliftonville Community Centre, St Paul's Rd,
Margate, CT9 2DB. The choir has already performed at two community
events and is growing in membership every week. Please come and join
us to meet and sing with others from the community! We sing all
genres of music and group members can pick songs. The new term begins
on Tuesday 3 January 2017.
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Live
Music events
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Seckou Keita: 22 Strings
On
Thursday 17 November we proudly presented world-renowned Kora player,
Seckou Keita to a sell-out audience at Ramsgate Music
Hall. Music for Change volunteer Saffie Halke managed to catch a
few words with Seckou before his performance. Read the
interview here.
Folkestone
Harbour Arm
From March to the end of September 2016, Music for
Change delivered an exciting programme of music events at Folkestone
Harbour Arm. We programmed 59 acts for 36 days of music and all
activity was free to audiences. We presented a varied programme of
excellent performers including Grupo Lokito, Bafula, U'Zambezi and
Cocos Lovers.
Global Sounds
On
Bank Holiday Monday in August we descended on Dane John Gardens in
Canterbury to present our free annual celebration of world music
and diversity, Global Sounds. We had a brilliant line-up
including Family Atlantica, the Ceilidh Liberation Front, the
Rajasthan Heritage Brass Band, Emmanuel Okine & the UK African
Acrobats and DJing from Feet to the Floor. It was a great day out and
we were lucky enough to enjoy some sunshine too! We would like to
thank our funders for making this event possible: Arts Council
England, PRS for Music Foundation and Canterbury City Council.
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Porchlight
Music Groups
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In
the Summer we released our charity single with homeless charity
Porchlight to raise funds to continue weekly music sessions with
Porchlight service users.
The
music workshops have been vital in providing a space for residents to
be creative, improving their well-being and confidence and providing
a sense of community for those who are vulnerable, isolated or
marginalised. The workshops have also given participant's new skills
in music-making and lyric-writing. For service users who may be
homeless, at risk of becoming homeless and whose lives are full of
uncertainty, the weekly music group has provided a welcome element of
stability.
Since
the funding has come to an end, the group have been looking for new
ways in which to continue these vital workshops so released a charity
single called Summer, in which all proceeds will go directly to
continuing the music sessions. The participants wrote the lyrics,
sang, rapped and played instruments on the track. Porchlight service
user, Sarah says,
"I think it's been a really amazing music journey so I really do
think that Music for Change has helped me and supported me. We don't
want to lose Music for Change as its been life changing and it's our
lifeline."
To help Music for Change and Porchlight continue this
work, you can donate to Porchlight Players by purchasing the single
on their Bandcamp page, here.
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Composed:
Musician's Development Programme
In September we began a second project in partnership with Skillnet
CIC. The project gives young musicians with learning difficulties or
autism opportunites to develop skills in playing instruments,
composing music, writing lyrics, and rehearsing in a band. There are
also opportunities to play gigs in the local community and to record
music at West Track Studios, a community studio in Canterbury.
Running for two years, Composed is a high quality music mentoring
programme and draws upon the skills of Music for Change's talented
music leaders with expertise in enabling young people with learning
difficulties or autism to discover their own musical talent. Read
more here.
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Chinese
New Year
28 January 2017
Find
out about the traditions, customs and stories linked to
the celebration of Chinese New Year in one of the following
workshops and performances:
- Chinese traditional &
contemporary dance workshops and performances
- Chinese traditional
& contemporary storytelling and ribbon dance workshops
and performances
- Chinese circus skills
workshops and performances
- Chinese magic performances
- Origami workshops
Book online here or call our
friendly staff on
01227 459243.
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