Opera company homes in on wannabe songwriters
An opera company is inviting community groups, members of the public and schoolchildren to compose and record songs to celebrate its £18 million new-look home.
Opera North this week launched a songwriting initiative with the aim of creating an interactive musical trail in Howard Opera Centre that is due to open in Leeds this year.
As part of the project a six-week course of Writing Home free online workshops started on Monday.
Led by professional musicians Thandanani Gumede and Dave Evans, participants will be asked to explore what ‘home’ means to them through a variety of musical genres before creating their own compositions. Several creations will be chosen for the final trail.
Everyone is welcome to join in the workshops. No previous musical experience is necessary, just the willingness to try something new.
Jacqui Cameron, education director at Opera North, said: “We will be embedding the voices of people in the very walls of the Howard Opera Centre to create a sense of ownership and to encourage everyone to see it as their artistic home.
“The word ‘home’ has assumed even greater importance over the past year, and this project aims to give participants the time to reflect specifically on what it means to them, and why it is important to us all to have spaces where we feel ‘at home’.
“Thanda is looking forward to finding the inner composer in everyone who takes part, helping them create something that will provide a great testament to the creativity of people in our new building.”
As well as providing new rehearsal facilities for the orchestra and chorus of Opera North, a costume and wigs workshop, and administrative offices, the Howard Opera Centre at New Briggate will include several communal areas open to the public.
These include a new flexible Education Centre that will enable audiences of all ages and backgrounds to
come together to learn about, and participate in, music making. Anyone accessing the Education Centre will use the same entrance as the artists and staff in a bid to inspire the younger generation and to encourage a feeling of parity and belonging.
Richard Mantle, general director at Opera North, said: “We want young musicians to feel that they’re an integral part of Opera North which is why we’re delighted to be able to give them the opportunity to rehearse in the same building as the chorus and the orchestra.
“Having our own dedicated Education Centre will facilitate more collaborations with mainstage, open up more learning and performing opportunities for children and young people, and provide extraordinary musical experiences for the wider community every day.
“We very much hope that
people will see the Howard Opera Centre as their artistic home in the city, with Writing Home marking the first step in ensuring they feel a part of the building and everything it represents.”
Opera North has raised £17million towards the redevelopment, including a significant philanthropic gift of £11.25 million from Dr Keith Howard OBE, president of Opera North and founder of Emerald Group Publishing.
Leeds City Council has pledged to contribute £750,000, together with the lease of the vacant shops on New Briggate, and Arts Council England has contributed £1 million including a £500,000 Capital Kickstart Award.
The balance of the funds has come from private donors, trusts and supporters, including £1 million donation from The Liz and Terry Bramall Foundation.
World Book Day will be different this year!
The annual event has been adapted for online and to make sure that World
Book Day sends a powerful and positive message about books and reading in lockdown.
Celebrated on March 4, WBD this year features new book club and and Share a Story corner,
New £1 books include ... There’s a Wolf in my Book by Tom Fletcher; Luna Loves World Book Day by Joseph Coelho; What the Ladybird Heard by Julia Donaldson; Gigantosaurus by Jonny Duddle; Planet Omar: Operation Kind by Zanib Mian; Protect the Planet by Jess French;
The River Whale by Sita Brahmachari; Skysteppers by Katherine Rundell; Little Badman and the Radioactive Samosa; Football School by Alexander Bellos and Ben Lyttleton; Kill Joy by Holly Jackson and Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy.
World Book Day is with teachers and nursery leaders to provide the printed token – for those children still in a school/nursery setting – and a new single-use digital version, that can be printed at home or shown to booksellers on a phone or tablet screen.
Parents who are homeschooling can also encourage their children to dress up as their favourite book characters, which often include Harry Potter and the Gruffalo.
More information on how to take part in World Book Day is available at: https:// www.worldbookday.com/ site.
Interest in books and reading has boomed during lockdown. A company that supplies books for TV and film sets says it has seen a rise in sales for home offices during lockdown.
Bookbarn International sells and lends books in bulk that have featured in programmes such as His Dark Materials.
Company chief executive Nick Bates said people were buying from him to
enhance the background of their Zoom calls. The Bristolbased firm said demand from home workers had risen from a handful of inquiries to many per week.
Some customers “have grown a bit tired of those automated backgrounds,” said Mr Bates. “Sometimes they order a shelf of books. Other times it’s a whole home library,”
The firm has almost a million books in stock at one time and customers create their own collections based on particular subjects, titles or the look of the covers.
In another initiative national charity the Reading Agency has announced its new campaign Read, Talk, Share.
It is aimed at combating loneliness and promoting wellbeing through the proven power of reading during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Enabled by a £3.5 million award by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, Read, Talk, Share will expand The Reading Agency’s already successful Reading Well and Reading Friends programmes, with the charity’s work to tackle loneliness and support mental health and wellbeing playing an important part in the nation’s Covid recovery.
The two initiatives demonstrate the power of reading to support and connect isolated individuals, and the benefits of bibliotherapy to mental health.
The funding presents an unprecedented level of investment in library services to tackle loneliness and support mental health and the Reading Agency will work closely with local libraries and organisations to reach communities through reading, talking and sharing.