Some music hub friends have sent in videos of them singing, dancing, signing and even playing along with ‘The Greatest Friend’ — enjoy watching them as they get moving, make some great sounds, and even get a little messy!
Coronavirus has has a huge impact on all our lives. For families up and down the country, the past half term has been unlike any other: learning at home, and keeping a social distance from others. With schools looking to start welcoming more pupils on site, starting with some of the youngest first, this is a challenging time for everybody.
For children, as this half term ends, and they look ahead to the big changes coming soon, there are lots of confusing thoughts and feelings to try and make sense of. That is why Southampton Music Hub has created a brand new song called, ‘The Greatest Friend’.
We Need You!
With some very silly lyrics, fun actions, and sign language translation too, the song is fun for all ages. So there really is no excuse not to sing, dance or sign along.
The song also has a very important message hidden inside: it’s ok to feel sad and confused sometimes; everybody feels that way, but, it’s not forever.
What better way to show that we’re all in this together, than a video of everybody joining in? That’s why we need YOU!
Send us your videos and video clips either through the music hub website, or on Twitter, and you could be part of a huge, exciting, community video version of the song.
Southampton Music Hub is launching Challenge-19: a challenge to the city’s young musicians to perform for friends and family, sharing their musical talents through digital video and over the phone.
For those who meet the challenge of performing 19 times, they can send a record of their achievement to the music hub office to get a digital certificate.
Young musicians interested in taking part should get in touch with the music hub office.
The Synthesis Project has been working with young electronic musicians across Southampton and the Isle of Wight this year, and, as we all approach the end of the Spring Term, it is a great time to share some recordings and reflect on their achievements.
Mayflower 400 Pieces
The first two pieces were inspired by the Mayflower 400 commemorations. The first is an original composition by Callum, and the second, a remix of ‘Symphony 400’ by Keiran. Both pieces were played at the Mayflower Theatre in March.
Hunnyhill Band
The next piece comes from a new iPad band based at Hunnyhill. The group is a Friday afternoon activity in the ‘Rainbow Room’: a teaching space to meet the needs of children and young people with social emotional and mental health needs (SEMH).
In January, the band set themselves the target of getting 100 new fans before Easter. To meet this ambitious goal, they worked together to create a brand new piece of music together that they would play to the whole school in assembly.
Sadly, school was closed before they had a chance to play their music for their friends and classmates — but their recording is here for you all to listen to, and perhaps they can count you as a new fan?
The Synthesis Project has been funded by Youth Music.
In September 2019, composer James Redwood visited four Southampton Primary Schools: collecting musical ideas from 100 school children, inspired by the Mayflower 400 story.
Now, those ideas have become a brand new piece of music: “Symphony 400: The Voyage” — debuted by 60 talented secondary and sixth form musicians at the Mayflower Theatre on Friday 6 March 2020
Watch the video of the story of “Symphony 400: The Voyage”.
Where Now? An Unexpected Twist
When the Symphony 400 journey began back in September, no one could have predicted the circumstances that would be to follow in March 2020. With social distancing and isolation set to be a part of life for the weeks, and possibly months, to come, there is a twist in the next stage of our journey.
One Start — Many Different Journeys
Southampton Music Hub is making all the music available — to anyone — for free — including…
PDF scores
Sibelius Files
MIDI Files and more
You can use these to…
Remix
Reimagine
Rearrange
Transform
Play
Perform and more
This can be done…
At home
At school
On video chat with friends or relatives
Using apps on your smartphone or tablet
Using apps on your PC or Mac
With an instrument
With your voice
Any way you can imagine — the possibilities are endless
Why not try…
Printing out the score, and chopping it up — move the pieces around and then stick them down again
Adding the MIDI parts to GarageBand or Logic and changing the instruments — explore the world of digital sound
Create loops — either by playing or recording — layer them up and remix the parts
If you have recordings, photos or scores you’d like to share, send us links on Twitter or via the contact page, and we’ll try to share some with everybody.
Where next? It’s up to you!
Where our journey goes next is in your hands. Symphony 400: The Voyage launched its journey in the classroom, and led us all the way to the Mayflower stage. Now, let many more journeys begin.
Over the coming weeks, you may find yourself missing out on music lessons, or playing with your ensemble. Here are some things you could do instead.
Perform at home
Pick pieces of music you know. Try new pieces of music. Come up with an exciting programme of music to share with those around you. Practice hard. Then invite the people you live with to watch the show. Make tickets and a programme with fun facts about the music and your instrument. Don’t forget to invite your pets.
Perform for older relatives with video chat
We know many older people might be feeling lonely over the next few weeks or months. Why not perform a concert for your older relatives over Skype, or FaceTime, or Video Chat?
Write a song
Composing your own music is a great way to understand your feelings, particularly in difficult times. It can also be a great way to forget your worries for a while, and focus on something more positive. You could write music inspired by our recent Mayflower 400 project. You could be inspired by your favourite songwriters and composers. You could write parts for any instruments you play. You could write lyrics to sing or rap. Anything is possible when you’re writing your own songs.
Download music apps and create music on your phone/tablet
If you don’t have an instrument, or can’t play one, or just fancy trying something new, why not download free apps like GarageBand or Walk Band and make music on your smartphone or tablet? Why not get inspired with the free Synthesis eBook?
Create and share playlists of music you like
Listening to music is a great way to change the way you feel. You could make a playlist of happy songs to pick you up when you feel down. You could also playlist of sad songs that you can listen to when you just want to feel sad for a while, that’s ok too. You can then make a playlist of songs that inspire you to sing, dance and jump around when you’re feeling in more of a party mood. Share your playlists with your friends, or even make one together.
However you do it, remember, making music is great!
On Thursday 5 and Friday 6 March 2020, Mayflower Theatre hosted 1,000 young performers, brought together by Southampton Music Hub, to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower. The Mayflower’s pioneering voyage 400 years ago created connections that changed the world. In response, these two show stopping performances saw young people at the heart of the start of a year of cultural programming for the city.
Thursday 5 March — Photo Gallery
Friday 6 March 2020 — Photo Gallery
On Saturday 29 February 2020, Associated British Ports’ (ABP) Mayflower Cruise Terminal hosted a rehearsal for 1,000 performers ahead of two nights of music at Mayflower Theatre on Thursday 5 and Friday 6 March 2020.
The two events will commemorate the 400th Anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower: a pioneering voyage 400 years ago created connections that changed the world. In response, Southampton Music Hub, will use these two momentous evenings to celebrate the incredible power of music to take people and communities on life-changing journeys.
Kath Page, Manager at Southampton Music Hub, says:
“Everybody is so excited to be part of these incredible musical celebrations. These two nights will be an opportunity for the whole community to come together and enjoy the power of music to connect people, to inspire people, and to help make Southampton an exciting city to live in.”
Both evenings will include performers from all across the city: including 800 young singers from city schools; 200 talented young musicians from community bands and orchestras; 80 young theatre performers; 50 community musicians and many more. With so many performers, finding rehearsal space is a huge challenge. But thanks to the kindness of Associated British Ports (ABP), they were all able to come together in the Mayflower cruise terminal for an epic rehearsal on Saturday 29 February 2020.
Michael Ockwell, Mayflower Theatre Chief Executive says:“We are delighted to be able to host these two concerts and to premiere songs from our Mayflower 400 musical commissions which will be performed in August 2020 at the theatre. It will be amazing to see all the talented young singers and musicians on our stage and we hope that they will have an inspiring experience performing their songs.”
Morning Rehearsal Gallery:
Afternoon Rehearsal Gallery:
On Thursday 5 and Friday 6 March, Southampton Music Hub and Mayflower Theatre present Southampton: A Musical Odyssey — connecting children, schools and communities with the Mayflower 400 Commemorations taking place this year.
This year, as we wrap up for a Christmas holiday that includes the ringing in of a new decade, Southampton Music Hub looks back on the past ten years of music-making, to see the impact the hub is having for children, young people, and their families across the city.
18,500+ First Access Musicians
Every year Southampton Music Hub gives children an inspirational start to learning a musical instrument in First Access. In the past ten years 18,500+ children have picked up an instrument for the first time in classrooms across the city.
2,500+ Ensemble Members
Every year Southampton Music Hub gives young musicians the opportunity to perform and progress in a musical community of orchestras and bands. There are even a small handful of young musicians who, having started in 2009 or before, have been in an ensemble for over ten years!
30,000+ Affordable Instruments, Saving £10m
Every year Southampton Music Hub provides free, or affordable, instrumental loans to young musicians, families and schools. In the past ten years, there have been over 30,000 instruments loaned out, saving schools and families, an estimated £10million.
Looking Ahead:
On Thursday 5 and Friday 6 March 2020, Southampton Music Hub presents two momentous evenings of musical odysseys. Hosted by Soweto Kinch, eache evening will feature musical performances from bands and orchestras of all different shapes and sizes from across the City of Southampton and celebrate the life-changing power of music, including the premiers of Mayflower 400 inspired projects Big Sing: The Journey and Symphony 400: The Voyage.
Tickets cost just £10.
Southampton Music Hub’s community and family choir, Soton Voce, have been spreading festive cheer around the city carol singing and wassailing alongside Sea Shanty Choir The Salty Sea Dogs.
Soton Voce members began their singing tour by visiting Southampton General Hospital and sang in the main foyer raising money for the Southampton Hospital Charity whilst entertaining patients, visitors and employees. The choirs then moved on to the German Market in the city centre and sang to large crowds of shoppers on what looked like one of the busiest shopping days of the year. A final group went on to take part in Carols on the Square outside St Michael the Archangel on Bugle Street.
Soton Voce presented an eclectic programme spanning medieval rounds, traditional carols and modern acapella classics from The Fleet Foxes and Pentatonix. The Salty Sea Dogs entertained with their always raucous sea shanties in their own inimitable style, including a real dog and several members of the public who joined in with them at the German Market!
Nia Collins, Musical Director of Soton Voce, says:
“It was fantastic to share all the hard work that our new choir has put in this term and bring community music making to other areas of the city and also to be able to share that with The Salty Sea Dogs as well as all our member’s friends and families. We’re looking forward to continuing to recruit new members in 2020 and watching the choir grow and develop”
Soton Voce choir are still recruiting new members so if you would like to come and try it out, rehearsals start again on Tuesday 14th January 2020 from 11.30am-12.30pm at St Michael the Archangel off Bugle Street.
Sunday 8 December welcomes the start of Christmas concert season at Southampton Music Hub as three brass bands come together at Chandler’s Ford Methodist Church for their annual Christmas concert.
The Christmas programme continues with an Airplay concert on Thursday 12 December and a chance to rock around the Christmas tree on Friday 13 December with Groove Merchant, Groove Foundation and Groove Syndicate.
The Christmas concert season rounds off on Sunday 15 December with a family-friendly concert from Southampton Youth Concert Sinfonia (SYCS), where they will bring an exciting programme of musical entertainment to Turner Sims Southampton, including Christmas at the Movies, Music from Frozen, and range of Christmas Carols.
London Sinfonietta, in collaboration with Turner Sims and Southampton Music Hub took hundreds of children on a journey into the world of minimalism. An interactive schools concert gave children the opportunity to see music played on toy pianos and microphones. The children composed music for the professional musicians to play and were given insight into the sounds, ideas and concepts that create this iconic style of music.
This was followed by a performance of Terry Rileys 'In C' by members of several Southampton Music Hub ensembles following a series of workshops and rehearsals with London Sinfonietta Musicians.
The day culminated with a community concert that introduced the audience to the world of minimalism
Kevin Appleby, Manager of Turner Sims, says:
"It's always special to see the artists of tomorrow performing on the Turner Sims stage. we have enjoyed a fantastic day of collaboration, inspiration and aspiration - bringing minimalism to life."
On Monday 4 November, around 1,000 pupils from across the city of Southampton and the Isle of Wight have enjoyed “An Audience With SYCS”, during two fun filled interactive performances, at Central Hall.
Pupils from Year R, Year 1 and Year 2 were inspired by the talented young musicians of Southampton Youth Concert Sinfonia (SYCS) who played well-known tunes from films and musicals as well as classical favourites.
From Tocatta to Toothless the Dragon, pupils learned about different instruments in the orchestra and their families, swing beats, repeating ostinato patterns and other elements of music through interactive musical activities and guided listening.
Kath Page, Manager for Southampton and Isle of Wight Music Hubs, and presenter for the day, said:
“It was wonderful to see the children so enthused and inspired by the music they heard and took part in today and in particular that the music was played so brilliantly by young musicians from our own ensembles. We hope that many of those pupils will eventually be musicians playing with our ensembles in the future”
On Tuesday 24 September Southampton Music Hub launched Soton Voce a new family friendly choir as part of its community offer across the city.
During the first few rehearsals the choir has been delighted to welcome a variety of voices, including their youngest member who, at 6 months old, particularly enjoyed swaying along to African calling song Allunde.
Regardless of age or ability , all are very welcome to attend — parents and caregivers with younger ones are invited to come along and make use of the play area at the back of the church at the same time as participating. The choir is now working towards a performance at Southampton General hospital in December but new members are welcome to join at any time with no pressure to perform.
Nia Collins, Musical Director for Soton Voce, says:
"We have made a great start with the voices that we have so far covering our usual eclectic mix including; Medieval part songs, African folk songs and Pentatonix's acapella arrangement of Fleet Foxes White Winter Hymnal. The joy of being able to take time out during our busy lives to just sing, be mindful and connect with others of all ages was particularly pertinent to me during our rehearsal last week as it was Mental Health awareness week. The choir affords us an opportunity to do just that on a weekly basis and I would love for us to be able to offer that opportunity to as many people in the city that we can"
All the sessions during the Autumn term will be free of charge taster sessions. From January the termly fee will be £30 with a guaranteed 10 rehearsals each term.
Soton Voce Rehearsals
Tuesdays
11.30am - 12.30pm
at St Michael the Archangel, Bugle Street
Tickets are now on sale for 'Southampton: A Musical Odyssey' — presented by Southampton Music Hub in partnership with Mayflower Theatre.
On Thursday 5 and Friday 6 March 2020, the whole family can set sail for an epic evening of entertainment as over 600 young musicians from across Southampton commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower Ship: a pioneering journey which created connections that changed the world.
Led by Southampton Music Hub, in collaboration with Mayflower Theatre, and hosted by Soweto Kinch, the evening will feature musical performances from bands and orchestras of all different shapes and sizes from across the City of Southampton and celebrate the life-changing power of music, including, the premiers of Mayflower 400 inspired projects Big Sing: The Journey and Symphony 400: The Voyage.
Tickets cost just £10 and are available from the Mayflower Theatre Box Office.
As Southampton commemorates 400 years since the Mayflower’s world-changing journey, Southampton Music Trust will support Southampton Music Hub to take hundreds of children learning a musical instrument for the first time on a life-changing musical journey.
In July, young musicians from across the city's primary schools will blast onto the Central Hall stage to create brand new music in The Big Mayflower Jam! The Jam will tell the stories of the composers’ own journeys, exploring the ideas of belonging to a community and building a new future together.
This amazing first experience of performing on stage will be made even more special as the young people will be playing alongside professional musicians from the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO)! The BSO will lead hundreds of young musicians as they play, listen, improvise, compose, and perform together, inspire each other’s musicianship, and build new connections and friends across the city.
But to give the city’s young people this amazing experience, Southampton Music Trust need your help. They want to make sure we can give life-changing music to children across the city, without it requiring any one person to give a life-changing amount of money. So, in partnership with Arts Council England and Spacehive’s Our Music Crowd project, they have launched a special crowdfunding campaign to harness the power of our community and bring together lots of small gifts to reach our life-changing target.
The Big Mayflower Jam will give hundreds of young musicians a hugely inspirational musical experience, showcase their music, and demonstrate its importance: both to them as young people and to the city. Group music making is at the core of the project – activity proven to boost social bonding by helping participants identify collective identities and experiences, and as a result feel accepted. The Big Mayflower Jam will affirm the value of young musicians’ creative ambitions, improve their social and emotional stability, and help bring our communities together.
Please help make your community a better place and give our young people this amazing experience by making your donation at www.spacehive.com/bigmayflowerjam. Sharing is caring – if you share that you have supported this project on your own social media pages, it can help generate an average of £5 more in donations!
Starting on Tuesday 24 September Southampton Music Hub is delighted to welcome a new family friendly choir into its community offer across the city.
Soton Voce are a welcoming community choir based at St Michael the Archangel Church on Bugle Street in the old part of Southampton City Centre. The church has a small play area for children at the back of the church so if you would like to drop in with little ones in tow you would be more than welcome to. Open to families of all shapes and sizes; all ages, abilities and voices are welcome, you just need to enjoy singing.
Nia Collins, Soton Voce Musical Director, says:
”Soton Voce enjoys covering a very wide range of styles, genres and languages with repertoire ranging from Byrd to the Beatles, West African chants to Welsh folk songs and even toe tapping gospel - always in glorious harmony! We do read from music during rehearsals but if you have limited experience of this do not worry we will guide you or provide the words if you would prefer to learn by ear (which many of us do). I look forward to seeing you there.”
Taster sessions and rehearsals will start on Tuesday 24 September and run from 11.30am – 12.30pm every week during term times. The choir fees are £30 a term from January with a guaranteed 10 sessions per term. All the sessions during the Autumn term will be free of charge taster sessions with donations towards the use of the church very welcome.
September marks the start of a new school year, and see’s the launch of another year of life-changing music. In a year which commemorates a huge cultural landmark for the city — 400 years since the sailing of the Mayflower on a world-changing journey — Southampton Music Hub is using the power of music to take the city on a journey which improves the health and wellbeing of children, young people, families and communities.
Coming Up in 2019–20
Symphony 400: The Voyage
Composer James Redwood will work with 120 young musicians in primary schools to create new musical ideas inspired by themes from the Mayflower Journey. This music will then be learnt and performed by young musicians at secondary schools across the city, to be performed at the Mayflower Theatre in March.
Big Sing: The Journey
Mayflower Theatre has commissioned two new musicals that are inspired by the Mayflower 400 story and celebrate the theme of journeys. Southampton Music Hub will take songs from the two musicals in to city schools ahead of two huge performances at Mayflower Theatre in March.
Mayflower Celebration Events
Save the dates in your diary now — Thursday 5 and Friday 6 March 2020 — as Southampton Music Hub shares the stage at the Mayflower Theatre with over 1,200 performers from schools and communities. Over two nights of performance and participation, there will be a celebration of the musical and personal journeys the performers have been on as they share and celebrate the life-changing power of music.
And much more…
The coming year is jam packed with musical adventures. From 1,500 taking their first musical steps in First Access, through music lessons and ensembles that give every child the opportunity progress and perform, the hub supports young musicians at every step of their journey. From the Synthesis project for electronic music, through to family music lessons and workshops, the hub supports music of all types. Working with Southampton Cultural Education Partnership and hub partners, the hub connects schools and cultural organisations in the city.
On the last day of term, Southampton Music Hub is celebrating the end of an incredible year of life-changing music for the city’s young musicians in 2018-19.
The year was defined by one incredible story: a journey which started with 200+ of the city’s young musicians performing at the Royal Albert Hall in November; which saw that momentous event inspire over 40,000 hours of music-making with over 2,000 young musicians right across the city; and which ended with a huge celebration at Southampton Guildhall, with over 750 young musicians from over 45 schools performing in one day.
Of course, there have been countless other amazing stories this year. Here are a few highlights:
Kath Page, Manager for Southampton Music Hub, says:
“Southampton Music Hub has gone from strength to strength this year, and we have been overwhelmed by the support from schools and partners that make that happen. Together, we continue to combine the exceptional and the everyday: with inspirational events, like the Royal ALbert Hall and Guildhall this year, driving new ambitions; through to delivering the music lessons and regular music groups which help turn new aspirations in to meaningful, life-changing skills and connections.”