Music Nation Cymru
Music Nation is a nationwide celebration of the musical life of the UK
and a countdown event to the London 2012 Festival, the finale of the Cultural
Olympiad,and will see events taking place across the whole of Wales and the UK on the weekend of 3 / 4 March
Below can be found full details of Wales based events taking place that St David's Day weekend which you and your group can get involved in! Join the National Flash Mash, sing or play in the National Cymanfa Ganu & invite your local community to join you with Open Doors, plus you can participate in the premiere of Orlando Gough's newly commissioned Making Music Overture "Traditional Values"
Details of all these events - and more! - are outlined below...
and a countdown event to the London 2012 Festival, the finale of the Cultural
Olympiad,and will see events taking place across the whole of Wales and the UK on the weekend of 3 / 4 March
Below can be found full details of Wales based events taking place that St David's Day weekend which you and your group can get involved in! Join the National Flash Mash, sing or play in the National Cymanfa Ganu & invite your local community to join you with Open Doors, plus you can participate in the premiere of Orlando Gough's newly commissioned Making Music Overture "Traditional Values"
Details of all these events - and more! - are outlined below...
What & Where?
Music Nation Cymru is a celebration of live music across Wales, bringing together musicians of all levels. Featuring
music for and by young and old, with opportunities for everyone to join
in, the weekend is built around two key participatory events at noon
each day.
Saturday March 3 sees the National Flash Mash, led by Welsh National Opera, bringing a medley of Welsh music, traditional and modern, plus themes from The Marriage of Figaro to a centre near you!
Sunday March 4 features the National Cymanfa Ganu, led by Making Music Wales and Tŷ Cerdd, where musicians from across Wales can join our massed performance at the Wales Millennium Centre, or open your own doors to your local community and invite them to join you in music and song. Bring your instrument, music and stand to a participating venue - or start one of your own! - and be part of a pan-Wales simultaneous performance. FREE sheet music available here.
Additional events include free performances and more formal performances at a range of venues across Cardiff and further afield in Wales, including Cardigan, Newport, Wrexham, Mold, Llandudno and Caernarfon. Scroll down for further information and get involved in the BBC's Music Nation, uniting orchestras, musical groups, choirs and concert halls all across the UK.
Saturday March 3 sees the National Flash Mash, led by Welsh National Opera, bringing a medley of Welsh music, traditional and modern, plus themes from The Marriage of Figaro to a centre near you!
Sunday March 4 features the National Cymanfa Ganu, led by Making Music Wales and Tŷ Cerdd, where musicians from across Wales can join our massed performance at the Wales Millennium Centre, or open your own doors to your local community and invite them to join you in music and song. Bring your instrument, music and stand to a participating venue - or start one of your own! - and be part of a pan-Wales simultaneous performance. FREE sheet music available here.
Additional events include free performances and more formal performances at a range of venues across Cardiff and further afield in Wales, including Cardigan, Newport, Wrexham, Mold, Llandudno and Caernarfon. Scroll down for further information and get involved in the BBC's Music Nation, uniting orchestras, musical groups, choirs and concert halls all across the UK.
March 3 - National Flash Mash
in association with Welsh National Opera
12:00 noon - Cardiff, Wrexham, Caernarfon and more!
Saturday March 3 sees the National Flash Mash, led by Welsh National Opera, bringing a medley of Welsh music, traditional and modern, along with themes from The Marriage of Figaro to a centre near you!
Full information, and FREE music downloads, for the event are available here now, plus listen to the Flash mash itself below.
Saturday March 3 sees the National Flash Mash, led by Welsh National Opera, bringing a medley of Welsh music, traditional and modern, along with themes from The Marriage of Figaro to a centre near you!
Full information, and FREE music downloads, for the event are available here now, plus listen to the Flash mash itself below.
The National Cymanfa Ganu / Open Doors
in association with Tŷ Cerdd
12 noon - Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay
Sunday March 4 sees the National Cymanfa Ganu take place across Wales, including the premiere of the Making Music Overture "Traditional Values", specially commissioned by Making Music from Orlando Gough for 2012
Join Making Music Wales and Tŷ Cerdd for a massed performance at the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, or download a host of FREE sheet music for your own event in your local community with our Open Doors initiative - click here for full details and to download the music.
Sunday March 4 sees the National Cymanfa Ganu take place across Wales, including the premiere of the Making Music Overture "Traditional Values", specially commissioned by Making Music from Orlando Gough for 2012
Join Making Music Wales and Tŷ Cerdd for a massed performance at the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, or download a host of FREE sheet music for your own event in your local community with our Open Doors initiative - click here for full details and to download the music.
Premiere our new commission, the Making Music Overture "Traditional Values"
The Making Music Overture
is an official Cultural Olympiad project and will launch as part of the
Music Nation weekend. The overture is a new work which its hoped will
see at least 150 performances by Making Music member groups in the
run-up to the Olympic Games in 2012. The work is supported with funds
from the PRS for Music Foundation and the RVW Trust.
Orlando Gough has written the Making Music Overture, titled "Traditional Values", with his friend the Guyanese / British poet John Agard. Here is a short extract from his introduction to the piece:
'Our piece looks at three very traditional, rather John Majorish aspects of Britishness – tea, the weather and cricket – and reconsiders them. The tone is affectionate, ironic and celebratory, and the music is suffused with influences of pop music, gospel, reggae, calypso, bhangra and qawwali. What is really being celebrated here, I think, is not so much tea, the weather and cricket themselves but stoicism, tolerance, adaptability, irony and, by the myriad influences on the music, diversity – some of our great national characteristics.'
The work is FREE for Making Music member groups to download and access. You can download the application form and guidelines here. The work can also be accessed by non-member groups for a nominal hire fee.
Performance Deadlines
Please note the following deadlines, and make sure that we receive your applications to perform the piece by these dates:
31 January 2012: deadline for performances between 3 March and 30 April 2012
31 March 2012: deadline for performances up to 31 July 2012
30 June 2012: deadline for performances up to 9 September 2012
Listen to the Overture
A digitised rendering of the instrumental version of the work can be found here:
Orlando Gough has written the Making Music Overture, titled "Traditional Values", with his friend the Guyanese / British poet John Agard. Here is a short extract from his introduction to the piece:
'Our piece looks at three very traditional, rather John Majorish aspects of Britishness – tea, the weather and cricket – and reconsiders them. The tone is affectionate, ironic and celebratory, and the music is suffused with influences of pop music, gospel, reggae, calypso, bhangra and qawwali. What is really being celebrated here, I think, is not so much tea, the weather and cricket themselves but stoicism, tolerance, adaptability, irony and, by the myriad influences on the music, diversity – some of our great national characteristics.'
The work is FREE for Making Music member groups to download and access. You can download the application form and guidelines here. The work can also be accessed by non-member groups for a nominal hire fee.
Performance Deadlines
Please note the following deadlines, and make sure that we receive your applications to perform the piece by these dates:
31 January 2012: deadline for performances between 3 March and 30 April 2012
31 March 2012: deadline for performances up to 31 July 2012
30 June 2012: deadline for performances up to 9 September 2012
Listen to the Overture
A digitised rendering of the instrumental version of the work can be found here:
The vocal version can be heard here: The BBC Singers perform the Making Music Overture 'Traditional Values', Conductor Adrian Peacock, Recording Engineer Adele Conlin, recorded at BBC Maida Vale Studios
The Making Music Overture project has been planned so that Making Music members groups of all abilities and genres can be involved. This is your opportunity to take part in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic celebrations, wherever you are in the UK. An opportunity to form new partnerships, reach new audiences, benefit from publicity and PR, and to offer local audiences an opportunity to celebrate with you. Making Music will support members to publicise their events. Set a date to perform the Making Music Overture 'Traditional Values' now!
Additional Music Nation Cymru Events
A wide range of additional events will also be taking place across Wales as part of Music Nation Cymru, organised by the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and many more. Full details on all these events can be found at the Festival 2012, BBC Wales and Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama websites
BBC NOW Music Nation Celebratory Concert
The BBC National Orchestra of Wales will feature alongside the BBC National Chorus of Wales in the Music Nation Celebration concert at St David's Hall, Cardiff. Taking place at 3:00pm on Sunday March 4 this celebratory concert will showcase the orchestra and chorus alongside a host of young talent from across Wales, including Massed County Youth Choirs, students from the RWCMD,and pupils from a local special school. The concert will culminate in the world premiere of Songs of the Earth, created specially for the Music Nation celebration weekend by composer Karl Jenkins. Further information on the event can be found at the BBC website here
RWCMD Music Nation Cymru BBC Young Musician Recital
Also on Sunday 4 March at 7:00pm BBC Young Musician presents an evening of short recitals at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in the wonderful Dora Stouzker Hall. Further information on the event can be found at the RWCMD website here
Cymryd rhan / Get involved in Music Nation Cymru, 3 & 4 March 2012
BBC NOW Music Nation Celebratory Concert
The BBC National Orchestra of Wales will feature alongside the BBC National Chorus of Wales in the Music Nation Celebration concert at St David's Hall, Cardiff. Taking place at 3:00pm on Sunday March 4 this celebratory concert will showcase the orchestra and chorus alongside a host of young talent from across Wales, including Massed County Youth Choirs, students from the RWCMD,and pupils from a local special school. The concert will culminate in the world premiere of Songs of the Earth, created specially for the Music Nation celebration weekend by composer Karl Jenkins. Further information on the event can be found at the BBC website here
RWCMD Music Nation Cymru BBC Young Musician Recital
Also on Sunday 4 March at 7:00pm BBC Young Musician presents an evening of short recitals at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in the wonderful Dora Stouzker Hall. Further information on the event can be found at the RWCMD website here
Cymryd rhan / Get involved in Music Nation Cymru, 3 & 4 March 2012
