Project Funding 2018
Thetford Voice & Thetford Music Project (£1,000 each)
Thetford Voices is a self-funded children’s outreach programme which ran two projects in 2018. High Summer Musicals; the 14-strong Quire of Voices rehearsed and performed a sequence of songs from Blood Brothers, Lin Marsh’s Tom Hickathrift and Guys and Dolls before being joined by other Voices to sing from other musicals with the adult choir. Singing Workshop; over two days took the theme of Magic & Mystery. A choir of 35 children achieved excellent levels of concentration and encouragement from the young leaders helped everyone to raise their game. The Main Course was complemented by a spirited Harmony Corner for 15+ singers, performing the Witches’ Choruses from Dido and Aeneas with an unstuffy sense of fun under professional conductor/composer James Weeks.
Young Norfolk Arts Festival (£2,000)
The donation was made specifically for Catton Grove Primary School and followed on from a 2016 project led by Finn Anderson. The children wrote a story, composed songs and filmed it. The film was subsequently given a showing before parents and interested parties with live musical accompaniment.
Wensum Junior School (£2,000)
A donation was given to support Wensum Junior School’s Working as Artists project in a joint production with other schools as part of Norwich’s Circus 250 event. The donation also supported collaborative events with the Puppet Theatre and Sistema as part of building sustainable partnerships in the community.
Flipside - Green Alphabet
The project worked with eight schools across Lowestoft including the Ashley School for children with additional needs.
Read the Lowestoft Journal Review
Photoeast (£1,000)
PhotoEast, with Suffolk Refugee Support, organised photography workshops under the guidance of Gillian Allard, winner of the Sky Arts Master of Photography prize 2017. Twenty young refugees took part, with the theme of Belonging. Three further sessions, involving 25 people aged 18 to 25, experimented with photographic and collage techniques to explore the concept of Belonging. A further 20 young people produced large-scale photographic artworks, using portraits as a starting point and printing onto board. The photographer was inspired to produce some large-scale photographic artworks using the portraits, which formed the centre-piece of the PhotoEast exhibition held at the La Tour Café on the Ipswich Waterfront. Feedback from participants was positive and many enjoyed being part of such a visually impressive project. Some have gone on to develop further work with Gillian and all were pleased to receive portraits of themselves and their families.
“I learnt a lot about characterisation and grew in confidence. Everyone was lovely and brought something to the table allowing me to learn a lot of techniques.”
“I’ve learnt how to create songs/music pieces and put them into a performance.”
“I enjoyed creating solutions to challenges with staging.”
Participants
Frozen Light (£500)
A new multi-sensory production, Visualising Sound (subsequently named The Isle of Brimsker) was created in May 2018 specifically for audiences with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities as part of The Norfolk and Norwich Festival. The production took place at The Garage in Norwich over 5 days, with 10 shows involving 8 weeks of rehearsals at the New Wolsey, Ipswich and The Garage, Norwich.
Into Opera - A King's Ransom (£1,360)
A King’s Ransom was a 16-week children’s opera and education project developed by Into Opera. This project took place in Norfolk from September 2017 to February 2018. The aim of this project was to provide children aged 7 to 11 with a high-quality and imaginative first encounter with the multidisciplinary art form of opera.
This project culminated in 160 children performing the world premiere of A King’s Ransom, a children’s opera by Patrick Hawes with the Britten Sinfonia. 200 more children collaborated with West End set and costume designer Michael Pavelka on the production. Education resources were created by Into Opera to encourage each school involved to explore A King’s Ransom as a whole school topic across the curriculum.
Sistema Norwich (£2,000)
Donation towards the Colegate Orchestra Composition Project generating repertoire for the various ensembles. Regular concerts are given at the Octagon Chapel, Norwich.
Triorca Trust (£1,000)
Contribution for the Trioca International Youth Orchestra, involving an interchange of young musicians between Norwich and the city’s twinned cities of Novi Sad, Serbia, and Koblenz, Germany. The donation was given specifically to support participating young musicians financially, who might not be able to afford the cost.
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (£800)
This project, based on Purcell’s Fairie Queen is directed towards the age group 3 to 11, through the Norfolk Music Hub with eight primary schools in North Norfolk.