More Music

We had a great time at our first Unique Beatz inclusive music session of the Autumn term, with young people from Unique Kidz & Co. This project is funded by Youth Music and Lancashire Music Hub.

We were very sad to hear about the passing of Tony Haynes, composer, performer, musical director and inspirational leader of Grand Union Orchestra who died last week. More Music founder Pete Moser has written the following tribute to Tony:

“He was a great friend and collaborator with More Music over many years and my friendship with him dated from the eighties when I saw his show Threads in Manchester. As composers, we both found the context of community music projects a brilliant way to creatively explore political and cultural themes – always aspiring to make beautiful and extraordinary music and to connect brilliant professional musicians with community groups and participants. Through these collaborations the work created was original, unique with depth and quality.

The orchestra and organisation which Tony created showcased incredible musicians from across the globe, many of whom were great soloists as well as inspiring workshop leaders. You can see the list on their Grand Union website.

Tony came and taught on the More Music, Approaches to Composition training weekend in the 90’s and the orchestra played with us at the 1998 London performance of Start Again – a choral song cycle celebrating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We continued to work together and I remember endless conversations about the frustration at gaining support for the work – especially from Arts Council England. Despite his frustration he successfully navigated the complex UK funding system for many years and delivered his vision of culturally diverse inclusive projects. He leaves a wonderful musical legacy.

Goodbye Tony.”

Half term music for under 4s
Raven Tales
Friday 25 October & Saturday 26
Book here 🔗 https://tinyurl.com/4s8ffny8

Children under 4 are invited to bring their adults to meet Maeve the raven and her friends.

Join Maeve as she travels to different places, searching for somewhere to live following a big storm at her home.

Hop along with the frogs in the pond, buzz with the bees in the beehive nightclub, sign and sing as Maeve flies above.

We're looking forward to Stevens & Pound with support from Me Lost Me tonight at More Music, here are the stages times if you are planning to attend:

7:30pm - Doors
8pm - Me Lost Me
8:55pm - Stevens & Pound

Tickets are still available at https://moremusic.org.uk/whats-on/stevens-pound/

Passionate about the environment and music?

Join our new Eco Collective and organise a Climate Action Music Festival in Morecambe!

We’re looking for young people aged 14-25 who are interested in learning more about creative careers and the environment to co-produce the festival with us in Morecambe in July 2025. With support provided by the More Music team, this will be a fantastic opportunity to gain experience of the music industry and a great addition to college, university and job applications.

Sessions take place on Mondays 6pm-8pm at More Music, 13-17 Devonshire Road, Morecambe, LA3 1QT, first session is 23 September!

Find out more and register at www.moremusic.org.uk/whats-on/eco-collective

📅 Next weekend 28 & 29 September
📍 More Music, Morecambe

Girls Can
Free and open to 14-19 year olds

Past attendee: "We’ve had a fab weekend and just wanted to say thank you so much for everything. It really makes such a difference being in a creative space for more than an hour lesson and such a value to the songwriting process."

More details 👉 https://tinyurl.com/4uwns9zc

Our weekly sessions start next week on 23 September, you can find out more details and register online as a More Music participant for this year at www.moremusic.org.uk/participate. On The Beat sessions will start tomorrow (18 September).

We have sessions for all ages and abilities so take a look!

We have a fantastic new exhibition open to view at More Music, it's from the Morecambe Community Riso Press, which is a not for profit design and print studio that hosts Morecambe’s very own Risograph printer at Good Things Studios on Northumberland Street.

The exhibition is a wintery celebration of the Riso Club Shop, which launched in July 2024, in all its vibrant loveliness!

You can view the exhibition during office hours on weekdays, artwork is available to buy direct from the artists.

Look out for our Baybeat Streetband performing at Lancaster Jazz Festival tomorrow (Saturday 14 September), you'll be able to see and hear them between 1pm and 4pm in the city centre. You may also spot Baybeat members performing at the jazz festival in other bands, including Bay Big Band, Katoush and Burst Horns. Visit www.lancasterjazz.com for more information about what you can see this weekend.

Photo by Jack Bradshaw

Stevens & Pound
Friday 20th September
8pm

Your chance to catch Delia Stevens "superb" (The Financial Times) and Will Pound "One of the world's top harmonica players" (The Daily Telegraph) collaborate in Morecambe next week.

Have a listen to what they can create together below.

Tickets: https://tinyurl.com/mt6hfdh5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ad7LZfkL1l8&t=1s

Stevens & Pound Me Lost Me

Holst - St Paul's Suite - Jig reimagined

Over the Spring term 2024, we ran an Inclusive Ensemble project at Hillside Specialist School and College in Preston, working with SEND pupils to make their own music with traditional and electronic instruments. For this project, More Music’s Leroy Lupton worked alongside neurodivergent composer/musician Oliver Cross. At the end of the project, Oliver wrote a blog for us to detail the learning from the project and also to recommend some cheap accessible music apps that can be used in these settings.

You can read the blog below

https://moremusic.org.uk/news/making-an-inclusive-ensemble/

Funded by Lancashire Music Hub

Our new events and sessions brochure is now available, we'll be distributing it across the district and you can pick it up at our building! You can also find all of our sessions, gigs and events listed on our website www.moremusic.org.uk. The majority of our sessions start week commencing 23 September (except Seagull Cafe which is on this week and On The Beat which starts next week).

Reaching Out is a training, development and future-thinking network hosted by Brighter Sound and More Music.

It’s aimed at project managers, programme managers and anyone else planning and managing inclusive music activity for children and young people across the North West.

Join us to make connections, develop partnerships and share learning around inclusive and accessible music practice.

What’s involved:
We will be running three free online drop-in chats on the following dates, sign up at https://linktr.ee/reaching_out. There is no obligation to attend every session.

Project Outcomes and Evaluation – Thursday 21 November 2024
How do we make our outcomes realistic and effectively wrap projects up? What stories do we want to tell and to whom?

Accessibility, Inclusion and Safer Spaces – Thursday 30 January 2025�
How can we make our projects holistic, equitable, authentic, representative and diverse?

Workforce Development – Thursday 12 June 2025�
How can we create opportunities through projects that lead to further career progression for participants?

Funded by Youth Music

Next week, our friends at Lancaster Jazz Festival will have kicked off this year's event!

Taking place over 5 days from 11th - 15th Sept, Lancaster Jazz Festival is returning to showcase the best contemporary jazz from around the UK as well as great local and community talent. inc: Ruth Goller, Camilla George, Modern Vikings, Charlotte Keefe & More... It’s a whirlwind of the best UK jazz!

More information and tickets: www.lancasterjazz.com

Great to have the amazing team from Boom Dang at More Music today, we delivered a music technology training session for them, funded via our Youth Music Catalyser programme.

Session feedback:

"More Music staff are very lovely, helpful, very knowledgeable and very welcoming"

"Made everything easy to understand and engaging"

Look out for More Music at The Vintage Festival in Morecambe this weekend! On Saturday and Sunday, you can find the Walking Down The Street Gamelan for under 5s and their families outside the Midland Hotel, come along and make music together with us. Also, our Baybeat Streetband will be performing on Saturday at 11.30am, 1pm and 2.30pm, creating a festival atmosphere everywhere they go!
Deco Publique

Last chance to get your discounted early bird tickets for Stevens & Pound with support from Me Lost Me on 20 September, they will be available until 3pm tomorrow (30 August) so get them while you can! Tickets available at https://moremusic.org.uk/whats-on/stevens-pound/

Seagull Cafe is our community singing group for over 60s, open to people who fancy a singalong, some company plus tea and cake! We've running fortnightly over the summer but will be going back to weekly sessions from 24 September.

Bay Medical Group

The amazing will be supporting at More Music on Friday 20 September. The Project of Newcastle-based artist Jayne Dent who takes influence from folk, art pop, noise, ambient and improvised music, her work has been described in The Guardian as “stripping folk back to its bones while letting its future echoes bleed out”. Watch a fantastic live performance here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O_iQ4zF7kE

Tickets available at https://moremusic.org.uk/whats-on/stevens-pound/

Great opportunity from Blaze Arts for young musicians to perform at Burnley Mechanics Theatre, details below

Young Creatives and Performers Wanted! Ages 13 - 26. Any genre welcome.

We’re looking for musicians, singers, DJs, rappers, spoken word artists and any other young creatives interested in contributing to a youth music event at Burnley Mechanics Theatre on Wednesday 23rd October 2024.

Performance fees available and travel expenses covered.

Express your interest via this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeJnF1OnFzgMmVz3S0yJtN0qMlr6gYwkT7oIkEOIR4CKXnzbA/viewform

Deadline 9am on Thursday 29 August. We’ll confirm the timings and line up after the closing date.

Got a question about the event? Call/message Gemma on 07845066757 or email [email protected]

Image Description: logo consisting of black music notes and white text saying ‘Music or Lose It.’ Laid over a pale background with lilac and orange strips of colour.