Brand-new performances from violinist Braimah Kanneh-Mason, world-class jazz musician and vocalist China Moses and City Organist Thomas Trotter filmed at Symphony Hall to be broadcast online.

British jazz singer Sara Colman to lead a week of vocal workshops for 16-25 year-olds, featuring guest tutor, baritone Themba Mvula.

Carol Pemberton MBE continues to bring local community choirs together online to learn new repertoire.

As concerts and gigs are still being cancelled as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, Town Hall Symphony Hall has continued to bring live music to the people of Birmingham and beyond.

Digital broadcasts from Town Hall and Symphony Hall in the last three months have amassed almost 200,000 views, whilst over 150 singers have joined online music making workshops.

Following the success of those live performances and digital workshops, the music charity responsible for Town Hall and Symphony Hall have today announced a new season of online activities.

Continue reading “Town Hall Symphony Hall: The Show Must Go On-line” →

For the first time, ABRSM will make a selection of pieces from its Piano syllabus available as digital sheet music downloads.

ABRSM’s Piano syllabus 2021 & 2022 was launched on 9 July, and comes into effect on 1 January 2021. The new syllabus has completely revised repertoire choices and list structure, with lists defined by musical characteristics rather than period of composition. 48 pieces are now available as downloads, and will provide a broad selection of the diverse choice of inspirational pieces from the lists for Initial to Grade 8. As the new repertoire lists are the same for the long-standing Practical Grades and ABRSM’s new remotely-assessed Performance Grades, downloaded pieces can be used to prepare for both exams.

Digital downloads can be viewed on any device or printed, and are available from ABRSM’s online shop and all major digital retailers including Sheet Music Direct, Musicroom.com, Sheet Music Plus, and an extensive network of online and in-store digital retailers. The downloads complement ABRSM’s best-selling printed editions of its supporting resource, Piano Exam Pieces, which was published on 9 July, and is available worldwide.

Continue reading “48 pieces from ABRSM’s new 2021 & 2022 Piano syllabus available to buy as digital downloads” →

Global Sound Group have unleashed a new music education program to enable musicians to fast track their success without racking up the costly debt accrued from enrolling at a university or college.

With the musician in mind, the new education program covers all areas of the music industry and is put together by tutors who have real-life music experience and success. The new program aims to change the lives of every musician, and it consists of courses with 100 modules and 500 lessons.

Speaking about the new ongoing education program, James Dyble, Managing Director said “I struggled to find education early on in my career, and although there is a myriad of opportunities out there, they all came with the prospect of long term student debt. So, I want to give back. As a result, we have created a program which comes with no pricey tag but yet covers the same if not more education, which you would cover in university. It is all online-based, and it integrates exams and honorary certificates for students who pass.’

The company also know that musicians cannot just solely concentrate on paying for their education. Also, student debt has just reached a whopping level of $1.6 trillion; therefore, they give back monthly through gifts and finance reimbursements to aid growth and success.

Find out more at Global Sound Group Music Education

It is with great sadness that Town Hall and Symphony Hall have today entered a period of redundancy consultation, following an extended period of closure as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic. Half of our staff are now at risk of redundancy.

The future of these two iconic concert halls, and the music charity responsible for them, looks very different from the plans we began the year with. Though we have been awarded emergency relief funding by Arts Council England, it remains the case that all other income generated through the core business of live music and entertainment has stopped. This period of closure has already resulted in huge losses and it is still unclear as to when it may be possible to re-open. In order to have a chance of survival we must now take the painful decision to reduce our staff in anticipation of the continuing uncertainty ahead.

We have responded to the challenge of declining public subsidy through the unwavering enterprise and spirit of our team. The announcement today is all the more painful because of this. Over the last few years we have evolved into an organisation that earns more than 90% of its turnover from our trading activities and this supports every aspect of what we do, from presenting international superstars on our stages to supporting emerging talent and creating first musical experiences for children in local schools. Our vulnerability to the current closure is a direct consequence of a business model that is less reliant on public subsidy than most.

Continue reading “A Statement from Town Hall Symphony Hall” →