Join our guest organist Oli Kelly and the church choir tonight Friday 19 May at 7pm for a charity recital and concert in aid of Drake Music Scotland.
The event is free but we would ask for donations to the work of Drake Music Scotland who provide music making opportunities for children and adults with disabilities and special needs.
The concert will last approximately 1 hour 20 mins and will be followed by refreshments. The concert will feature Oli Kelly on the organ and after a short interval Oli will conduct the church choir in a selection of pieces ranging from Palestrina to Howard Goodall.
You can learn more about the work of Drake Music Scotland at:
Two Edinburgh-based charities will receive a share of almost £1.2 million funding from the ScottishPower Foundation, which supports incredible projects that make a positive impact on people and communities across the country.
This year’s Foundation-funded projects – which support art and culture, education and empowerment, citizenship and society, and biodiversity and climate change – were selected on the basis of the significant and lasting contributions they will make to society, while enhancing people’s quality of life.
Almost £9.2 million has been awarded to successful charities since the Foundation was established in 2013.
Drake Music Scotland will use the £50,000 it was awarded to help run its ‘Figurenotes: Everyone can play’ programme, which will help transform music education across Scotland and beyond.
The programme will embed a fully inclusive system in the curriculum that gives children access to an easier way to play music.
Active participation in music making has proven benefits for wellbeing and key learning outcomes such as improved communication skills.
Now in its second year, the Dynamic Earth Charitable Trust’s Planetarium will develop a programme of innovative science engagement for underserved groups thanks to the £76,000 it’s received.
New elements include a ScottishPower Foundation Community Pass, offering free visits and supported learning for disadvantaged people; teacher training; and new learning materials to accompany flagship shows on climate change and marine biodiversity for all visitors.
Melanie Hill, Executive Officer and Trustee at the ScottishPower Foundation, said: “Once again, we were overwhelmed by the extraordinary work being delivered in our communities – day in and day out – and we’re very proud to support this year’s charities.
“The ScottishPower Foundation is committed to supporting projects that make a hugely positive impact on people’s lives and that’s what these organisations do in abundance.
“From improving education to promoting environmental protection and enhancing lives, the charities we’re supporting this year are doing truly transformative work.
“We know that throughout these challenging times, people are relying on the support of charities more than ever before, and with the help of the ScottishPower Foundation, this year’s projects can go further and make a difference for more people.”
Thursa Sanderson OBE, Chief Executive, Drake Music Scotland, said:“We are delighted to be chosen to be one of Scottish Power Foundation’s successful charities in 2021.
“This support will help us create web-based software for the inclusive music system Figurenotes which will transform access to music education across Scotland. Figurenotes is a fun and simple tool which helps people of all abilities play simple tunes within minutes of picking up an instrument for the first time.”
John Simpson, CEO at Dynamic Earth, said: “We feel honoured to be chosen as a charity partner of the ScottishPower Foundation in 2021 amongst some amazing other charities and projects.
“This funding means that Dynamic Earth will be able to undertake a much more in-depth and valuable engagement programme for underserved groups.
“We will be proud to launch a brand new ScottishPower Foundation Planetarium Community Pass in 2021 – to offer free visits and supported science learning to disadvantaged families. This funding will help us to reach new people and inspire them with the wonder of our planet and the environmental challenges we face.”
The ScottishPower Foundation was established in 2013 to make a significant and lasting contribution to society, enhancing the lives of people living in communities throughout the UK.
It provides funding to help support the advancement of education, environmental protection, arts and culture and citizenship. It also supports charities who aim to provide relief from poverty, disability, or other disadvantages.
Triumphant Technophonia! Local students perform Olympic music
Disabled musicians using new technology took centre stage with City of Edinburgh Music School students when they performed Technophonia, an orchestral arrangement to celebrate the Olympics, to great acclaim recently.
The disabled musicians played specially designed, weird and wonderful instruments – with brilliant names like skoog, soundbeam and brainfingers! – which detect tiny movements, making it easier for people with disabilities to perform. The ensemble rehearsed weekly at Broughton High School, home of the renowned City of Edinburgh Music School, the new wave instruments playing in harmony with the conventional.
The children have been working with the charity Drake Music Scotland, established in 1997 with the ethos that ‘disability is no barrier to making music’. DMS’s Thursa Sanderson said: “We had no pre-existing link with the school, but our artistic director knew Tudor (Morris, head of the City of Edinburgh Music School). When we were applying for the New Music 20×12 funding for the commission, we thought it would be great to approach Tudor and ask if pupils from the City of Edinburgh Music School would like to be involved as they are recognised as the best young players from Edinburgh and the surrounding area.”
She went on: “It makes a huge difference for our young musicians with disabilities to play in an ensemble with them, because they rarely, if ever, get the chance to play or perform along with their peers, so it is a great experience for them. I think it works both ways, as it opens the eyes of the CEMS students to the technology and what you can do creatively with it, allowing them to see how young people with disabilities are able to play music – they just need the right resources and support.”
Tudor Morris said: “We were delighted to be involved in this initiative with Drake Music Scotland. It has been an incredibly rewarding project and a really great experience for our students.”
Scots composer Oliver Searle (pictured above) was one of twenty composers commissioned to write a twelve-minute piece to celebrate the Cultural Olympiad. He said: ”Part of this project was trying to write specifically for these instruments so you could say: this is a skoog piece, this is a piece for soundbeam and chamber ensemble, or this is for brainfingers. Not only have we used these instruments, but there are also solos for them!”
The soloists were Anthony Swift and Chris Jacquin, who both have cerebral palsy, and Stephanie Forrest on soundbeam, brainfingers and skoog respectively.
Andrew (15) said: ”When I was wee all I wanted to do was play an instrument. It’s just so amazing to get the opportunity to show people what I can actually be capable of.”
Pic: BBC
Technophonia, Scots composer Oliver Searle’s specially commissioned piece, was premiered in Edinburgh’s Queens Hall on 15 June, followed up with a Royal Conservatoire of Scotland on 22 June before a gala performance at London’s Southbank Centre on 15 July as part of the New Music 20×12 Weekend Celebration.
The performances received great acclaim. Triumphant Technophonia!”, “momentous achievement”, “brilliantly conceived” and “astonishing demonstration” were just a few of the many glowing comments on the three performances.
Technophonia demonstrated just how technology can aid disabled musicians perform on an equal footing with their peers, and that skoogs, soundbeams and brainfingers could become a regular sight in orchestras and bands. And yes, that disability is no barrier to making music. Congratulations to all concerned – bravo!
