Tag: local

Choirs join forces this month in Solihull in aid of poorly children

Warkikshire Boys Choir - Symphony hall Birmingham
Two talented young choirs join forces this month in a musical extravaganza in Solihull in aid of poorly children.

Warwickshire Boys’ Choir, finalists in the BBC Choir of the Year 2010, will team up with Knabenchor Hoesel Boys’ Choir from Germany for the concert at the Bushell Hall, Solihull School, Warwick Road on 18 May at 7.30pm.

Choir leader and director of the Warwickshire County Music Service, Garry Jones, said: “These hugely talented and successful boys just love singing, and it promises to be a show not to be missed! The Warwickshire Boys have twice appeared in the final of the National Festival of Music for Youth at Symphony Hall where last year they won a major award, have toured Europe, produced two CDs and appeared on radio and TV and their German counterparts have also won awards.”

The 60 Warwickshire choristers, aged from 8-14, will raise their voices with the German choir in singing a variety of well known popular and classical hits.

Emma Hale, head of fundraising at Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, said: “I really encourage people to come on down for what will be a really entertaining night.  Not only will you hear well known songs from across the ages but you’ll also be supporting vital work at our local Hospitals.”

Proceeds from concert ticket sales will go towards children’s care at Heartlands, Good Hope and Solihull Hospitals. To book, call 0121 424 3838. Tickets cost £5 each, £4 for concessions and £15 for a family ticket (two adults and two children).

Mark from Iron Man Records on Funding Creativity, Birmingham and A Thousand Envelopes

Mark Sampson from Iron Man Records and Birmingham Music Network talks to Andy Ward and Pete Rhead at Musoplex about Funding Creativity, Birmingham and A Thousand Envelopes.

Mark is based in Birmingham, England and runs an independent record label called Iron Man Records. He set up the Birmingham Music Network in 2000, and organised gigs in Birmingham as Badger Promotions between 1992 and 2002. Mark spends much of his time helping musicians, and music based organisations, to deploy a more effective online strategy, and sometimes he gets asked to speak about social media and its use in promoting new music. Mark is a musician and currently plays in a band called Last Under The Sun, and another one called Police Bastard. Mark offers Tour Management and Driving for touring bands and has spent many hours driving musicians all over Europe. He has also done some lecturing at Birmingham City University as part of their Music Industry Skills degree course. Mark enjoys a good game of mental chess with local funding organisations who try and pocket most of the money intended for struggling local musicians and creatives and spends his time complaining about everything else. If something happens and you need help, you know where to find him.

Mark has worked with Seasick Steve, Anthrax, Mika, Killing Joke, House of Pain, Talib Kweli, Little Barrie, Congo Natty, Gorillaz, Brand New Heavies, The Enemy, Friendly Fires, Okkervil River, The Wild Mercury Sound, Sierra Maestra, Jay Reatard, The Nightingales, Ivo Papasov, Endbutt Lane, The Rakes, Crystal Castles, The Magistrates, Bullet for my Valentine, The Orb, Barry Adamson, Soulsavers, As I lay Dying, Roisin Murphy, Police Bastard, Dufus, Arrows, Taio Cruz, Ladytron, Son de la Frontera, Jeffrey Daniel, Johnny Foreigner, Xova, Johnny 2 Bad, The Moons, The Lines, Phantom Limb, and many others…..

If you have an opinion you want to share please email Andy Ward at Musoplex (mail@musoplex.com), He would be interested to film your thoughts and ideas too.

Mark from Iron Man Records on Birmingham, Music, The Internet, Do it yourself & Doing It properly.

Mark Sampson from Iron Man Records and Birmingham Music Network talks to Andy Ward and Pete Rhead at Musoplex about Music, Birmingham, the digital age, doing it yourself and doing it properly.

Mark is based in Birmingham, England and runs an independent record label called Iron Man Records. He set up the Birmingham Music Network in 2000, and organised gigs in Birmingham as Badger Promotions between 1992 and 2002. Mark spends much of his time helping musicians, and music based organisations, to deploy a more effective online strategy, and sometimes he gets asked to speak about social media and its use in promoting new music. Mark is a musician and currently plays in a band called Last Under The Sun, and another one called Police Bastard. Mark offers Tour Management and Driving for touring bands and has spent many hours driving musicians all over Europe. He has also done some lecturing at Birmingham City University as part of their Music Industry Skills degree course. Mark enjoya a good game of mental chess with local funding organisations who try and pocket most of the money intended for struggling local musicians and creatives and spends his time complaining about everything else. If something happens and you need help, you know where to find him.

Mark has worked with Seasick Steve, Anthrax, Mika, Killing Joke, House of Pain, Talib Kweli, Little Barrie, Congo Natty, Gorillaz, Brand New Heavies, The Enemy, Friendly Fires, Okkervil River, The Wild Mercury Sound, Sierra Maestra, Jay Reatard, The Nightingales, Ivo Papasov, Endbutt Lane, The Rakes, Crystal Castles, The Magistrates, Bullet for my Valentine, The Orb, Barry Adamson, Soulsavers, As I lay Dying, Roisin Murphy, Police Bastard, Dufus, Arrows, Taio Cruz, Ladytron, Son de la Frontera, Jeffrey Daniel, Johnny Foreigner, Xova, Johnny 2 Bad, The Moons, The Lines, Phantom Limb, and many others…..

If you have an opinion you want to share please email Andy Ward at Musoplex (mail@musoplex.com), He would be interested to film your thoughts and ideas too.

All participants in the Music Industry

Birmingham Music Network is an organisation set up for the benefit of all participants in the music industry.  It is unfunded and run by volunteers drawn from the local industry including Mark Badger from Iron Man Records and Anthony Hughes and Andy Derrick from Sostenuto. There is no particular agenda other than that suggested by attendees at our regular monthly meetings and by material sent to info at birminghammusicnetwork.com

Our monthly meetings are held at the TEE faculty of Birmingham City University at Millennium Point on the last Thursday of each month. We are grateful for the support of Dave Taylor and his team at the TEE for providing the room and refreshments free of charges and for advertising us alongside the larger Creative Networks events. Continue reading

Capsule forum is sourcing your views on “Engaging regional audiences – how do we do it?” What are your thoughts?

Andy Roberts mailed to draw attention to something of interest. Have you seen the Capsule forum recently on the subject of  local audiences? The forum comments raise some interesting issues and some of the comments make interesting reading.

http://www.capsule.org.uk/blog/2010/01/28/engaging-regional-audiences-how-do-we-do-it/#comment-33475069

Andy has added a comment already, you are invited to do the same. He said it’s a disappointment to see so many negative comments about attendances at gigs in Brum, when lately he’s been to a number of really well attended local shows. Not the case always, but he suggests it’s really creating an imbalanced view of the city’s music scene. What do you think?