Producer blog: From communities to professionals - how music connects us all
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Becky West, Regional Producer - North, reflects on the power of music on both communities and professionals.
Sharing experiences from recent culmination concerts in Withernsea and Redcar, she highlights the importance of real-life connections and shared musical experiences.
Following two of our recent culmination concerts, I’ve been reflecting on our partnership work and its impact, not only on the communities we work with but also on us as producers and musicians.
These concerts highlighted to me that the value of real-life connection, conversation, and shared experience is just as vital for us as professionals, as it is for the communities we work with. Sometimes in the busy work life of a cultural professional, we all need the boost that comes from a community of people and musicians coming together for a live performance.
Our recent concert in Withernsea as part of Classically Yours was one such moment for me. Soundwaves: Music Across the Coast was an intergenerational project celebrating significant anniversaries for 2 local lifeboat crews in the 200th year of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). It was a very special evening, one that will stay with me as a reminder of the power of music and why we do what we do.
The sheer buzz in the room as the range of participants (secondary school pupils, care home residents, and local choirs) took their places for rehearsals with Manchester Camerata and the new music took shape was brilliant to feel.
Soundwaves: Music Across the Coast concert, April 2024.
Credit: Becky WeestThe lifeboat and crew arrived with perfect timing as RNLI Withernsea was rehearsed (written with care home participants to celebrate the crew’s amazing work). We could visibly see all the different elements of our work with the community over the last few months coming together.
It was wonderful to hear how people see the service and think about the lifeboat. Lifeboats aren't usually the subject of arts and culture so it was a huge treat to see how that can be done and done with and by local people!
Lifeboat representative, Classically Yours
We had a fantastic evening as Manchester Camerata were introduced by young producers and representatives of two local lifeboat crews, with the largest audience we’ve had in Withernsea to date!
Music brought many different people together to celebrate the vital, but sometimes unseen, work the local volunteer lifeboat crews and their families do.
The wonderful sea-themed programme included joyful audience participation in a water safety samba (with orchestra and participants playing buckets and spades) and soulful and stirring musical moments, including the choir’s performance of the naval hymn Eternal Father Strong to Save. An uplifting finish, courtesy of the sea shanty finale to the young people’s and Kate Pearson’s new piece Lifeline, and a great Beatles arrangement of Octopus’s Garden sent us all out on a high - which for me lasted a good proportion of the 3-hour drive home!
Back in March, we’d had a different but equally wonderful project culmination in Redcar, at our first Our Music Our Way performance with Royal Northern Sinfonia at Kirkleatham Walled Garden.
The voices of the young people from three Redcar and Cleveland schools, who composed new music inspired by where they live with Michael Betteridge, shone through.
Our Music Our Way culmination performance, March 2024.
Credit: Stuart BoultonOur Strength Remains expressed their pride in their community’s heritage and their hopes and dreams for a flourishing future, reminding us all of the brilliance and potential of youth.
The carefully crafted programme put the young people’s work centre stage and hit the right note for the audience, many of whom were new to hearing a live orchestra.
At the heart of both projects was putting the voices and creativity of the community into the performance.
Becky West, Regional Producer - North
The power of the community’s voice combined with the artistry of the professional orchestras created an emotional connection to the music for the audience and pride in both people and place.
Indeed, in Redcar, the primary schools really hit the spot with the way they talked about their place, We’ll Climb and Dive provided the perfect tourist advert for the area!
None of this can be achieved overnight though, as building a relationship with a community takes time and a lot of work. As a producer, it’s vital to reflect on the journey a partnership has taken and take time to recognise the progress and achievements, as well as the inevitable challenges, along the way.
At Orchestras Live, the team has regular reflection meetings where we explore the impact and learn from our work. This reminds us as a production team not to lose sight of the successes as we focus on the ‘to-do lists’, and to make sure we use these as creative fuel for our partnership conversations.
So, as I reflect on the feedback from both projects, I’m reminded how spending time enjoying music with our communities nourishes our well-being and creativity as producers. The new music and memories from each project are still making me smile! Experiencing these special moments of community connection allows us to draw inspiration from the people we meet and keep their voices at the heart of our work.
Listening to live music always makes me feel happy. Also to see the young children loving the music so much, made me enjoy it even more.
Audience member, Our Music Our Way
