Who We Are
The Ulverston International Music Festival is a newly established festival which brings internationally-acclaimed musicians to Ulverston and the surrounding area, consisting of classical and jazz concerts as well as Outreach work by way of Education and Community work. The festival was founded in 2003 to fill a gap in the existing provision, complementing the Manchester Camerata series and Lake District Summer Music thus providing a year-round programme of high-quality culture in South Cumbria.
The organisation is led by Artistic Director, Anthony Hewitt, a concert pianist of international repute and the festival gains from his reputation synonymous with the world stage. The centrepiece of the concert programme is an annual festival held in the summer with a recital series held in the winter in the nearby rural town of Broughton-in-Furness. Most concerts take place in a traditional concert hall setting such as the Coronation Hall, Ulverston and the Victory Hall, Broughton in Furness, but in 2009 a concert was hosted in Ulverston Parish Church attracting a new audience. This year there will be two additional concerts at Lantern House, the atmospheric community arts centre in Ulverston.
The Festival seeks to help young people, mainly of school age, and older members of the community by offering them the opportunity to perform in and experience high quality musical concerts in their local area. They have the privilege of working alongside and hearing internationally renowned musicians – often star performers - who would not normally visit small towns and rural areas.
All activities are designed to fulfil the Festival’s aims of:
1. Developing an audience for culture where there is limited provision
2. Creating an future audience for classical music by inspiring young people
3. Breaking down the perceived barriers between different musical genres – through innovative programming and in-school activities
4. Inspiring the work of a new generation of musicians through the experience of working in the Lake District
5. Giving both amateur and professional musicians living locally performance opportunities, skill development and encouraging best practice.
Our Outreach programme is linked to the festival with workshops in schools leading up to the Family Concert. We provide Primary School Workshops that encourage children to listen, respond to and appraise what they hear and then perhaps to create some music of their own or use the music as a catalyst for a drawing or piece of mime. The children learn material for the concert within their school and then to join with others to perform the Coronation Hall to the general public, thus boosting their confidence and having fun along the way. We also run an event called ‘Piano Fun’ where a concert grand piano is set up in a local venue for all young people to some on a ‘drop in’ basis to play and enjoy, whatever there level of skill – even if they have no experience of playing the piano at all. This always provides a great deal of interest and many local skilled and unskilled young people enjoy this unique opportunity.
Secondary School Workshops address the more complex issues of performance practice and interpretation. Some of the schools are in rural locations without access to specialised and high quality musical tuition; others working with pupils from disadvantaged urban areas such as Barrow-in-Furness
The Festival Academy: A series of three piano master classes given by Anthony Hewitt during the year, in November, March in local venues and schools. This Academy culminates in a two-day event in June with a concert given by the participants. It provides the opportunity to glean many insights into piano technique and interpretation, not only in the opportunity to take part, but also from watching Anthony teach others. In February and June 2010, Murray Mclachlan, head of piano at Chethams School of Music will also be a tutor; aside from adding greatly to the calibre of the event, this has attracted new pianists to the area and the course is now oversubscribed.
The Festival also works to benefit disadvantaged members of the Community through the ‘Tones in Homes’ and community singing projects. These are part of our commitment to making music accessible to those who are housebound and in-firmed, and aim to promote health and wellbeing. In the ‘Tones in Homes’ project some of our performers will visit residential homes and care centres including the local Hospice. In our community singing project our Artistic Director will accompany a local singer leading our audiences in well-loved songs. As part of our commitment to this work and to facilitate it, the Festival’s Artistic Director recently donated a grand piano to St. Mary’s Hospice, Ulverston.
In 2009 the Festival benefited over 2,500 people attending concerts including community concerts and over 100 children were involved in workshops; we expect these numbers to increase this year.
Ulverston Music Festival is a Not for Profit Registered Company (Company No: 4930256) with a charitable constitution and aims.
|
