“What a triumph!” So Many Beauties premiere “nailed it”

Over 100 performers and more than 300 audience members came together for the world premiere of So Many Beauties at Manchester Cathedral last Thursday 6 April. This was the culmination of the first phase of the Adages project, created by composer and musician Holly Marland to give people with dementia the opportunity to create a beautiful new piece of choral music. Manchester Cathedral’s rafters reverberated with the joyful sounds of singing and instruments – sending out a very positive message about the incredible creativity of people with dementia. Representatives of 11 different organisations supporting people with dementia were also showcasing their services so people had the chance to pick up relevant information and to make new connections with support services.

We will be posting photos, video and audio from the concert on the Blog over the coming weeks so please stay tuned.

Audience feedback

“It was lovely, respectful and moving”

“Much more fun than I was expecting””We thoroughly enjoyed the concert and were so impressed with all the hard work that project leader/choir/orchestra/helpers/conductor have obviously put in. What a team effort”

“Confirmed the importance of music for me – a very uplifting experience”

“The pieces were far more emotive than I had expected (sad/happy/haunting/beautiful). I had expected a’whole’ piece. The separate shorter pieces woven into the whole evening reminded me of time with my relative (sister in law with dementia) moving from happy/sad/anxious/beautiful all in the same moment.”

“It was gorgeous! So many lovely melodies – every one a winner. Thoroughly enjoyable”

“Inspirational. Joyous and deeply moving”

“The piece has given me the idea that this is what an oratorio should be like. This concert was a triumph and a wonderful achievement for Holly and the team”

“I was very impressed by the empathy and creativity that had made such enjoyable and fun music and am more aware of different kinds of communication”

“I hadn’t realised the power of music before”

“It surpassed my expectations! Loved the humour”