The live recording of the world premiere of So Many Beauties is now available online at Soundcloud. We hope you’ll enjoy listening via the link below! Here’s a review of the concert by St George’s member Joe Keaney.

“So many beauties” exclaimed the Polish lady with dementia when composer, singer and kora player Holly Marland and her ensemble of musicians performed by her bedside as part of a project to give people with dementia the chance to create a new musical work celebrating their creativity.

Her intuition inspired the title of Holly’s joyous and touching patchwork quilt oratorio that had its world premiere to a rapt audience at a packed Manchester Cathedral on 6th April.

Holly had assembled a children’s choir, a carers’ choir and a strong contingent of BBC Daily Service Singers and St George’s Singers, plus a musical ensemble of RNCM students under the baton of Sasha Johnson Manning for the occasion and what a belting celebration of life and the affirmative power of music they all gave!

She had recorded over 80 hours of creative material from people living with dementia and all their remarks and tunefulness weaved into this mesmerizing musical tapestry. The uplifting inclusiveness of “You’re welcome at my door” and  “God painted nature”  ran alongside the fun of “Beryl dancing in the starlight”,   “Yankety tankety” and memories of shepherd’s pie.  Musical rhythms oscillated from evocations of chilly winter to the sultry Nile by way of the familiarity of “My Bonnie lies over the ocean” and “When the Saints go marching in”.

Amid so much sunshine, Holly’s own plaintive alto solo on the Polish refrain “Moja Piekna” and “So Many Beauties” were most affecting, reflecting the shimmering vulnerability of life’s conditionality.

As the evening closed with everyone joining in “the Saints” the audience’s standing ovation echoed a specialist’s opening remarks, that we dwell not on what is lost in dementia but celebrate what is still there, alive and beating, which music can draw on and connect with. The warm, heartfelt, sustained audience applause was a tribute to that connection.”

Joe Keaney

 

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”

Members of many local choirs joined forces for yesterday’s first rehearsal of So Many Beauties which premieres this Thursday at Manchester Cathedral. Members of Golden Voices Choir, Carers Chorus, Three Valleys Choir, Bowdon Choir, St George’s Singers, Manchester Chorale and Manchester Chamber Chorus were directed by Rose Hodgson, Holly Marland and Sasha Johnson Manning who were joined by the RNCM student participants on the Adages Project with Christopher Stokes, Director of Music at Manchester Cathedral on the piano. The rehearsal took place at RNCM who are partnering the project. Singers offered lovely feedback about the piece of music, some even moved to tears. You can get your tickets for this wonderful occasion at http://www.adages.eventbrite.co.uk. It’s advised to buy a ticket in advance to minimise queues on the door. We’re looking forward to welcoming you there!

Dawn Prescott is an award winning visual artist and designer based in Manchester. She has a degree in Interactive Art and a professional background working as a graphic designer and illustrator. Dawn created the So Many Beauties artwork and programme brochure.

Dawn has been a member of Hot Bed Press Print Makers Studio since 2013 where she experiments with different printmaking processes. Her current personal work explores the drawn line extending its possibilities through different processes such as etching, lithography and screen printing.

Dawn is also the Director of LIME based at Central Manchester Hospitals. LIME is a multi-award winning arts organisation with international recognition for establishing one of the leading arts and health programmes in the UK.

Dawn has kindly agreed to allow us to offer posters of her original artwork as raffle prizes at the event on Thursday 6 April at 7pm Manchester Cathedral. The artwork features themes and lyrics from the piece as well as Dawn’s own artistic interpretations following collaborative discussions with project lead Holly Marland.

Do get your tickets for the event in advance if you can so we can avoid long queues at the door and get everyone all nice and comfortable in good time! We’re going to be “Having up a lovely time!” as one of the project participants with dementia commented during one of the music sessions.

Tickets are available at http://www.adages.eventbrite.co.uk

Here’s one of the poems written with people with dementia which will feature in the So Many Beauties Performance. It will be performed by Manchester Children’s Choir who are one of several groups taking part in the event. Singers from age 10 to over 70 are involved in the concert which is a celebration of the creativity of people with dementia.

Spring

Spring tastes like water,

Spring water is cold, cold and bubbly –

definitely bubbly.

Spring feels new and Spring feels blue,

Spring looks like daffodils, bulbs, tulips,

It looks green and young, smells like crocuses.

Spring feels like waiting for what’s coming –

To be alive like me, to be happy, yes happy and awake!

Spring sounds chirpy,

Lambs gambolling,

With all that Spring in the air!

Here’s the setting of this poem to music which the children will be singing

Eleanor is one of the students participating on the Adages project which has involved creative sessions with older people with dementia and has unlocked a multitude of ideas and inspiration that have been woven into to beautiful new piece of music.

Renowned neurologist Oliver Sacks stated that, ‘Music is part of being human…Its’ very ubiquity may cause it to be trivialised in daily life…But to those who are lost in dementia, the situation is different. Music is no luxury to them, but a necessity, and can have a power beyond anything else to restore them to themselves, and to others, at least for a while.’

Music has an incredible capacity to restore agency in the most vulnerable people. It can offer relaxation and stimulation and can mediate where words fail, providing a means of communication for those who are non-verbal.

Eleanor worked alongside lead musician Holly Marland in delivering creative sessions in different dementia care settings. These  involved residents and patients singing, writing poetry, having creative conversations and improvising using percussion. The ideas generated through these sessions have been arranged and orchestrated, with the title of the piece drawn from a remark from a Polish lady with dementia as musicians played beside her bedside – ‘So Many Beauties’.

Eleanor had a terrific rapport with the participants who were clearly charmed and enlivened by the sound of her bassoon and her beautiful singing. She created a range of textures that met the sounds being made by residents and was fluent and supportive working within the team.

Here’s what Eleanor has to tell us;

“I’m a first year postgraduate bassoon student at the Royal Northern College of Music. I completed my undergraduate degree in music at the University of Nottingham and have been extremely passionate about music performance from a very young age. I have played with, and enjoyed being a part of many chamber groups and orchestras including Bird College Youth Orchestra, University of Nottingham Philharmonia, RNCM Opera Orchestra and the Piccadilly Symphony Orchestra. I love the diversity to be found in music as I also play the clarinet and saxophone and love playing different genres of music. This has included jazz as part of The University of Nottingham’s Moonlighters Big Band and in shows such as Sweeney Todd and The Producers at The Nottingham Arts Theatre.

I love music’s ability to connect with so many different people of all ages in different and personal ways. I enjoy volunteering and being a part of music outreach and have recently worked with primary school children to create and rehearse their own original opera which was performed at the RNCM. Being given the opportunity to work beside Holly in her work in Dementia care homes and hospital wards has been an incredible experience from which I have learned so much. It gives me so much joy seeing the moment when music affects someone in any way, and the experiences of residents breaking into song or even just a smile really shows the importance and potential of music itself. Through ‘So Many Beauties’ Holly has shown music to be a completely unique way to communicate and express emotions and stories and I am very excited to be part of a performance that conveys so many people’s thoughts and feelings, perfectly captured by Holly.”

Tickets are available now for the performance on Thursday 6 April at Manchester Cathedral 7pm from http://www.adages.eventbrite.co.uk at a very reasonable price. The performance is dementia friendly and there will be many representatives from different UK dementia agencies who will be able to answer questions informally after the concert as well as giving out information. Please do support this incredible event!

The vocal scores have arrived from the printers today and look pretty good. It’s the first time I’ve ever produced a bound score of a complete, large scale work so it’s very exciting for me as a composer! I will be sending these out to all the singers this week. They’ve already had PDF copies and links to audio and have been busy learning different sections. We’re having a choral rehearsal on Sunday 2 April at the Royal Northern College of Music. It will be fantastic to have singers of all ages and abilities involved in this performance!

 

John was one of the four students who worked alongside Holly on the Adages project in different dementia care settings, delivering creative sessions. John has a very rounded and mellow tone on both trumpet and cornet and was able to play incredibly quietly at times which is a real skill. This worked well in the hospital ward environment where it was important to be subtle and not to over impose sounds. He was also excellent at mirroring and responding to the rhythms that residents were playing and instigated some lovely Marching motifs and flourishes.

John says “I’m currently in my 3^rd year of study at the Royal Northern College of Music studying cornet and trumpet under the direction of Professor Roger Webster. I enjoy all kinds of music but am especially at home in a brass band environment surrounded by plenty of friends and real ales! I have enjoyed working on this project with Holly, Michael the other students and of course the fabulous residents at the care homes and hospitals that we have had the fortune to work in. It has been a real privilege to make music with the residents and seeing them have fun and enjoying life in a way only music can bring about.”

You can hear John playing as part of the ensemble for the So Many Beauties performance at Manchester Cathedral on Thursday 6 April 7pm and you can book your tickets in advance at http://www.adages.eventbrite.co.uk. We look forward to seeing you there!

Cathedral premiere for musical partnership featuring NW dementia patients 

An extraordinary musical partnership between a North West composer and people with dementia will reach a crescendo with a premiere at Manchester Cathedral next month.

A massed choir and musical ensemble will perform ‘So Many Beauties’ on the evening of Thursday April 6^th, the climax of a project funded by the Arts Council and the charity Music in Hospitals known as ‘Adages’.

Project leader Holly Marland, who plays a West African harp known as a kora, wrote the piece during creative sessions in residential care homes and hospitals across the region. The sessions involved residents and patients singing, writing poetry, having creative conversations and improvising using percussion.

Singer, musician and composer Holly arranged and orchestrated these contributions for the concert, with the title drawn from a remark from a Polish lady with dementia as musicians played beside her bedside – ‘So Many Beauties’.

The dementia friendly concert will bring together singing groups from across Greater Manchester, including the Golden Voices choir for the over 50s, St George’s Singers in Poynton, Manchester Children’s Choir, the Carers’ Chorus (a choir of people caring for those with dementia) and members of BBC Radio 4’s Daily Service Singers.

The performance, starting at 7pm, also features Manchester Broadside Balladeer Jennifer Reid, Romanian double bass virtuoso Michael Cretu and talented student musicians from the RNCM, conducted by eminent choir leader and composer Sasha Johnson Manning. Patsy Pope from All about Dementia will be giving an opening speech and representatives from many leading UK organisations including Alzheimer’s Society and Dementia UK will be available afterwards for informal networking and information sharing.

Tickets are priced £8 with concessions available, from www.adages.eventbrite.co.uk

“The piece sends a positive message about the creativity and wisdom of people with dementia and the importance of finding new ways of listening to and communicating with people living with this frightening condition,” said Holly, who established the RNCM’s Music for Health programme.

Edward Coverley, activities co-ordinator at one of the participating care homes – Cawood House in Brinnington in Stockport – said the Adages Project “created a space in which people can be humorous, musical, imaginative, vocal, sarcastic, physical, dynamic, exploratory, argumentative, uplifted, tearful, baffled, curious, and otherwise human.”

The granddaughter of the lady whose remark gave the composition its name said the music had made her very happy.

“My grandmother is one of the most important parts of my life: I love seeing her happy,” she said. “Adages has been a truly amazing programme.”

Discussions are also underway with BBC Radio 4 Religion and Ethics Department with a view to broadcasting excerpts of the piece during Dementia Awareness Week in May 2017.

– Ends –

Issued by:  Kate Hartwell, Adages Project Manager   Tel: 07935601196 E-mail: adagesdementia@gmail.com

Notes: 

The performance will be dementia friendly and accessible to people of all ages and abilities. Representatives from a wide range of UK and regional dementia agencies will be in attendance so that audience members, including people living at home with dementia and their carers, can access information and guidance on dementia support in an informal context.

Holly Marland is a singer, kora player and composer widely acclaimed for her engagement with diverse communities and passionate about music’s role in society. Holly established the Music for Health programme at the RNCM which is now based as part of the arts for health organisation LIME at Central Manchester University Hospitals Foundation Trust. She is a specialist music for health practitioner as well as a registered Music Therapist. www.hollymarlandmusic.com

The charity Music in Hospitals has nearly 70 years of experience in providing music sessions for hospitals and other healthcare venues.  Their musicians are adept at entering an environment with empathy and flexibility and perform live for people with all sorts of illness and disability, adjusting their choice of music to the needs of the patients. Healthcare staff are able to continue with their  duties as the musicians play, in an environment that benefits from the relaxing and calming influence the music engenders.

The Adages project has also worked in partnership with RNCM, a leading UK conservatoire with a vibrant student community and arts programme, with Manchester Cathedral whose vision is vision is to grow, build community and make a difference in society and the wider world and with Carers Link in Lancashire who provide comprehensive information and support services to those living with dementia in the community.

 

Four students from the Royal Northern College of Music came to work alongside me on the Adages project. I’m introducing them in the run up to the So Many Beauties performance so here is Jisun. Jisun has an incredibly beautiful quality of sound on her violin and creates soaring melodies as well as delicate ebbs and flows that uplift the listener! She and Ellis, our postgraduate violinist, complemented each other so well – weaving improvised melodies and textures together, echoing what the participants with dementia were playing or singing. Jisun was very sweet with the participants and is a great improviser who works well in a group.

Here’s what she has to tell us;

I’m currently a third year student studying violin with Yossi Zivoni at the Royal Northern College of Music. Originally Born in Seoul, South Korea, I moved to England with my family since age of 13 and lived in Birmingham since then before coming to Manchester for university. A passionate and orchestra music lover, I play and very much enjoy working in group ensembles and orchestras, and have been a member of many orchestras such as the RNCM Symphony, Chamber Orchestras, Manchester University Music Society Symphony, Chamber Orchestras, City of Birmingham Symphony Youth Orchestra, Orfeo International Music festival Symphony Orchestra, Young Musician’s Symphony Orchestra London and etc. I’m currently the leader of Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra 2016-2017.

Outside school work and many ensemble playing, I’m also a keen musician who very much believes and hopes my music can be used at many outreach places and voluntary occasions to play and share my music with those who are in need and deliver them hope, love and joy through the power of music- This is the reason why having been given the opportunity to meet and work along side with our Genius Kora player Holly has been such a privilege. What Holly does for people at the NHS hospitals, care homes and for the elderly people in Dementia in special, watching and playing along side with Holly truly has been a privilege experience and life changing experience to having been able to see small miracles and happy smiles she can bring to these people in need.

In the future I hope to become a secondary/primary music teacher and my long term goal is to become an orchestra player. I’m very fortunate to be able to participate and play at this wonderful So Many Beauties concert and to play all the music written and composed and premiered by Holly and the participants with dementia.