Images courtesy of Joanna Millington Photography
On Friday 28 February, over 275 children from 8 local schools attended open rehearsals at the Auden Theatre in Holt.
The children, aged between 7 and 12 were invited to hear members of the London Mozart Players performing pieces in rehearsal, ahead of their public performance later that evening. Amongst the programme was Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 4 performed by horn player Ben Goldscheider, who was the winner of Brass Section of the BBC Young Musician of the Year winner 2016, when he was 18 years old.
Saturday (29th) saw over 80 young brass, strings and woodwind musicians taking in a free workshop to perform as an orchestra. For the workshop, specialist music tutor Helen Stowell of the Norfolk Music Service specially arranged a range of pieces from Mozart’s Horn Concerto to Havana, by Camilla Cabello. For many of these young musicians, this was their very first ensemble performance and a unique moment to play great orchestral pieces with other musicians.
The musical weekend was organised with opportunities for young local musicians to learn from the skills and experiences of the professional players; professional orchestras have had a big part to play in supporting the learning and progression of the young future-performers.Cllr. Virginia Gay, Portfolio holder for Culture and Wellbeing said: “These concerts are a wonderful occasion for music making among young musicians. NNDC is delighted to help in bringing them together with an outstanding ensemble like the London Mozart Players”
One parent said: “The time spent with the London Mozart Players on Friday and Saturday was inspiring and motivating for my daughter.”
Another parent said: “It was really lovely to come to the concert on Friday. My daughter was so impressed with the musicians; at one point she turned and looked at me and just mouthed the word 'wow'! I'm hoping she will be more inspired to practise.”
These events and opportunities are supported in partnership with the Norfolk Music Hub, Orchestras Live and North Norfolk District Council. Established ten years ago, the partnership has seen a range of world class orchestras bringing the music of Mozart, Shostakovich, Mendelssohn and many more to rural venues around North Norfolk.
London Mozart Players was founded in 1949 by Harry Blech to delight audiences with the works of Mozart and Haydn.
Tireless fundraisers from a historic family business are celebrating two landmark achievements – including raising an eye-watering £25,000 for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH).
The CT Baker Group pledged to raise the gigantic sum throughout 2020 to coincide with its 250th anniversary. COVID forced staff to put their fundraising on hold but the firm eventually exceeded its target and managed to donate £25,700.
Team members from across the group took part in a range of activities such as raffles, sponsored beard shaves and even a grueling 30-mile walk across North Norfolk.
Bakers & Larners of Holt, which is part of the group, offered a special range of 250-themed products, including anniversary mugs, and teamed up with local distillery Black Shuck to create a limited-edition gin, where a percentage of each sale contributed to the impressive target.
Five talented musicians have vowed to glean something positive from a harrowing situation by releasing a charity single in aid of East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH).
Norfolk indie-rock band Red Wine Talk hope to raise more than £1,000 and will be releasing The Deep Blue Sea Between Us on 1st December.
Songwriter and guitarist Callum Robb says the ambient, ten-minute track “fell from his guitar” – but admits it was driven by raw emotion because it is in memory of friend Connor Clark. The 18-year-old was training at the Royal Marine Commando Training Centre, in Devon, and died on 12th June, 2021. His body was found near a railway track.
Now Callum and Co have decided to release their charity single for EACH and headed into the studio to record it on 7th November. It will now be fully mixed and mastered for release on all streaming platforms and CD.
In the latest in our series finding out a little bit more about what it is like running a local independent business in Norfolk we caught up with the team behind The Hemporium Shops, one of our newest business members.
What is the History of The Hemporium Shops?
We opened our first Hemporium in Hunstanton in August 2019 followed by the second in Wells next the Sea in the first easing of the pandemic lockdown in June 2020. The third was in Holt in August 2020 with the fourth in September 2020 in Norwich just before the November lockdown. Finally shop number 5 was due to open on 5th November in Burnham Market but stalled due to the November lockdown being imposed but then opened briefly in the December prior to Tier 4 imposition for Xmas and then the January 5th 2021 lockdown! So the next stage of easing in April could see all 5 shops open for the first time ever!
All Things Norfolk are delighted to be able to share with you a short documentary "Every Footstep" which has been made by George Parker and Ben Barter and follows Kees Jones, a young farmer from Holt, whose life has revolved around his third-generation family farm, during the harvest season of 2020.
Over the summer months, George and Ben spent many hours following Kees, documenting the various processes involved in harvest. They wanted to capture the spirit of the farming life, and also pay tribute to the romance of Norfolk's natural surroundings. Primarily, the film is a portrayal of Kees; his life and his work, conveying that the two things are synonymous with one another. They found particular poignance in Kees’ passion for his job, demonstrating the great value that can be found in pursuing work that is meaningful.
Councillors from the Town and District Councils together with the public and NNDC’s Countryside Rangers celebrated the opening of the exciting new facility, which includes a modern zip line, bug see-saw, and 3 different swings, one of which is an inclusive bucket swing and a ‘me & you’ swing where parents and toddlers can swing together.
The new area replaces the old playground, which stood in place for 12 years and needed updating, and was funded by North Norfolk District Council to provide a modern children’s play area for the thousands of visitors to the Green Flag Award winning park.
The ribbon was cut by Leader of NNDC, Cllr Sarah Bütikofer with help from youngsters and their families already enjoying the new attractions, and cakes were provided by the on-site tea room, Hetty’s House, to mark the occasion.