Success Beyond The Score

If you're a listener of our podcast Success Beyond The Score, you might be well acquainted with the work of Louise Dengate. A native of Stratford upon Avon, she's a singer, songwriter, vocal coach, choir director and music agent. Her extensive experience in all these roles has given her a lot of insight and knowledge, which combined with her love for music and her genuine interest for helping others in their music journey, make her a wonderful tutor and teacher.

On Saturday 19th October 2024 at the Stratford Methodist Church, you'll have the chance to experience this first hand by attending Louise's Gospel Choir Workshop with members of her Crystal Gospel Choir. For just £80.00 per person, you'll get three hours of intense immersion, learning vocal techniques, harmony work and performance skills. It's a very good opportunity and there's not a lot of time left, so be sure of telling your friends or colleagues who might be interested, and book your place(s) following this link.

We have a date and a place! On Tuesday 29th October 2024, the women of Time For My Music will perform live at the MAC Theatre of Birmingham. Get ready for an evening of jazz, soul, gospel and reggae by these accomplished emerging musicians, in a show that’s sure to warm your heart in the midst of these progressively colder autumn days.

Tickets are only £10.00 plus a small booking fee. If you are part of a group of five people or more, please send an e-mail to info@millicentstephenson.com in order to arrange a discount

Get your tickets here.

Don't forget to share this information with your friends and family. We're looking forward to seeing you all at the theatre!

On her website, our director Millicent has started a series of blog entries about her experience participating in a 12 weeks programme to manage menopausal symptoms. These entries will cover what she learned, changed and improved in her life regarding nutrition, physical activity, stress levels and quality of sleep. 

Here you can read the beginning of the introduction:

I’m a musician and someone going through menopause. The symptoms of this stage of life can be detrimental to both quality of life and work performance, making it difficult to stay atop of things. To counter that and get back a feeling of normality, I’ve been informing myself extensively, trying different ways to manage my circumstances, and I’m happy to say that I’ve been successful!

In particular, this year I’ve got excellent results in two areas: quality of sleep, about which I already wrote an article with some handy tips to achieve a good night of rest, and prevention of diabetes.

To be clear, diabetes isn’t a ...

The first ever in-person live concert by the women of Time For My Music has a date! Prepare for an evening of jazz, soul, reggae and gospel by the brilliant women who are part of this programme on Tuesday, 29th October 2024.

It has been many months of preparation, discussion, decisions and rehearsals. We're positive that the showcase will be worth all the effort! Please, stay tuned for more information coming very soon.

While you wait, you can watch the online concert that the women offered two years ago. The whole stream is available on YouTube: 

You can also revisit the photographic exhibition that the members got at OLDP in Birmingham, UK, guided by our director Millicent in this short video:

Our online community for emerging musicians, Time For My Music, is preparing their first ever live concert in the city of Birmingham, UK. It’s been an exciting and inspiring process so far. The participants have brought a lot of energy, ideas and dreams to the table. For example, they’ve suggested music pieces that they’ve always wanted to have in their repertoire. Without revealing the whole set list, we can say that Stevie Wonder’s Superstition and Bob Marley’s One Love are among the selected songs. They’re sounding great already!

In regard to the date, we’re aiming for some time in November. Besides the music, though, there are many things we have to figure out first. One of them is how to pay for the expenses of the event. While we will sell tickets, we’d only be able to cover all the costs if we did so for a price that we consider too high. This means that we need to compliment ticket sales with other forms of funding.

To start looking for a solution, our director Millicent atte...

Angela is a long time member of Time For My Music, our online community for emerging female musicians. She plays the alto saxophone, delving mostly into jazz, although she's a versatile interpreter that's open to other genres as well. 

Last year, motivated by the workshops and discussions that take place in the T4MM community, Angela took an important step in her journey by creating her own YouTube channel.

This is her testimony about it:

T4MM has helped me in many ways. The workshops are excellent. One of the workshops that
has really helped me was the one about setting up a YouTube channel.

I used to choose a few friends to share my songs with and leave it at that, but I considered creating a YouTube channel for a while —I just didn't have the confidence to do it. However, I really wanted to do a gig to celebrate the Jamaican Independence in 2023. For doing so, I told myself: "I am going to start my YouTube Channel." I recorded two songs in one session, which added to three mor...

Hillary, known professionally as Tiny Sax, is part of the Time For My Music online community for emerging female musicians. Her instrument is the alto saxophone, with which she plays a variety of genres including blues, soul, jazz and funk.

She has performed as a solo artist at a number of events, like a Windrush celebration (H Suite), OPOL function (Legacy Centre of Excellence), Our Journey function (Ibis Hotel), and as part of the ‘Not Just Jazz V’ concert of multi-award-winning saxophonist Millicent Stephenson. She has also played at private events like garden parties, and for children at schools.

Hillary plays in two bands: ‘As One Collective’ and ‘Mojo Train’. She has been occasionally invited to join the brass section in the Mike Davids Band too. You can watch her in action on her YouTube channel:

About Time For My Music, this is what Hillary has to say:

When I initially learned to play the saxophone, I had no real intention of performing in public – mainly because I didn’...

Last year was a busy one for the women of Time For My Music, our community for emerging female musicians. Among the highlights, there's their first meeting face to face at the OLDP Women's Hub, and many preparations, workshops and rehearsals for their first live concert in Birmingham.

The idea to make the jump from the screen to the stage was brewing since 2022. While the event was originally planned for November or December 2023, the group arrived to the conclusion it'd be better to move it to 2024. That way, the suggestions of the survey we conducted in regard to the concert could be better addressed, there would be more time for logistics, and the participants would have more time to become confident in their performances.

The work in progress has been rewarding on itself. Every member of Time For My Music has been involved every step of the way, starting from the selection of the songs. The set list includes long time dreams of some of the women, as it's the case of Michelle, who...

Joannie, known professionally as Joannie Joannie or JoannieJMusic, is part of the Time For My Music online community for emerging female musicians. Her element is the voice: she's a singer, songwriter and poetical lyricist, radio presenter and DJ. She is passionate about social connection and communication, which has allowed her to bring joy with her music to people of all ages, from youth groups to care homes residents.

Joannie joined Time For My Music to find support in order to tackle the hurdles that lockdown brought her, namely some voice problems and loss of confidence. With Millicent's guidance and the help of the community, she got back on track in no time. Once restrictions on live music were lifted, she got gigs, interviews, award nominations, and this year, the opportunity to release a single: You Bring Me Joy. 

Nowadays, Joannie is working regularly as music performer in restaurants with her duo SistasWithSoul. You can also find her on London World Radio, presenting on...

How has the lack of sleep affected me? My eyes did not look healthy, not great for stage work.  My short-term memory became a little sketchy, although it didn’t affect music recall.  I didn’t have the stamina to drive for long periods anymore. Some nights I slept 3hrs to 4hrs only.  Sometimes 3hrs, then awake for 2-3hrs, back to sleep for 2hrs.  The next is a weird description, but I felt as though I was dragging my body around, with a distant memory of what ‘rest’ felt like. 

Does this description resonate with you? It's an excerpt from Millicent's new article on the experience of being a working musician going through menopause. It centres on sleep issues associated with menopause, how they interact with other symptoms, and gives ten strategies you can use to fight against them.

Click here to read the full article

If you find it useful, be sure to share it with friends of all genders. This could not only help more people who are going through the same situation —even if their ...