Success Beyond The Score

The Musicians’ Union (MU) and the Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) are organisations that protect the rights and interests of artists and performers in the UK. Their work is to ensure that artists and performers are fairly represented and paid within the recorded and live music sectors. Given that recent events like the COVID-19 pandemic, Brexit and the economic recession have heavily disrupted the live music market, the MU and FAC came together to write an open letter to the government and the biggest actors of the entertainment industry in regard to one of the most affected sectors: grassroots music.

The Arts Council defines grassroots music as "the engine room of England’s thriving music ecology." It's a delicate network of rehearsal and recording studios, venues, festivals and promoters that support musicians and music professionals in the development of their skills. It's made of that promoter who organises an open mic evening the second Wednesday of the month, the town's radi...

Nowadays, the making of both woodwind and brass instruments is considered an endangered craft by the Heritage Crafts Association. If something goes wrong with your instrument, there are very few places where you can take it in order to get it back on track. When Millicent's trusted sax repairer retired seven years ago, she was faced with the gravity of this problem, struggling so much to find a reliable replacement that she decided to learn how to do it herself. She signed up for a sax repair and maintenance workshop offered by Cambridge Woodwind Makers, which was extremely useful and gave her a new perspective. She talked at length about her experience in this blog entry, and also on her YouTube channel.

While she eventually found a new trusted sax repairer, Millicent didn't completely leave this knowledge aside. As a busy gigging musician, she doesn't always have the chance to take her saxophones to the shop if something breaks, and knowing how to do quick fixes can be a lifesaver w...

One of the most essential strengths a gigging musician must have is adaptability. Every gig comes with a new set of conditions: from the dimensions and design of the stage, to the size and position of the audience, to the PA system and the staff in charge of it.

Let's make an example out of the latter: for a certain gig some time ago, Millicent asked about the technical set up—as she always does—but a little later than usual. She got a reply through WhatsApp many hours later, and had to continue the conversation the next day. It became evident that the person answering to her wasn't tech-savvy, but rather followed instructions by the tech people at their organisation, which made the process slow. Thinking that this could cause problems down the line, Millicent decided to take her own PA system equipment to the venue, just in case.

When the day of the gig came, the sax mic didn't work, and there was no one among the staff who knew what to do. On top of that, Millicent had sent her bac...

The Government is running an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review with the aim to gather perspectives and evidence that can help refresh and update the national curriculum and statutory assessment system in England. The Musicians' Union is responding to it on behalf of its members, submitting arguments in favour of arts and music education, and you can do the same by answering to the review online before Friday, 22nd November.

The Review has a big scope, and it's looking for solid evidence and potential solutions to the main problems faced in the education of children and teenagers aged 5 to 19. If you feel that you don’t have an informed opinion to contribute to the discussion regarding one specific section of this massive enterprise, it's alright: you can answer only to what matters to you, and your opinion will be taken into account anyway.

The Musicians' Union has highlighted the sections more relevant to arts and music education, and has some advice on how to respond to ...

The Time For My Music evening showcase on Tuesday 29th October was fabulous. The women stepped up to the mark and delivered a performance that blew everybody's minds. They were glamorous and classy, engaging the audience (a full house of it!) to share hours of great music played with their hearts and souls. Truly, the event couldn't possibly have gone better. 

The significance of this achievement goes beyond the stage. The women didn't only perform at the evening showcase, but they actually organised it and produced it. They learned what's needed to put on a show, who to contact, and how to go about things. Using her experience producing the Not Just Jazz shows, Millicent guided them and provided them with the necessary skills so they can do it again by themselves in the future, being transparent with them in regard to location options and regulations, costs, etc.

The show is over, but the learning continues. There are things that still need to be taken care of, evaluations to do, an...

As a musician, I work funny hours, and I don’t like eating right before performing. This means that, some days, I’ll eat in the morning and not at all in the afternoon, to then be famished in the evening and gobble as much as I possibly can. Or maybe I’ll have a hasty lunch and not eat again until after an evening gig, late at night, which as we all know, isn’t good for the midriff at all. I’d frequently eat whatever was at hand, too, without putting much thought into it.

Generally speaking, I’ve always known that such lack of consistency is detrimental to my health, but I kind of put my concerns aside in favour of getting things done, trusting that my body would somehow keep up—which it did, for many years. I’m sure many of you can relate.

But alas, there’s a limit to everything. As I mentioned in the previous article, I got diagnosed as pre-diabetic on December 2023. What does this mean, exactly, and why does it have so much to do with nutrition?

Pre-diabetes

You’re pre-diabetic ...

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 [email protected] 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!

Xdinary Heroes is an accomplished K-Pop band with a prolific and entertaining YouTube channel. Through their short videos, they share glimpses of their life as a band, make comedy skits and show appreciation for their fans.

One of these shorts, which you can watch by clicking this link, pokes fun at the different ways people can react to a bandmate's mistake during group practise. From the one who assures that it's alright while cursing inwards, to the one who's so focused on their own thing that they don't notice something went wrong, their skit gives a humorous twist to something that, unfortunately, can snowball into big issues in real life.

Mistakes are bound to happen because we are human. There's no way to completely prevent them, so there's no point in holding yourself or your bandmates to impossible standards. If someone's skill level isn't enough to flawlessly perform a piece, or it is, but their focus slips for whatever reason and there's a mistake, that doesn't mean that t...

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 ...