Feedback and Endorsements for Music in the Round

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Project Manager (Maternity Cover)

We welcome applications from all sectors of the community,

Feedback and endorsements for Music in the Round

“Music in the Round has revolutionised the way people listen to music.” BBC Radio 3, In-Tune

“Music in the Round is a week-by-week, year-round festival of chamber music based in Sheffield, which works indefatigably to create imaginative and eclectic programming and excellence in performance. Reaching a wide range of regional venues and audiences, it provides an exemplary model of working and continues to draw inspiration from its versatile resident ensemble, Ensemble 360.”

Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award citation, 2013

“As an exercise in breaking down barriers between children and classical music The Chimpanzees of Happytown can’t be faulted.”

Sheffield Telegraph

“…Music in the Round remains committed to presenting innovative chamber music programmes in the most intimate surroundings - sit any closer and you’d need to be holding an instrument…”

The Guardian

“I just wanted to feed back to you that both the staff and the children really enjoyed the performance. The children were buzzing about seeing the instruments played live to them (something that is culturally quite alien to them - hence unable to identify violin, viola etc) and the staff have all come up to me independently today to say how much they loved the live music, audience participation format. "excellent", "really well paced for the age group" "interaction meant that the children never strayed with their concentration" are some of the comments. So a big thank you to you and the musicians for coming in and working your magic as always!”

Music Coordinator, Sheffield primary school

History

Music in the Round is a registered charity (326811) and a company limited by guarantee.
Formerly known as the Sheffield Chamber Music Festival Ltd, it is now the UK’s leading promoter of chamber music outside of London and held its 33rdannual chamber music festival in May 2016.
The company was founded in 1984 by Peter Cropper, leader of The Lindsay String Quartet, with Tony Thornton, the then Chairman of Sheffield Theatres. Angus Smith has been Artistic Director since 2010.
At the heart of Music in the Round is our vision of making chamber music accessible to all. Artists are invited to speak to the audiences about the music they play, breaking down the barriers between them. The spoken introductions are informal, often witty and always illuminating both for the musically educated and the new or occasional concertgoer.
In 2005 Music in the Round successfully established an eleven piece resident ensemble in Sheffield, Ensemble 360whohave won the hearts of audiences in Sheffield, Barnsley and Doncaster They have recorded four discsthe first of which was Chamber Music Choice in BBC Music Magazine, have collaborated with Maggie Steed, Trevor Pinnock, Samuel West and Dennis Rollins and been resident at London’s Wigmore Hall. They currently have residencies at the Universities of Sheffield and Huddersfield, and at Lakeside Arts, Nottingham.
Music in the Communityisour extensive learning and participation programme, engaging children, young people and adults alike. The programme includesactivity for children as young as 2 through to adults in their senior years. It comprisesMusic Box (concerts for babies and workshops for children aged 3-5 years), The String Project (professional string ensemble coaching for players aged 11-18),masterclasses, Powerplus for GCSE composition students, and numerous other one-off projects. We commission new works for children from our Children’s Composer in Residence, Paul Rissmann, which then tour around the country, often to sell-out audiencesat venues likeLondon’s Wigmore Hall. Ensemble 360 is at the heart of our Music in the Community programme, working closely with Polly Ives as narrator for the concerts, workshop leader and creative leader of the programme.
Our Sheffield home, the Crucible Studio Theatre, is a unique, intimate space seating nearly 400 people “around” the musicians where no one is more than 20 feet away from the performers. We promote an Autumn and Spring Series and May Festival, differently themed each year. Whilst classical chamber music is the bedrock of our work we also promote jazz, folk, contemporary and early music.
Since 2003 we have promoted concerts with anetwork of 9 very different partner venues across Englandin our national programme, including an Ensemble 360 series in Barnsley and Doncaster.
In 2013 we won the Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Chamber Music and Song, having also been nominated in 2011, and the David Bedford Music Education Award. In 2012 Paul Rissmann won the British Academy of Songwriters, Authors and Composers’ Award in the Education and Community category for The Chimpanzees of Happytown.In 1994 we won the RPS Award for Best Festival and Concert Series.
We have a strong track record of commissioning new chamber music and ran an Associate Composer scheme 2011-14 in addition to our Children’s Composer in Residence. We have hosted the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Chamber commission in 2015 and 2016
Our Bridge scheme supports an emerging string quartet via a three-year tailored support programme aimed at musicians at the start of their career.
Music in the Round is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation. Mayfield Valley Arts Trust supports its Music in the Community programme, which is also funded by the Andrew McEwan Fund andthe Lindsay Foundation, set up in 2005. Specific projects are supported by other trusts and foundations and individual donations.
Music in the Round currently has 4full-time and 4 part-time employees and is based in Sheffield Central Library.

Mission Statement

Music in the Round has a passionate belief in the visceral power of chamber music in an intimate and informal setting: affordable, accessible to all sections of the community and played to the highest standards.

In our unique Studio home in Sheffield, and in partnership with a network of venues in South Yorkshire and across the country, we strive to build audiences for a vivid art form by promoting a broad repertoire, discovering the less familiar as well as acknowledged highlights and commissioning living composers. Learning, participation and an expansion of audiences' horizons are at the heart of our mission.

We are committed to the residency of Ensemble 360 in South Yorkshire, the largest region in Europe without a resident orchestra, to enrich its cultural life and, through our learning and participation programme, Music in the Community, to increase music-making opportunities for its young people.

Values

Creativity & InnovationMaintain our reputation for original and stimulating programming that enables audiences and artists to expand their musical horizons in combination with devising original projects that bring new groups of musicians together with a license to explore unique new ideas.

Excellence & Affordability Engage outstanding international musicians with exceptional young British artists and inspirational workshop leaders and offer them at locally appropriate prices alongside free or low cost education activities.

DiversityStretch the definition of chamber music to embrace other genres whilst maintaining it as the core of MitR’s activity, to achieve a deep understanding of the universal values of making music in intimate gatherings

Communication & Informality Ensure that communication is always clear, informative, engaging and appropriate and that we provide a relaxed and friendly atmosphere where all experience a warm welcome through spoken introductions at concerts, and every contact with artists, partners and audience.

In the Round Encourage musicians to sit in the round and seat our concert audiences around the performers where possible, but always in close proximity to create a unique feeling of involvement with the music and the artists.

Areas of activity

Concert series at the Crucible Studio, Sheffield including the annual May Festival.
National programme in partnership with venues around the country including Wigmore Hall
Ensemble 360’s South Yorkshire concert series in Barnsley and Doncaster
Music in the Community, thelearning and participationprogramme that embraces all areas of our work.