Making a real difference to people's lives

A Foreword by Peter Farrant, Music Director of Reigate and Redhill Choral Society

Thanks to invaluable support from Legal and General, Reigate and Redhill Choral Society's Community Development Programme has evolved from its origins in the Ticket Taster scheme (enabling hundreds of local schoolchildren and elderly to attend RRCS concerts as audience) through the introduction of Soundbite Workshops (enabling children from both local primary and secondary schools to receive specialist training and performance opportunites alongside RRCS) to Cross-Arts Schemes (featuring local secondary students choreographing, designing and performing micro-ballets with live orchestral accompaniment).

2008/2009 witnessed the launch of a Development Recording Project (involving around 200 performers including pupils from three local secondary schools), Platform Scheme (a programme for for Secondary School pupils run as part of Surrey Choral Festival, and designed to enhance their performance skills, knowledge and enjoyment), and Cre8tion (a project which involved around 200 young people in the creation of new visual art works inspired by music).

The Legal and General Community Development Programme has been developed to achieve the following aims and objectives:

ACCESS: To help greater numbers of individuals from the community develop through music
COLLABORATION: To strengthen links with other organisations in the community
BREADTH: To combine innovation with tradition presenting new and unusual repertoire alongside mainstream works with particular emphasis on British composers
COVERAGE: To improve provision for those isolated by limited provision or other circumstances
AWARENESS: To increase awareness of the value of participation and enjoyment of the arts
QUALITY: To promote high-quality artistic experiences
EDUCATION: To enable individuals to strengthen, develop and extend knowledge, skills and experiences

We look forward to working closely with Legal and General throughout our 2009/10 season to deliver the following Community Development Programme:

Sound-bites

This scheme will target pre-exisiting mixed-voice secondary school choirs with FREE Choral Workshops designed to improve and develop existing skills. The workshops will explore a selection of fabulous works from Oxford University Press whose impressive catalogue includes some of the finest choral composers including the likes of Vaughan Williams, John Rutter and Bob Chilcott.

As part of the Legal and General Community Development Programme those students will then be encouraged to apply for assisted places within RRCS. This is a wonderful opportunity for young people to benefit from further education and training outside of the classroom as well as an extensive range of activities throughout the year.

Festival of Carols

This exciting Christmas choral event features glorious traditional festive music, brass and carols for all in a celebration of vocal talent aimed at enhancing upto 200 young performers' skills and enjoyment through singing and performing alongside both amateur and professional musicians. Each school will have the opportunity to present its own showcase items and join together with Reigate and Redhill Choral Society to perform a selection of traditional festive carols accompanied by Mardi Brass.

Described by The Guardian as a "high quality brass quintet", Mardi Brass was founded in 1992 by former students of the Royal College of Music. They regularly give concerts and children's workshops all over Britain thrilling audiences with a unique blend of music and humour. Their list of appearances includes the Edinburgh Festival, BBC 2's Edinburgh Nights, Radio 3, Radio Scotland, Radio Devon and BBC1 to name but a few!

Platform

This scheme aims to enhance skills, knowledge and enjoyment whilst providing pupils with the opportunity of gaining valuable platform experience in front of live public at Reigate and Redhill Choral Society's concert on Saturday 24 April 2010. Schools taking advantage of this opportunity will greatly enhance their outreach and exposure.

Those selected to represent their school will have a showcase feature slot within the concert programme.

Cre8tion

An exciting cross-arts collaborative project linked to the Reigate and Redhill Choral Society concert on Saturday 3 July 2010 at St Martin's Church, Dorking. British composer Richard Blackford, whose compositions are a regular feature on TV, film and in theatre worldwide, will be guest of honour for the performance of his Mirror of Perfection. Inspired by the painting of the Porziuncia (the chapel where St Francis of Assisi spent much of his life), Mirror of Perfection combines glorious French influences with distinctive echos of a great many English masters. Young artists from local schools will be inspired to create new visual art inspired by Richard's exciting work.

Ticket Tasters

The aim of this scheme is to enable schools, colleges, and those living in sheltered or warden-assisted accommodation to receive the unforgettable opportunity to experience memorable performances at selected concerts throughout the Society's 2009/10 season.

Pupils taking part in certain specific schemes above will automatically be Ticket-Tasters and eligible to gain free entry to the relevant performance.

Reigate and Redhill Choral Society are grateful to Legal and General for their generous support of this scheme.

For further information: call 01737 772811 or email info@rrcs.org.uk
	Reigate & Redhill Choral Society is affiliated to Making Music: The National Federation of Music Societies and gratefully acknowledges support received from the Borough of Reigate & Banstead Arts Council. Registered Charity No 280195

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