SAGE GATESHEAD ANNOUNCES NEW ONLINE CLASSES
Sage Gateshead has announced a series of free virtual classes, starting from Monday 29 June, as part of their Silver Programme, for people over the age of 50.
Singing leader Eleanor Mooney will run two weekly Virtual Sing classes via Zoom for six weeks.
Eleanor said: “Classes will be relaxed, fun and suitable for everyone, including beginners. If you are new to singing or have never joined an online group before, there’s no pressure and nobody will be asked to sing solo! Sessions will be based around a changing weekly theme and you’ll be singing songs including Cyndi Lauper’s smash hit True Colours, Gershwin’s classic Summertime, the Scottish folk song Wild Mountain Thyme, a medley of your favourite disco hits and many more.”
Sage Gateshead’s current participants will have exclusive access to weekly virtual ukulele classes which the organisation is trialling and hopes to expand in coming months.
The classes are presented by Sage Gateshead’s Silver Programme, a programme of daytime musical activity for people over the age of 50, and Well-Tuned Gateshead, a music programme to reduce loneliness and isolation in Gateshead delivered with Age UK (Gateshead) and Gateshead Older People’s Assembly.
Wendy Smith, Director of Creative Learning at Sage Gateshead said: “We are delighted to announce these new online classes. We know how important singing and making music is and these classes are free. Right now, we are seeing increasing levels of need in our community. Many people are experiencing social isolation, struggling with their mental or physical health and missing out on their music groups and classes.
During this uncertain time Sage Gateshead is more committed than ever to making sure people can thrive musically and we’re looking forward to working with participants to develop a new programme of classes and workshops for the autumn term.”
Sage Gateshead recently launched a three-year Crisis, Recovery and Renaissance fundraising campaign to raise £3 million in response to the urgent financial challenge posed by Covid-19. These classes are free but donations of any size to support the campaign are welcome.
The new classes follow the successful transition of Sage Gateshead’s Young Musicians Programme from face to face tuition to online learning last month. The transition has made sure that almost 180 students can have one-to-one tuition each week via Microsoft Teams.
Classes are available now to book online at sagegateshead.com
Ends
Virtual Sing, Monday 10am – click here to book
29 Jun 6, 13, 20, 27 Jul, 3 Aug
Virtual Sing, Thursday, 10am – click here to book
2, 9, 16, 23, 30 Jul, 6 Aug
Presented by Sage Gateshead’s Silver Programme, a programme of daytime musical activity for people over the age of 50, and Well-Tuned Gateshead, a music programme to reduce loneliness and isolation in Gateshead delivered with Age UK (Gateshead) and Gateshead Older People’s Assembly.
For further information, interviews or images please contact:
Jackie Thompson, Marketing and Communications Manager, Sage Gateshead
E. jackie.thompson@sagegateshead.com
Sage Gateshead is an international music centre and renowned conference and event venue located in the North East of England. It is for artists, for audiences and for the North.
Our iconic building, designed by Foster & Partners, welcomes around 500,000 visitors each year. It is home to the acclaimed Royal Northern Sinfonia and presents around 400 events and festivals each year for a live audience of 350,000 (six million people hear our work via stream or broadcasts). Every year we support over 100 musicians through our artist development programme and we work with 30,000 children and young people as well as 20,000 adults in our creative learning programme.
As a charity we rely on financial support from Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council, Arts Council England and our donors to ensure everyone in the community can experience the joys of music.
Positioned as one of Arts Council England’s National Portfolio Organisation, our continued ambition for the future is to work to significantly to increase the number and range of people connected with music.
Arts Council England is the national development body for arts and culture across England, working to enrich people’s lives. We support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to visual art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Great art and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2018 and 2022, we will invest £1.45 billion of public money from government and an estimated £860 million from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country. www.artscouncil.org.uk