Our Spotlight series is your chance to find out what’s caught our ear with a roundup of resources and entertainment either available now or coming up soon. With so much out there to discover, we hope these selections will offer you something you might not have discovered yet. What have you been enjoying this week? Let us know on Twitter.
Music Resources Spotlight
ISM’s Advice for Instrumental Teachers Returning to Face-to-Face Tutition
ISM have once again got some great advice for instrumental teachers here. If you teach, or indeed learn an instrument privately, then this is a comprehensive checklist to consider before getting back into face-to-face tuition.
– Stephen Bloomfield, Music Marketing Manager
Streaming Spotlight
Lockdown Jams – Bastard Assignments
Contemporary music and performance artists Bastard Assignments have continued to experiment and create new music despite the current Covid crisis. All tracks are available on demand via their website.
– Michael Duffy, Music Programme Manager
Proms Spotlight
As the end of this season approaches there’s still plenty left enjoy especially with live performances – albeit from an empty Royal Albert Hall – kicking off on Friday 28 August with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, including new work by Hannah Kendall. Sunday 6 September offers a bumper crop of concerts: archive performances from the London Sinfonietta with the legendary Jessye Norman, and France’s Les Talens Lyriques, alongside live concerts from Isata and Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Mercury-nominee Laura Marling with 12 Ensemble. There’s also a chance to catch the Aurora Orchestra in a Beethoven celebration (including Symphony No.7 from memory) on 10 September.
– Michael Duffy, Music Programme Manager
Interview Spotlight
AJ Tracey’s Manager Andy Musgrave talks to Music Week
We often hear how difficult it is to make any money from streaming, and it hasn't escaped anyone's attention how hard it is to be a musician in the middle of a pandemic, and yet this interview points to a possible way forward on both counts. Andy Musgrave speaks to Music Week about his approach to managing artists, including recent AIM winner AJ Tracey, to ensure they get a consistent pay cheque each month from streaming that frees them up creatively to do what they want to do.
– Stephen Bloomfield, Music Marketing Manager
Festivals Spotlight
Freedom Talks: Black Peril 2020
14–18 September
Saxophonist Soweto Kinch is curating an online arts festival exploring the history and contemporary relevance of the 1919 Race Riots through a series of conversations, panel discussions and site-specific performances. Visit Soweto's webpage for more details and tickets.
Notting Hill Carnival
29–30 August
The second biggest street carnival in the world will go online for the first time in its history. Check out four main channels covering Culture, Parade, Sound Systems and the Main Stage and look out for curated playlists and podcasts via the festival partner Spotify. And, listen to Rampage Sound in conversation with Gemma Bradley for Selector Radio to get into the Notting Hill mood!
