7.30pm Monday 6th November 2023
Full event info and ticket links at lovemusic.org.uk/events
On 6th November, Love Music Community Choir marks the end of its 10th anniversary year with a life-affirming concert at the Usher Hall directed by Stephen Deazley. The choir will be joined by Edinburgh’s radical reinvention of the modern orchestra, Tinderbox Orchestra, the ever-joyful Love Music Junior Choir led by Darla Eno and Sally Jaquet, and will be accompanied by renowned genre-defying pianist Dave Milligan. For those who can’t make it to the hall, the concert will be available to watch online after the event.
Love Music loves to collaborate and is excited to share the stage with Tinderbox Orchestra for the first time in this celebration of excellent quality community music-making. The concert features specially arranged music in an eclectic programme including Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, The Waterboys’ Mike Scott and original music by Tinderbox.
Tinderbox Orchestra is a mesmerising and unforgettable collective featuring some of Scotland’s most talented young musicians across genres and an international cast of professional collaborators. Bringing together rappers and singers with soaring strings, heavy brass, woodwind and a thundering back-line, they have transformed preconceptions of what an orchestra can be.
In 2013, Love Music joined forces with Edinburgh’s Usher Hall to create the UK’s largest community choir, growing to over 350 singers with members taking part in person and online from across the globe. The choir has a history of unique collaborations with world renowned artists, including champion beatboxer Hobbit, singer songwriter Karine Polwart, and Manchester band James! It sings a fantastically diverse repertoire with music ranging from Mozart to Metallica. The choir is proud to have Edinburgh’s Lord Provost as its Patron.
Love Music Junior Choir for 8-12 year-olds sing and learns about music from around the world, celebrating cultural diversity whilst meeting other children from right across the city. They take part in fun, large-scale concerts, flashmobs and song writing workshops with professional musicians and songwriters.
Love Music choirs are inclusive and accessible, for both choir members and audience alike. Our community is diverse and supportive, with free and pay what you can places for those on lower incomes and access support for people who otherwise might not be able to take part. Thanks to technology, the joy of singing together, being part of our community and enjoying our concerts is open to everyone, with the choice of in person or online. They offer free concert tickets to children, school groups and people from displaced international communities, so please get in touch with Love Music if you’d like to bring a community group to the concert – they’d love for you to experience the joy of live music in the Usher Hall!
Quote from Claire Docherty, Project & Orchestra Manager, Tinderbox
We are absolutely over the moon to be collaborating with the inspiring and visionary Love Music. Getting to perform new collaborations and Tinderbox Orchestra tunes with over 300 singers at the Usher Hall will be an unforgettable experience for us. We cannot wait!
Watch the concert in person at the Usher Hall or register to watch the recording on YouTube after the event. Full event info and to book tickets to watch afterwards: lovemusic.org.uk/events
In person tickets: £10 / £7 students and disabled people / FREE for unwaged, under 16s and a disabled person’s companion
Usher Hall Box Office, Lothian Road, Edinburgh EH1 2EA
0131 228 1155 / www.usherhall.co.uk/whats-on/love-music-meets-tinderbox-orchestra
Love Music Community Choir is run by Love Music, Scottish Charity SC037370. Please support Love Music’s work with a donation: lovemusic.org.uk/donate
About the Artists
Love Music Community Choir
Run in partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council and Usher Hall, Love Music Community Choir calls the iconic Usher Hall its home. You don’t need any previous musical experience to join, just a love of singing. Choir repertoire includes everything from Bach to Joy Division and is led by Love Music’s inspiring and celebrated Artistic Director Stephen Deazley. The choir regularly works with internationally acclaimed musicians and is ambitious, fearless and fun! As an inclusive community of people from different backgrounds right across the city, the choir celebrates difference and its members support each other through their musical adventures. Rehearsals are broadcast online so that members who can’t make it to the hall can sing as an integral part of the choir. The choir is a formidable force in the continuing demonstration of the positive effects of singing on its members’ health and wellbeing. It is proud to have the Lord Provost as its patron. choir.lovemusic.org.uk
Love Music Junior Choir
Love Music Junior Choir rehearses and performs at the Usher Hall on Monday afternoon during term times. For 100 children aged 8-12, the choir sings and learns about a diverse range of music from across the world, specially arranged by its inspirational choir leaders, Darla Eno and Sally Jaquet, and accompanied by jazz legend Dave Milligan. Its singers grow in confidence, work together as a team and have a lot of fun! Rehearsals are relaxed and encouraging. No experience is needed and there are no auditions – just bring your enthusiasm! There are free and pay what you can places available, and we offer access support where required. juniorchoir.lovemusic.org.uk
Scottish music inclusion and education charity Love Music inspires and empowers people to be curious, creative and adventurous with music, regardless of their skill base or background, raising aspirations and changing lives. It creates innovative, no-barrier models of music engagement and new music through which young people and communities can come together with musicians in a professional setting and participate in inspirational music making. lovemusic.org.uk
Tinderbox Orchestra
Bringing together rappers and singers with soaring strings, heavy brass, woodwind and a thundering back-line, Tinderbox Orchestra transforms preconceptions of what an orchestra can be. They recently headlined London’s Fuse International Festival and enjoyed a sold-out run of shows at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Their live show has hit the festival circuit, with appearances at Latitude, Hidden Door, Solas, and Kelburn Garden Party, and they have performed at major cultural venues and festivals including Celtic Connections, Usher Hall, MacArts, Queens Hall and Leith Theatre. tinderboxcollective.org/orchestra
Dave Milligan
Dave Milligan is a highly versatile musician and a leading figure in the diverse Scottish music scene. His musical imagination flows freely between multiple genres and he is in great demand all over the world as a performer, composer, arranger, musical director and educator. Having established himself early in his career as one of the most sought-after jazz pianists in the country, Dave’s work with some of the folk and Celtic music scene’s brightest artists earned him a reputation as a hugely adaptable, creative force. davemilligan.co.uk
Stephen Deazley
Born in Belfast, now living in Scotland, Stephen Deazley is a composer and renowned educationalist. Widely acknowledged across the UK as a champion of music for children and young people alongside his work with community musicians, Stephen is a former director of education for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and a recipient of a British Academy of Composers Award for his education and community work.
Darla Eno
Darla Eno is a community worker, song facilitator, and trained Natural Voice Leader, and is passionate about empowering people to explore, connect and celebrate through their voices. Her interests include vocal improvisation, traditional Georgian close harmonies and Balkan polyphony. Darla was trainee choral leader with Junior Choir in 2017-19 and has returned as co-leader.
Sally Jaquet
Sally Jaquet is a Leith-based community musician who specialises in music-making with children, young people, and vulnerable groups, including Singing4Fun Choir (Parkinson’s UK), and offering private singing lessons. Sally was trainee choral leader with Junior Choir in 2019-20 and has returned as co-leader.
Press enquiries
Victoria Fuller, Marketing & Communications, Cultural Venues, City of Edinburgh Council / Victoria.Fuller@edinburgh.gov.uk / +44 7791 251238
Kirsten Hunter, Producer, Love Music / kirsten@lovemusic.org.uk / +44 7815 566861