Earworms

May 14th

We are looking forward to our final Earworms for this season. We are back at Exeter Phoenix on May 14th when we are joined by the young singers from Devon County Junior Choir, directed by Rachel Smith and accompanied by Michael Graham.
The choir are planning a lovely selection of music and it's a great opportunity for families to come and hear young children singing, and perhaps even for some to be inspired to join the choir themselves.

You can read all about the choir here http://www.dcjc.org.uk/

Tickets are available from Exeter Phoenix box office (01392 667080) and will be available on the door subject to availability. Tickets are selling well, so do book ahead if you would like to be sure of a seat.

2017 Earworms tickets now on sale

We are delighted to announce that our next event will take place on March 5th. We are looking forward to welcoming the wonderful organist, David Davies and for this event we have moved to the Mary Harris Chapel on the Exeter University Campus. The organ in the chapel offers a good view of the organ console, so the children will be able to fully experience this wonderful instrument. We have always hoped to include some organ music in our Earworms programme and as you can see from David's biography below, we'll be enjoying some fabulous playing.
Tickets are available from the Exeter Phoenix box office for this event - http://www.exeterphoenix.org.uk/events/earworms-with-david-davies/

Originally from North Wales, David Davies was educated at Eton College, at

Magdalen College, Oxford (where he was organ scholar), and at the Institute of

Sacred Music at Yale University. He studied organ with John Wellingham, Nicolas

Kynaston, Professor Thomas Murray and Dr Martin Jean.

David has held church organist positions on both sides of the Atlantic. In the USA he

served as Fellow in Church Music at Christ Church, New Haven, CT, and then as

Assistant Organist at St Philip’s Cathedral, Atlanta, GA, during which time he was

Artistic Director of Atlanta Schola Cantorum. Upon returning to the UK he was

appointed Sub Organist and Director of the Girls’ Choir at Guildford Cathedral, a

position he held for six years. During this time he was adjunct lecturer in music

theory at the University of Surrey, and Director of the Surrey Festival Choir that

was founded by Ralph Vaughan Williams during the Second World War. His

ongoing connections with the USA have enabled him to perform concerts in

California, Massachusetts, Washington DC, Florida, Alabama and New York. He is a commissioned composer both in this country and in the USA, where he studied with Ezra Laderman.

David lives in Devon and, having held the Assistant Director of Music position at

Exeter Cathedral, now pursues a freelance career as a keyboard player, lecturer and

writer.

Tickets are also now available for the May 14th event with Devon County Junior Choir. This will be back at Exeter Phoenix, and more information to follow - but for now, here is the link for tickets. http://www.exeterphoenix.org.uk/events/earworms-with-devon-county-junior-choir/

Earworms 2016/17

We are very pleased to be able to issue the dates for our 2016/17 season.

We kick off on November 6th with the fantastic swing band 'The Locked Horns' Have a listen to them here http://www.thelockedhorns.com/music. We hope for some great music and will make plenty of space for dancing at the Phoenix in November.

On March 5th Earworms will decamp to The Mary Harris Chapel on the Exeter University campus.
We have been hoping to offer an organ recital for some time and are delighted that the wonderful organist David Davies has agreed to play for us. He will need little introduction to any of you who have been at services in Exeter Cathedral over the last few years, where he was until very recently, Assistant Director of Music. He is also an experienced choral conductor and gives recitals all over the world. It will be an Earworms not to be missed.

On May 14th, back at Exeter Phoenix, we welcome Devon County Junior Choir. Again, we have been looking for a suitable date for a while which would work for the choir and their conductor Rachel Smith. The choir is made up of children aged between 6 - 13, singing a wide variety of repertoire to a fantastic standard. Rachel conducts several choirs including the recently formed DCJC North, the RMB Chivenor Military Wives' Choir and one of the National Children's Choirs of Great Britain.

We will have Mervyn Bedford with us for all three concerts.
Tickets are still priced at £6 adults, £4 children and £18 for a family of four. For the March concert, there is an additional booking fee of £1 All tickets are available through the Exeter Phoenix box office 01392 667080

String Quartet around the world

Last Sunday's Earworms took us on a world tour with the wonderful Divertimento string quartet. Music by composers including Debussy, Grieg and Monti, herding horses in some chinese folk songs and a bit of a nod to the Queen's 90th with Crown Imperial. The quartet were joined by the delightful Alice Dunn for some singing and beautiful dancing.
A great finale to our current season!
We are currently planning the next season, so do keep an eye out for news of future dates.

June Earworms

We're looking forward to the next Earworms on June 12th. We will be joined by the Divertimento String Quartet with an exciting programme of string quartet music. Here is what they say about their programme -

Join Divertimento Quartet on their whistle stop tour of the world! Hear the stories that they tell in the very varied music that they play from around the world.

The journey begins in the UK with its folk music tradition….in Europe hear about the connection between Beethoven and the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte….next the Northern land of trolls and the music of Grieg….In mid Europe a famous gypsy dance which Lady Gaga used in one of her albums….in Russia a dance by Shostakovich….South America brings Latin dances…. travel as far as China for some folk music from different parts of the country…..then back to England for a rousing finale by William Walton

April Earworms

This month's Earworms on April 17th, 2pm features top british (devon in fact) folk duo, Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman. Kathryn and Sean performed for us back in our early days and we are really looking forward to welcoming them back. With over 20 years of performing with many top folk artists, they are sure to be as brilliant and popular as they were when they performed for us in 2013.
Tickets (£6,£4,£18 family) are available from Exeter Phoenix box office https://www.exeterphoenix.org.uk/bookings/?webid=5153
We hope to see you there!

Earworms' jingle performed by La Vie en Rose

Here is the brilliant performance of our jingle by La Vie en Rose from the February 2016 concert:

Happy new year to all of you - we're looking forward to Earworms 2016!
Tickets are now on sale for our first event of the new season. Sunday February 7th, 2pm, features the wonderful 'La Vie en Rose' at Exeter Phoenix.
Tickets are available now from the Phoenix box office in person or by using this link https://www.exeterphoenix.org.uk/bookings/?webid=6055

We hope to see you there!

LA VIE EN ROSE is a group of musicians with wide-ranging backgrounds in classical, traditional jazz, rock, Western swing, blues and roots but brought together by a shared love of gypsy jazz. The band features David Jones (guitar), Laurie Light (guitar), Rebecca Willson (violn), Nick White (clarinet) and Mitch Humphrys (double bass).

David Jones has been playing gypsy jazz from a young age, has performed alongside the likes of Lollo Meier and Bertrand Le Guillou and is an endorsee of JWC Guitars. Nick White is currently playing 1st saxophone with the Chris Barber Big Band but is an equally accomplished clarinet player. Rebecca Willson holds several music degrees in both violin and piano, has studied with Tim Kliphuis, and regularly performs solo and ensemble work from Django to Dvorak. The rhythm section of Laurie Light and Mitch Humphries have played roots, blues, ragtime, jazz and swing in bands and solo for too many years to count.

Formed as a band at the end of 2014, they have since played a wide variety of venues and events throughout the South West including Exeter's Vibraphonic Fesital, Acoustica Festival, Nourish Festival, Velo Vintage, The Picturehouse 'Sofa Sessions' and film previews, The Clifford Arms Jazz Club, Fanzone for the Rugby World Cup, as well as at extensive private functions. They currently have a monthly residency at Exeter's Cosy Club and amongst other things are just signed up for an 11-night functions' run in December, New Years' Eve at the huge Cosy Club in Bristol, and a short tour in London in February 2016, including the Verdi Italian Kitchen at The Royal Albert Hall on Valentine's Day.

Earworms new season!

Our apologies for the radio silence since our last event back in May.
We've been planning a future for Earworms but needed some financial stability with which to move forward. We are delighted to announce that we have recently heard that the lovely Exeter Arts Council have awarded us some funding! This will allow us to invite musicians to perform and we plan to launch our new season in early 2016. We will be moving back to our original home at Exeter Phoenix, but this time in the main auditorium.
We will keep you posted as we have more plans finalised and look forward to seeing you all soon!

Earworms this Sunday

Sunday's performers have been giving workshops over the last few weeks. here are some photos from workshops with Park School and Landscove Primary at KEVVICS. The children had a great time learning some African songs and dance moves. Come along on Sunday - we'll be in the auditorium at Exeter Phoenix at 4pm. Tickets on 01392 493493 or on the door.
If you enjoy it - come back int eh evening at 8pm for a full length performance including music devised in Exeter Contemporary Sounds recent colloboration with Chartwell Dutiro and Denise Rowe.

Next concert 10th May - Marenje Ensemble

There are a couple of important changes for our next concert on 10th May:

it will take place at the Phoenix

and will start at 4:00 pm.

Tickets are available from

Exeter Northcott Box Office 01392 493493

Exeter Visitor Information,

Dix's Field, Exeter.

The concert will feature the Exeter Contemporary Sounds' string quartet of Andrew Gillett (viola), Julie Hill (violin), Jane Pirie (cello) and Emma Welton (violin).

The string quartet have been working on a research project with Bath Spa University's Amanda Bayley. They have been collaborating with Mbira player Chartwell Dutiro and dancer Denise Rowe, exploring music from their individual heritages and attempting to meet in the middle!

'Zimbabwean Mbira and European String Quartet, icons within their cultures, provoke and explore each other with dance delving deep into their rhythms, moods and creative drive.'

Here are some pictures from a recent rehearsal:

The Earworms' concert will consist of some of the pieces that have evolved from the project. There will be a full concert of all the pieces, including a new piece by Bristol based composer Daniel Linker, later in the evening (tickets available from the Phoenix).

Some pictures from last Sunday's concert with the Exeter Railway Band

Earworms' Jingle Performed by the Exeter Railway Band

Here is the brilliant performance of our Jingle by the Exeter Railway Band from the March 2015 concert:

BBC Radio 2 Young Chorister of the Year Helena Paish

We are pleased to announce that the BBC Radio 2 Young Chorister of the Year, Helena Paish, will be joining us and The City Of Exeter Railway Band in a special concert for Mother’s Day this Sunday 15th March 2pm at The Northcott Theatre.

A wonderful clip of Helena performing in the final at St Paul’s Cathedral can be found on the BBC Radio 2 website.

And in honour of all mothers in the audience, Emma’s Bread from the Real Food Store is providing free yummy offerings for Mother’s Day.

As usual the concert will be presented by Earworms' host Mervyn Bedford.

Tickets available here.

Exeter Railway Band March 15th

We are delighted (and very excited) to announce that our next concert on Sunday March 15th will be given by the Exeter Railway Band, the concert will be at the Northcott Theatre starting at 2:00pm and, as it's Mothers' Day, there will be some yummy offerings for all mums, very kindly provided by the lovely Emma's Bread at The Real Food Store.

The band was founded on 15th October 1944 by a group of railway workers who formed a sub-section of the Southern Railway Recreation Club. This club lent them £100 to purchase a set of instruments and the first official rehearsal was held on 12^th January 1945 and from that date, rehearsals have been held nearly every Tuesday evening, only allowing for occasional concerts on that evening.

The founding name of the band was "Exeter & District Southern Railway Band" but when the railways were nationalised in 1948, the band changed its name to British Rail (Western Region) Band. Subsequently, with changes of regional control, it was decided to use the title Exeter British Rail Band.

Although the band has been self-supporting from the start, it had been very fortunate to have the use of a rehearsal room on Tuesday evenings at Exeter Central Station. This facility continued by courtesy of the Railtrack contractors, Amey Railways, until 1997 when they were asked to vacate the Conference Room. Storage space for music, spare instruments and jackets is still provided in an adjoining room. Subsequent moves have been to British Red Cross HQ in Butts Road and in 2003 to John Stocker School (now called Bowhill Primary School) where the Band currently holds rehearsals.

The railway logo, consisting of two parallel lines with embedded arrows, is immediately recognisable on road signs and maps denoting railway stations and was previously used by British Rail. Use of this logo is now controlled by the Government's Department of Transport so the band enlisted the help of local Member of Parliament, Ben Bradshaw, who wrote to the Secretary of State, Gavin Strang, to obtain the necessary permission. This was immediately forthcoming by means of a letter from Glenda Jackson, the then Transport Minister. The band members chose the name "City of Exeter Railway Band" and decided to include the castle motif from the city coat of arms. Councillor Chester Long was most helpful and the permission plus the official copy of the crest were obtained.

Regular concerts have been held in the summer and at Christmas for the last 27 years. The annual Mayoral Christmas Concert in the Exeter Cathedral featuring the band, the Police Choir and various school choirs has been given for the last 18 years, the first at short notice as the Royal Marine Band had to go overseas.

Some pictures from January's concert by the Somerset Hills Chorus

Earworms this Sunday

We're really looking forward to welcoming Somerset Hills Chorus to Earworms at the Northcott on Sunday.
Mervyn Bedford has been working with the choir's musical director to come up with a delightful programme including songs for dancing and for audience participation!

Tickets still available either from the Northcott (01392 493493) or Exeter Visitor Information & Tickets, Dix's Field (no booking fees apply), or on the door subject to availability.
We hope to see you there!

The Somerset Hills Chorus 11th January

For our next concert we return to the Northcott Theatre and are pleased to welcome the Somerset Hill Chorus.

The Somerset Hills Chorus are a Taunton based ladies singing group / choir that specialise in a form of a cappella chorus singing known as Sweet Adelines, initiated by Edna Mae Anderson of Oklahoma USA in 1945, who wanted to give women a chance to enjoy participating in the "chord-ringing, fun-filled harmony" that men were enjoying in their barbershop groups. They sing arrangements of songs from the 1940s to the present. The choir has been singing together since 1992.