Sheffield Brass Network: Better contact with the media and your audience.
Brass bands and the wider leisure-time music community are no strangers to the difficulties of audience engagement but, in these times of increasing political uncertainty and reducing social infrastructure, it is important to stay as relevant and connected with audiences as possible.
Therefore, on Wednesday 25th September, the Sheffield Brass Network has arranged another free networking event for any brass band, brass ensemble, or brass or percussion player resident or based in the Sheffield City Region: i.e. Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster, Barnsley, Chesterfield, North East Derbyshire, Bolsover, Derbyshire Dales, and Bassetlaw.
The Sheffield Brass Network has put together a series of very experienced speakers for the evening to present information to provide better contact with the media and your audience.
The event will open at 7:00pm on Wednesday 25th September and will be held at The Foundry Studio in Sheffield, which is a central location only a few minutes’ walk from the train and bus station and train station Supertram stop.
There will be open networking and free tea, coffee and biscuits until 7:30pm when, after brief information about the Sheffield Youth Brass Collective and current links with the local Sheffield City Region Music Hubs, the initial presentation will be made by Brass Bands England who will present general information updates and news and no doubt reference their upcoming annual conference in Manchester.
Joy Newbold, who has played in brass bands since she was 9 years old, and is currently a tenor horn player with Championship Section Thoresby Colliery Band as well as a professional photographer, will provide ‘photography tips for brass bands.’
Alex Burns, a University of Sheffield BMus (hons) and MA Musicology graduate who works alongside several local music organisations and currently holds a trumpet residency with the Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as playing solo cornet with the Yorkshire Championship section band Old Silkstone Band, and administrates the award-winning Classicalexburns classical music blog, will present information about ‘blogging and social media’.
Dr Sarah Price, an audience researcher and member of the Sheffield Performer and Audience Research Centre (SPARC) is a Research Associate for the AHRC-funded project ‘Understanding Audiences for the Contemporary Arts’ and has just reached the culmination of a 2½ year study working with arts organisations in Birmingham, London, Liverpool, Bristol and Sheffield to explore how people engage with contemporary dance, theatre, music, visual art and everything in between to develop strategies for recruiting and retaining new audiences, will present an overview of some of her findings on ‘audience engagement’.
This Sheffield Brass Network event will close at around 9:30pm, giving people ample time to return home or join some of the attendees at a local hostelry for further networking.
Please note that seating at this event is limited. The most recent Sheffield Brass Network event was very well attended; therefore, to ensure your place, please register for your free ticket at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sheffield-brass-network-tickets-69986021073