A Melodic Moment of Reflection

What is Melodic Moments?

Melodic Moments is our series of relaxed and dementia-friendly concerts, taking place on Tuesday afternoons at the Museum of Making in Derby. With informal seating around tables and the space to get up and move if the music takes you, they’re open to all, but particularly suitable for those with dementia or additional needs. The venue is fully accessible, and one carer may attend for free with each full-price ticket (priced at £9.50).

The concerts involve small ensembles of musicians from Sinfonia Viva, including wind trios and quintets, which means the voice of each instrument can be heard clearly. The intimate venue and seating arrangement allows you to get up close and personal to the players, and guests often comment that the musicians are enjoying themselves just as much as the audience!

We’re also joined by presenter Caroline Welsh, who guides us through the programme for the afternoon. Alongside carefully chosen images which complement the pieces and put a face to the names of the composers, Caroline provides an amusing and illuminating introduction to familiar and less familiar works alike. From our most recent concert, for example, you may not know the name of Paul Reade, but you’ll have heard his music if you’ve seen The Victorian Kitchen Garden or The Antiques Roadshow!

Each concert lasts for around an hour and is followed by tea and cake (included in the ticket price), and a chance to speak to Caroline, the musicians, and other audience members. This is a great opportunity to get to know our orchestra better and enjoy the atmosphere for a while longer.

You can find out more about the format of our concerts, and details of the venue, on our FAQS page.

Our concerts so far

Each concert in the series so far has followed a rough theme, with our opening event focused on ‘Dancing Through Time and Place’. We had waltzes, polkas, tangos and rumbas to name but a few from this energising programme.

December saw us ‘Getting Together’, with works by Joplin, Gyorgy Ligeti and Nielsen. We celebrated the season with Valerie Coleman’s joyful ‘Umoja’, a piece linked to the annual holiday of Kwanzaa, and couldn’t resist an encore of Troika to finish the programme!

In February our theme was Encounters, where we travelled to India, Paris, the Scottish Highlands and more all in an afternoon! We enjoyed pieces by J S Bach, George Auric, and a suite of Icelandic folk song arrangements by our oboist Maddy Aldis-Evans, who gave us an insight into her connection to the pieces and read a translation of the lyrics.

Spring had well and truly sprung by April, so we really couldn’t go with any other theme! The tables were dressed with daffodils and we enjoyed musical birdsong from Paul Reade and Darius Milhaud, some twisting ‘Celtic Knotwork’ from Edward McGuire, and a thrilling finale from Beethoven! Woven throughout the programme (much like the Celtic knotwork!) were traditional folk tunes such as ‘The Ash Grove’ and ‘Early One Morning’, with audience members invited to join us in song if they wished.

What will our theme be in June? Well, you’ll have to come along to find out!

What do our audience think?

We’ve been blown away by the some of the amazing feedback we’ve received from our audiences! It’s been wonderful to see both returners and new faces at each concert, and enjoy the convivial atmosphere.

Back in April, we asked our audience for some ‘answers on a postcard, please’ to tell us their thoughts, and here were some of the responses:

I don’t hear so well any more, and conversations can be difficult, but I’ve felt like there was a conversation with the music this afternoon.

This is the first time that I have listened to this type of music (and I am 79!)… BUT I just loved it. It has opened my eyes and ears to something really wonderful. I am converted. THANK YOU

Really enjoyed the format and lovely variety of music. Quite an education because I’ve never heard of some of the composers. Nice clear presentation with just enough explanation about the pieces. Talented musicians – what a treat!

I have thoroughly enjoyed bringing my Mum to the concerts. She would be unable to attend the evening and has a short attention span for a long concert, so this concert is perfect. Mum has Alzheimer’s so lots of variety in the music prompts her memories… And we both loved the traditional songs included today.

First time we have heard live music like this. An afternoon out that made it easy for me to enjoy even in my power chair. Nothing too much trouble for any of the staff.

It’s just so lovely to sit and let the music wash over you, and forget about everything that’s going on.

The audience was very much considered when creating this event. Bravo!