20 Years of Music Maze GIVE £20 FOR 20 YEARS OF LEARNING Over the last 20 years, Music Maze - BCMG’s monthly Sunday creative music making workshop for 8-11 year olds - has explored over 116 pieces by 76 composers. The idea of Music Maze began in 2003 with a computer who created poetry. The piece of music was Floof by composer Esa-Pekka Salonen for Soprano and 5 instrumentalists which was later performed by Anu Komsi and BCMG. On Sunday 31st May, twenty children, two BCMG musicians, composer Liz Johnson and I crammed into Studio 1 at the CBSO Centre and created music about a computer who learnt how to make poetry. The next year, with a generous grant from Birmingham City Council, we began Music Maze, a monthly Sunday workshop for children aged 8-11 who liked to be inventive with sound. It was one of BCMG’s first projects and it still carries on today. I think we are up to 126 Music Maze workshops! And only a few weeks ago we had our very first Zoom Music Maze. The first official Music Maze explored Tiger Under the Table by Judith Weir. Judith described the piece to the children and invited them to respond to it: ‘I’m afraid the title doesn’t have a proper story behind it – it merely refers to the piece having quite a lot of growly writing in it, particularly for bassoon. Perhaps after your project’s over, you can send me the story about the colourful tiger with a stripy tail which it should have been based on!’ And this is the poem, a haiku, that one of the children Jack, sent us: Since then, we have created music about: clouds, constellations and canals; Indian epics, Greek myths and Grimm's fairy tales; deep sea creatures, clowns and birds and so much more. The children have used serialism, minimalism, extended techniques, improvisation, musical cryptograms, graphic scores, aleatory techniques and hocketing to compose and have created mini operas, musical miniatures, songs, concertos, duets and quartets. They have used their voices in extraordinary ways, discovered new ways of playing their instruments they never thought possible and challenged themselves to imagine and find new sounds. Listen below to some of the music we have created: We have also had lots of wonderful guest visitors to Music Maze including composers Shiori Usui, Richard Causton and Duncan Chapman, bamboo flautist Neel Kamrul and tabla player Harjit Singh and singers Lore Lixenberg and Roderick Williams. It isn’t just about music though…. through the composers we have explored, the children have been introduced to new books, poetry, film, paintings, sculpture, philosophy and science that they might not otherwise have come across. I know I have! Over the years we have had many designs for our Music Maze publicity. In particular drawings by the illustrators Gunnlaug Moen Hembery and Mina Braun which beautifully capture the essence of Music Maze. Here are some of our favourites: When planning Music Maze workshops, the aim is to achieve a balance between creating a space for imaginative responses (freedoms) and having meaningful parameters (restraints) that connect authentically to the piece of music being explored and scaffold the young people’s composing. When we get this right, the young people participating feel ownership over their musical creations and develop as composers. But, not only do they develop as composers, they begin to understand music from the inside, and this changes how they listen to and perform music. Find out how you can support our work further: https://www.bcmg.org.uk/Appeal/20-for-20 Music that has inspired Music Maze Thomas Adès, Living Toys Thomas Adès, Cardiac Arrest Thomas Adès, Couperin Julian Anderson, Khorovod Julian Anderson, Poetry nearing silence Julian Anderson, Comedy of Change Julian Anderson, Book of Hours Louis Andriessen, Workers Union Richard Baker, Richard Baker, Yannis Kyriakides and Ondřej Adámek, Canal Serenade Gerald Barry, Letter to Beethoven Gerald Barry, Feldman's Sixpenny Editions Gerald Barry, The Importance of Being Earnest George Benjamin, At first light Erik Bergman, Silence and Eruptions Cathy Berberian, Stripsody Luciano Berio, Duetti Luciano Berio, Accordo Luciano Berio, A-Ronne Luciano Berio, O King Luke Bedford, Good Dream She Has Luke Bedford, Seven Angels Harrison Birtwistle, Slow Frieze Harrison Birtwistle, Silbury Air Harrison Birtwistle, Ut Heremita Solus Harrison Birtwistle, Machaut arr. Birtwistle Hoquetus David Pierre Boulez, Dérive I Charlotte Bray, Fanfare for Birmingham Benjamin Britten, Curlew River John Cage, Living Room Music Elliott Carter, Dialogues Elliot Carter, Two Controversies and a Conversation Philip Cashian, Three Pieces for Chamber Ensemble Philip Cashian, Chamber Concerto Richard Causton, Chamber Symphony Richard Causton, Transients Sean Clancy, Findetotenlieder Tansy Davies, Falling Angel Tansy Davies, Iris Tansy Davies, Grind Show Electric Tansy Davies, Piano Concerto Claude Debussy, arr. Schoenberg, Prelude a l’apres-midi d’un faune Claude Debussy, Preludes Claude Debussy, Sonata for Flute, Harp and Viola Franco Donatoni, Hot Franco Donatoni, Bok Dave Douglas, Blue Latitudes Hans Eisler, 14 Ways of Describing Rain Brian Ferneyhough, La Chute D’Icare Morton Feldman, The King of Denmark Heiner Goebbels, Walden Helen Grime, A Cold Spring Gerard Grisey, Quatre chants pour franchir le seuil Simon Holt, Boots of Lead Rolf Hind, A single hair, a jasmine petal, seven mattresses, a pea… Charles Ives, The Unanswered Question Pierre Janson, Acera or The Witches’ Dance Liz Johnson, Elephant Woman Mauricio Kagel, Match Oliver Knussen, The Hums and Songs of Winnie the Pooh Oliver Knussen, O Hototogisu Helmut Lachenmann, Got Lost György Ligeti, Chamber Concerto György Ligeti, Piano Concerto György Ligeti, Síppal, dobbal, nádihegedúvel György Ligeti, Melodien Magnus Lindberg, Joy Bruno Maderna, Serenata per un Satellite Benedict Mason, Nodding Trillums and Curved Line Angles Benedict Mason, Horns Strings and Harmony Olivier Messiaen, Oiseaux Exotiques Olivier Messiaen, Quartet for The End of Time Silvina Milstein, de oro y sombre (of gold and shadows) Tristan Murail, Thirteen colours of the setting sun Nigel Osborne, The Piano Tuner Enno Poppe, Holz Steve Reich, Music for Pieces of Wood Steve Reich, New York Counterpoint Poul Ruders, Nightshade Esa-Pekka Salonen, Floof Matthew Sergeant, heard weeping under the boughs of hemlock trees Lucia Ronchetti, Anatra al Sal Edward Rushton, The Shops Rebecca Saunders, Molly’s Song 3 – Shades of Crimson Rebecca Saunders, A Visible Trace David Sawer, The Memory of Water David Sawer, Rumpelstiltskin Salvatore Sciarrino, La bocca, I piedi, il suono Arnold Schoenberg, Serenade, Op. 24 Arnold Schoenberg, Pierrot Lunaire Sean Shepherd, These Particular Circumstances Howard Skempton, Ben Somewhen Howard Skempton, Only the Sound Remains Karlheinz Stockhausen, In Freundschaft Karlheinz Stockhausen, Tierkreis Igor Stravinsky, The Soldier’s Tale Igor Stravinsky, Three Pieces for String Quartet Mark-Anthony Turnage, The Torn Fields Mark-Anthony Turnage, Crying out Loud Shiori Usui, The Silent Forest Shiori Usui, The Deep Param Vir, Constellations Kevin Volans, The Partenheimer Project Errollyn Wallen, English Folk Songs: From Eleanor to Sweet William Rolf Wallin, The Age of Wire and String Jorg Widmann, Freie Stucke Anton Webern, Five Pieces op. 10 Judith Weir, Tiger under the Table Judith Weir , Psyche Judith Weir, Musicians Wrestle Everywhere Peter Wiegold, Youwarkee Michael Wolters, Neighbours for a Night Michael Wolters, I See With My Eyes Closed Stefan Wolpe, Piece in Two Parts for Six Players John Woolrich, The Kraken Awakes Yannis Xenakis, Rebonds B Øyvind Torvund, Neon Forest Space Manage Cookie Preferences