CYM Library
@cymlibrary.bsky.social
The Community & Youth Music Library is a national resource. For a small charge we will lend music to your choir or orchestra, anywhere in the UK.
https://cymlibrary.org.uk
e-mail cymlibrary@gmail.com
https://cymlibrary.org.uk
e-mail cymlibrary@gmail.com
Reposted by CYM Library
Wishing all musicians & music-lovers Gool Cecilia Lowen: happy St Cecilia’s Day! We’re celebrating it by singing Brahms, with soloists Florian Störtz and Francesca Chiejina & accompanied by our good friends the Three Spires Orchestra. Truro Cathedral, 7.30 tonight, tickets on the door if needed.
November 22, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Wishing all musicians & music-lovers Gool Cecilia Lowen: happy St Cecilia’s Day! We’re celebrating it by singing Brahms, with soloists Florian Störtz and Francesca Chiejina & accompanied by our good friends the Three Spires Orchestra. Truro Cathedral, 7.30 tonight, tickets on the door if needed.
Reposted by CYM Library
Fabulous article by Dr Samantha Ege ahead of tomorrow’s release. @leahbroad.bsky.social
Out of the shadows: why Avril Coleridge-Taylor deserves to be heard
The daughter of the British composer Samuel made controversial choices that took her on a different path to her father’s activism. Ahead of the premiere recording of her piano concerto, its soloist lo...
www.theguardian.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Fabulous article by Dr Samantha Ege ahead of tomorrow’s release. @leahbroad.bsky.social
Reposted by CYM Library
Yesterday at St Paul's Cathedral @johnrutter.bsky.social conducted the premiere of his I'll Make Me a World with mezzo-soprano Melanie Marshall, baritone Jonathan Brown and The Bach Choir.
We also performed John's The Gift of Life, as well as Vaughan Williams' Symphony No.5.
📷 Duncan Wood
We also performed John's The Gift of Life, as well as Vaughan Williams' Symphony No.5.
📷 Duncan Wood
November 6, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Yesterday at St Paul's Cathedral @johnrutter.bsky.social conducted the premiere of his I'll Make Me a World with mezzo-soprano Melanie Marshall, baritone Jonathan Brown and The Bach Choir.
We also performed John's The Gift of Life, as well as Vaughan Williams' Symphony No.5.
📷 Duncan Wood
We also performed John's The Gift of Life, as well as Vaughan Williams' Symphony No.5.
📷 Duncan Wood
Reposted by CYM Library
Mega-niche programming shout-out: early Baroque-ish Christmassy things for not more than SSATB (or SSATTB at a pinch) plus instruments (quartet) which involve, or /could/ involve recorders? I have the Messe de Minuit, obviously...
November 10, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Mega-niche programming shout-out: early Baroque-ish Christmassy things for not more than SSATB (or SSATTB at a pinch) plus instruments (quartet) which involve, or /could/ involve recorders? I have the Messe de Minuit, obviously...
Reposted by CYM Library
🧍♀️🧍♀️🧍♀️We’re back at @sinfoniasmithsq.bsky.social on Sunday afternoon for a performance full of girl power
📘 Grab a programme to learn more about the unfairly overlooked 20th-century British composers Doreen Carwithen and Ruth Gipps
📘 Grab a programme to learn more about the unfairly overlooked 20th-century British composers Doreen Carwithen and Ruth Gipps
November 11, 2025 at 9:05 AM
🧍♀️🧍♀️🧍♀️We’re back at @sinfoniasmithsq.bsky.social on Sunday afternoon for a performance full of girl power
📘 Grab a programme to learn more about the unfairly overlooked 20th-century British composers Doreen Carwithen and Ruth Gipps
📘 Grab a programme to learn more about the unfairly overlooked 20th-century British composers Doreen Carwithen and Ruth Gipps
This exhibition at Foundling Museum, London looks interesting: "Explore the power of music thru Handel’s ‘Hallelujah’. Musical scores, librettos, musical instruments, paintings, photos, archives. A fresh look at origins & popularity of the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’.
foundlingmuseum.org.uk/event/a-gran...
foundlingmuseum.org.uk/event/a-gran...
A Grand Chorus: The Power of Music - Foundling Museum
Looking at the exhilarating experience and enduring impact of the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ in the past and present, A Grand Chorus explores the profound effect that music can have on both listeners and per...
foundlingmuseum.org.uk
November 3, 2025 at 3:50 PM
This exhibition at Foundling Museum, London looks interesting: "Explore the power of music thru Handel’s ‘Hallelujah’. Musical scores, librettos, musical instruments, paintings, photos, archives. A fresh look at origins & popularity of the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’.
foundlingmuseum.org.uk/event/a-gran...
foundlingmuseum.org.uk/event/a-gran...
Roger Allam talks about his role in The Choral, a Alan Bennett-scripted film, directed by Nicholas Hytner. It shows a choir in 1916 preparing for a performance of the Dream of Gerontius. Simon Russell-Beale has a cameo as a very grumpy Elgar. www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oc...
‘I’ve played a lot of sneery bastards’: Roger Allam on bad singing, big paydays and Elgar’s level of ‘gitacity’
He launched a thousand memes as the beleaguered Tory MP in The Thick of It, and starred in the original production of Les Misérables. Now the actor is making not-so-sweet music in the Alan Bennett-scr...
www.theguardian.com
October 31, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Roger Allam talks about his role in The Choral, a Alan Bennett-scripted film, directed by Nicholas Hytner. It shows a choir in 1916 preparing for a performance of the Dream of Gerontius. Simon Russell-Beale has a cameo as a very grumpy Elgar. www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oc...
Reposted by CYM Library
Ralph Vaughan Williams believed music should belong to everyone.
In this article, Jack Pepper opens his new Pepper’s Portraits series for medici.tv with the story of a composer who lived - and wrote - for humanity.
📖 Read it here:
In this article, Jack Pepper opens his new Pepper’s Portraits series for medici.tv with the story of a composer who lived - and wrote - for humanity.
📖 Read it here:
Ralph Vaughan Williams, Composer for the people - Page Turner by medici.tv
Jack Pepper’s Portraits series shines a light on Vaughan Williams, revealing the man behind the legendary music.
pageturner.medici.tv
October 28, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Ralph Vaughan Williams believed music should belong to everyone.
In this article, Jack Pepper opens his new Pepper’s Portraits series for medici.tv with the story of a composer who lived - and wrote - for humanity.
📖 Read it here:
In this article, Jack Pepper opens his new Pepper’s Portraits series for medici.tv with the story of a composer who lived - and wrote - for humanity.
📖 Read it here:
Here is a Spotify playlist of music by Black British composers: open.spotify.com/playlist/4BE...
It has 25 tracks and was created by Harrison Knights, Assistant Director of Music at St James Piccadilly (London) for #BlackHistoryMonth. Read more here: www.sjp.org.uk/black-britis...
It has 25 tracks and was created by Harrison Knights, Assistant Director of Music at St James Piccadilly (London) for #BlackHistoryMonth. Read more here: www.sjp.org.uk/black-britis...
Black British Composers
open.spotify.com
October 13, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Here is a Spotify playlist of music by Black British composers: open.spotify.com/playlist/4BE...
It has 25 tracks and was created by Harrison Knights, Assistant Director of Music at St James Piccadilly (London) for #BlackHistoryMonth. Read more here: www.sjp.org.uk/black-britis...
It has 25 tracks and was created by Harrison Knights, Assistant Director of Music at St James Piccadilly (London) for #BlackHistoryMonth. Read more here: www.sjp.org.uk/black-britis...
Reposted by CYM Library
Help make the Clarion - our accessible musical instrument that can be played with any body part, including head movement - widely available to young disabled people.
Vote for Open Up Music in the #ArtExplora Audience Choice Award⤵️
bit.ly/ArtExplora2025
#EuropeanAward #AudienceDevelopment
Vote for Open Up Music in the #ArtExplora Audience Choice Award⤵️
bit.ly/ArtExplora2025
#EuropeanAward #AudienceDevelopment
October 7, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Help make the Clarion - our accessible musical instrument that can be played with any body part, including head movement - widely available to young disabled people.
Vote for Open Up Music in the #ArtExplora Audience Choice Award⤵️
bit.ly/ArtExplora2025
#EuropeanAward #AudienceDevelopment
Vote for Open Up Music in the #ArtExplora Audience Choice Award⤵️
bit.ly/ArtExplora2025
#EuropeanAward #AudienceDevelopment
Reposted by CYM Library
Celebrating Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s 150th anniversary!
Hear the RCM alumnus' spirited Novelleten for string orchestra, performed by talented young musicians of the RCM Junior Department earlier this year.
Read more about his legacy and life at the RCM: bit.ly/3V0UJtT
#FlashbackFriday
Hear the RCM alumnus' spirited Novelleten for string orchestra, performed by talented young musicians of the RCM Junior Department earlier this year.
Read more about his legacy and life at the RCM: bit.ly/3V0UJtT
#FlashbackFriday
August 15, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Celebrating Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s 150th anniversary!
Hear the RCM alumnus' spirited Novelleten for string orchestra, performed by talented young musicians of the RCM Junior Department earlier this year.
Read more about his legacy and life at the RCM: bit.ly/3V0UJtT
#FlashbackFriday
Hear the RCM alumnus' spirited Novelleten for string orchestra, performed by talented young musicians of the RCM Junior Department earlier this year.
Read more about his legacy and life at the RCM: bit.ly/3V0UJtT
#FlashbackFriday
Reposted by CYM Library
#EarlyMusic is in the news this morning! But here’s a better article than the one that’s making the rounds, with more context, and input from a musicologist. The rediscovered music is #plainchant - which was the musical foundation of religious life at the time.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Buckland Abbey monk music to be played after almost 500-year gap
The music was discovered by a University of Exeter historian inside a 15th Century book.
www.bbc.com
August 16, 2025 at 9:08 AM
#EarlyMusic is in the news this morning! But here’s a better article than the one that’s making the rounds, with more context, and input from a musicologist. The rediscovered music is #plainchant - which was the musical foundation of religious life at the time.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Sad to see. ISM’s analysis of this year’s A-level music results "shows there has been a decrease in music entries of 1.8% across the UK in the last year. In England, fewer than 5,000 students took A-level music for the third year running."
www.ism.org/news/music-a...
www.ism.org/news/music-a...
August 15, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Sad to see. ISM’s analysis of this year’s A-level music results "shows there has been a decrease in music entries of 1.8% across the UK in the last year. In England, fewer than 5,000 students took A-level music for the third year running."
www.ism.org/news/music-a...
www.ism.org/news/music-a...
Reposted by CYM Library
Sign up to our newsletter to receive our updates twice a month. This includes job and funding opportunities, new articles and upcoming events. www.alternativeclassical.co.uk/newsletter
Newsletter — Alternative Classical
Receive concert recommendations, music jobs and opportunities, and news of innovation in the classical music sector.
www.alternativeclassical.co.uk
July 15, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Sign up to our newsletter to receive our updates twice a month. This includes job and funding opportunities, new articles and upcoming events. www.alternativeclassical.co.uk/newsletter
Reposted by CYM Library
We are delighted to announce that Pontefract Library will be hosting an amazing exhibition about the history of Black British Ballet!
At the library on 1-27 August!
Our libraries are also hosting fun events as part of it!
For more information, visit: experiencewakefield.co.uk/event/black-...
At the library on 1-27 August!
Our libraries are also hosting fun events as part of it!
For more information, visit: experiencewakefield.co.uk/event/black-...
July 14, 2025 at 3:04 PM
We are delighted to announce that Pontefract Library will be hosting an amazing exhibition about the history of Black British Ballet!
At the library on 1-27 August!
Our libraries are also hosting fun events as part of it!
For more information, visit: experiencewakefield.co.uk/event/black-...
At the library on 1-27 August!
Our libraries are also hosting fun events as part of it!
For more information, visit: experiencewakefield.co.uk/event/black-...
Reposted by CYM Library
What makes Ralph Vaughan Williams special as a composer?
June 23, 2025 at 10:13 AM
What makes Ralph Vaughan Williams special as a composer?
Reposted by CYM Library
This is a terrific disc. But, more importantly, what a composer Grace Williams was. Such a powerful and utterly distinctive voice. And, as well as this, her masterpiece - the huge, stunning Missa Cambrensis - is at last now on disc too.
Orchestral Works: Grace Williams — John Andrews, BBC Philharmonic
“thrilling and… the word that keeps coming to mind is meaty! Anyway, sink your teeth into Williams’s fearless wind writing and clear affection for celesta.”
“thrilling and… the word that keeps coming to mind is meaty! Anyway, sink your teeth into Williams’s fearless wind writing and clear affection for celesta.”
Our Top Classical Albums of 2024
It's been a terrific year for classical music. From passionate piano solos to lush orchestral works and beyond, here are our favorite classical recordings released in 2024!
www.classicalwcrb.org
June 7, 2025 at 9:07 AM
This is a terrific disc. But, more importantly, what a composer Grace Williams was. Such a powerful and utterly distinctive voice. And, as well as this, her masterpiece - the huge, stunning Missa Cambrensis - is at last now on disc too.
Reposted by CYM Library
🎼✨ Dream of conducting with the best? Here’s your chance!
The Sixteen is offering a prestigious Conducting Scholarship in the UK 🎶
Apply by 27 May 2025 and take your place at the podium! 🧑🎼
@The Sixteen
www.chorally.co/c/opportunit...
The Sixteen is offering a prestigious Conducting Scholarship in the UK 🎶
Apply by 27 May 2025 and take your place at the podium! 🧑🎼
@The Sixteen
www.chorally.co/c/opportunit...
May 23, 2025 at 12:15 PM
🎼✨ Dream of conducting with the best? Here’s your chance!
The Sixteen is offering a prestigious Conducting Scholarship in the UK 🎶
Apply by 27 May 2025 and take your place at the podium! 🧑🎼
@The Sixteen
www.chorally.co/c/opportunit...
The Sixteen is offering a prestigious Conducting Scholarship in the UK 🎶
Apply by 27 May 2025 and take your place at the podium! 🧑🎼
@The Sixteen
www.chorally.co/c/opportunit...
Frank has turned his IAML UK ASW talk from last month into a blogpost.
My latest blogpost describes a project to create a system for recording loans of music sets using #Airtable. occamstypewriter.org/trading-know...
Creating a library system using Airtable | Trading Knowledge
occamstypewriter.org
May 14, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Frank has turned his IAML UK ASW talk from last month into a blogpost.
Reposted by CYM Library
It is with profound sadness that the Three Choirs Festival marks the passing of the esteemed composer and conductor Ronald Corp OBE.
We were greatly anticipating Ronald's presence at this year's festival in Hereford.
Read more - 3choirs.org/news/remembe...
We were greatly anticipating Ronald's presence at this year's festival in Hereford.
Read more - 3choirs.org/news/remembe...
Remembering Ronald Corp (1951–2025) | Three Choirs Festival
It is with profound sadness that the Three Choirs Festival marks the passing of the esteemed composer and conductor Ronald Corp OBE. His significant contri
3choirs.org
May 8, 2025 at 12:31 PM
It is with profound sadness that the Three Choirs Festival marks the passing of the esteemed composer and conductor Ronald Corp OBE.
We were greatly anticipating Ronald's presence at this year's festival in Hereford.
Read more - 3choirs.org/news/remembe...
We were greatly anticipating Ronald's presence at this year's festival in Hereford.
Read more - 3choirs.org/news/remembe...
Reposted by CYM Library
We're holding auditions for professional singers based in the UK, who would be interested in joining us for our projects. Successful applicants are likely to have high levels of vocal technique and musicianship, and a strong background in choral and ensemble singing.
April 22, 2025 at 11:22 AM
We're holding auditions for professional singers based in the UK, who would be interested in joining us for our projects. Successful applicants are likely to have high levels of vocal technique and musicianship, and a strong background in choral and ensemble singing.
Reposted by CYM Library
"The latest on the conveyor belt of mammoth resurrection stories came this week in the form of a slightly hairy mouse. Colossal Biosciences, the US company behind the “woolly mouse” and ensuing media frenzy"
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
#wato
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
#wato
Reviving the woolly mammoth isn’t just unethical. It’s impossible | Adam Rutherford
At a time when US scientists are under attack from their own government, the illiteracy around these elephantine fantasies is dangerous, says geneticist Adam Rutherford
www.theguardian.com
March 19, 2025 at 1:44 PM
"The latest on the conveyor belt of mammoth resurrection stories came this week in the form of a slightly hairy mouse. Colossal Biosciences, the US company behind the “woolly mouse” and ensuing media frenzy"
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
#wato
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
#wato
Reposted by CYM Library
Each week we share a recommended choral track, many by composers who happen to be female. So for #IWD2025 here's a recap of the brilliant women we've discussed in the past year:
Margaret Bonds, Marianna Martines, Ethel Smyth, Lili Boulanger, Fanny Hensel, Caroline Shaw, Maddalena Casulana, (1/3)
Margaret Bonds, Marianna Martines, Ethel Smyth, Lili Boulanger, Fanny Hensel, Caroline Shaw, Maddalena Casulana, (1/3)
March 8, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Each week we share a recommended choral track, many by composers who happen to be female. So for #IWD2025 here's a recap of the brilliant women we've discussed in the past year:
Margaret Bonds, Marianna Martines, Ethel Smyth, Lili Boulanger, Fanny Hensel, Caroline Shaw, Maddalena Casulana, (1/3)
Margaret Bonds, Marianna Martines, Ethel Smyth, Lili Boulanger, Fanny Hensel, Caroline Shaw, Maddalena Casulana, (1/3)
Reposted by CYM Library
Today on #InternationalWomensDay we remember Maria Hackett (1783-1874) without whom choristers today - and consequently the entire world of sacred choral music - might not exist.
1/5
1/5
March 8, 2025 at 8:55 AM
Today on #InternationalWomensDay we remember Maria Hackett (1783-1874) without whom choristers today - and consequently the entire world of sacred choral music - might not exist.
1/5
1/5
Reposted by CYM Library
Our first come-and-sing event of the year was on the Isle of Wight in February and @benenglandbem.bsky.social has since been conducting his way north, bringing Haydn's stunning Nelson Mass to choral singers around the UK. Today is our last UK stop, at the beautiful St Cuthbert's in sunny Edinburgh!
March 8, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Our first come-and-sing event of the year was on the Isle of Wight in February and @benenglandbem.bsky.social has since been conducting his way north, bringing Haydn's stunning Nelson Mass to choral singers around the UK. Today is our last UK stop, at the beautiful St Cuthbert's in sunny Edinburgh!