A New Year for Music Making

Dear all,
I hope everyone had a great festive holiday. My orchestra tour to China got cancelled at the eleventh hour, so I had far more of a break than I was expecting!
Anyway, down to business.
The Music Makers sessions for next week will be as follows:

  • Monday 9th January 9.30 to 10.30 Sign-Up Session, and 10.45 to 11.45 Open Session, both in Studio 2 at The Edge
  • Wednesday 11th 9.30 to 10.30 Open Session, and 10.45 to 11.45 Sign-Up Session, both in Studio 2 at The Edge
  • Thursday 12th 9.30 to 10.30 Open Session, and 10.45 to 11.45 Sign-Up Session, both in the Youth Centre at St Clement’s

If you want to join one of our Sign-Up Sessions please get in touch to check availability of places and details of how to register.
Sign-Up sessions have a different vibe to our open sessions. There are some great new photos along with parent feedback and other general info on our website.
Open Sessions – as the name suggests – are Open to all with both weekly pay on the door and a discounted subscription option. (I’ll have all the subscription info available at our sessions next week).
It’s always a bit of a scramble getting everything sorted out after the Christmas break so please bear with me as we get back up to speed.
Looking forward to seeing everyone again next week.
Cheers
Owen

Almost there

Dear all,
We’ve only got two weeks of our 2016 offering left to go. Where does the time go? This morning Katy and I made our annual trip to B&Q for the Christmas tree. This year we went for a traditional needle tree. It’ll make the front room smell great every morning for the next ten days or so but the trade-off is that it’ll then drop every single needle all over the carpet. You pays your money and makes your choice etc. etc. …

The Music Makers sessions for next week will be as follows:

  • Monday 5th December 9.30 to 10.30 and 10.45 to 11.45 in Studio 2 at The Edge
  • Wednesday 7th 9.30 to 10.30 and 10.45 to 11.45 in Studio 2 at The Edge
  • Thursday 8th 9.30 to 10.30 and 10.45 to 11.45 in the Youth Centre at St Clement’s

Session Types and Times:

  • Monday 9:30 to 10:30 Sign-Up Session The Edge
  • Monday 10:45 to 11:45 Open Session The Edge
  • Wednesday 9:30 to 10:30 Open Session The Edge
  • Wednesday 10:45 to 11:45 Sign-Up Session The Edge
  • Thursday 9:30 to 10:30 Open Session St Clement’s
  • Thursday 10:45 to 11:45 Sign-Up Session St Clement’s

I asked for some feedback about our new Sign-Up sessions, this is what people had to say:

“Owen’s Music Makers is amazing and the sign-up classes are never too busy so it means we have all gotten the chance to get to know each other as it’s the same familiar faces we see every week! Owen is fantastic with the babies and children and makes a real effort to get to know them all by name and plays them all a solo piece at the end of class which they absolutely love! Luckily for us, Owen never makes you feel guilty if you turn up late and the new book-in-advance classes mean that you don’t have to commit to paying for a full term at once as Owen understands that sometimes you have to miss a class or two with babies- they don’t always play ball when it comes to getting places on time or at all!”

“All the familiar faces at our sign-up group means my toddler is really coming out of her shell. More room to march and dance makes mum happy too.”

Sign-Up sessions have an upper limit on numbers so they’ll never be too full. If you’d like more info please feel free to get in touch: owenlittle9 AT gmail.com 07970 956575 or message me on Facebook.

See you all next week.
Yours
Owen

Booking for next half term opens today

We’re going to a six session timetable after half term. The session times are detailed on the Little Music Makers page.
We’re shifting away from every session having a pay on the door option. Half of the new timetable will be “Sign-Up” sessions. The split is as follows:
Sign- Up Sessions:
Monday 9.30 to 10.30, Wednesday 10.45 to 11.45 and Thursday 10.45 to 11.45 will be Sign-Up Sessions.
Pay on the Door Sessions:
Monday 10.45 to 11.45, Wednesday 9.30 to 10.30 and Thursday 9.30 to 10.30 will be Pay on the Door Sessions.
Why are we making these changes?
Over the course of the first half of this term, our Monday, Wednesday and 10.45 Thursday sessions have all ended up being jam packed on different occasions. We need to try and do something about the feast or famine nature of things, hence our new Sign-Up Sessions.
How will Sign-Up Sessions work?
They will have a restricted number of places available, allocated on a first come, first served basis, booking to open at 10am on Saturday 22nd October.
There are seven Music Maker weeks in the next half of this term. To secure a place for a Sign-Up Sessions you will need to pay up front for a certain number of sessions.

There will be two different models of payment for Sign-Up Sessions.
1) Minimum payment for five sessions in order to secure your place. (We will run a “register” sign in sheet at these sessions, if you come to more than five you will just pay for the extra two sessions on a weekly basis).
2) Alternatively, there will be a discount subscription offer for the whole seven sessions.
(Each Sign-Up Session will be limited to those on its register, but you will be able to attend Pay on the Door Sessions if you need to).
Pay on the Door Sessions will continue to operate as they do now.
We’ll be trying this new system out for at least two half term periods. I know that there are people who don’t mind a crowd but equally there are people who really don’t like it. I’m hoping that this new system will accommodate everybody’s preference.
There’s bound to be questions arising out of all this so please feel free to message/email/phone me if you have any queries.
Yours
Owen

That’s all, folks – until September!

Thanks to everyone who has made it along to the Summer Music sessions. We’ll be taking a break now until September. Given Inset Days and the varying start dates of new terms, we’ll get going again in the week commencing Monday 12th September. (Contact me if you want a ‘term time leaflet’ with all the details).

That’s it for now – thanks again for joining us in a very successful summer of music-making.

Cheers,

Owen

Successful summer venue

Dear all,

Thanks to everyone who made it along last week. It’s always a bit stressy for me when we use a new space so it was great to get positive feedback about how things felt in the Main Theatre at The Edge. We have a much bigger space for Summer Monday Music Sessions so we can cope with the drop from four to two sessions. Why not come along and check out Summer Mondays? During the summer holidays the group Owen’s Little Music Makers will be meeting on Monday 25th July, Mondays 1st , 8th and 15th August. First session 9:30, second session 10:45.

A different dynamic:

It was great to welcome back some older siblings and to see how people have changed and grown. Summer Mondays definitely have their own vibe, with people making it along whenever they can. I hope we’re a chilled out part of people’s summer.

I hope you can make it along soon.

Cheers

Owen

Summer Mondays are here

Hello everyone,
Firstly, thank you all for making the past year such a success. Good luck to everyone who’s off to start Nursery and school, welcome to all our newcomers.
Reports keep coming in of little people making “violins” and playing them at home (the latest version is apparently a couple of sticks from the garden – we’ve had ukuleles and even a fire engine appearing under chins and played with wooden spoons before, but two sticks? We’re really getting minimalist now!).
Anyway, down to business: Monday 25th is the first of four “Summer Monday” Music Makers sessions. All details are copied below. Just to say, we have over twice our normal space for these sessions. Two carpets, twice as many chairs and shakers, plus our new high watt blue tooth speaker, so bring it on. We’re usually the only thing running during the summer so if you’ve got friends at a loose end, pass the word around. I frequently get asked about older siblings coming along, that’s absolutely fine as long as you’re prepared to keep them engaged with what we’re doing.
I hope to see you all at some point over the summer.
Cheers
Owen

  • when: 9.30 to 10.30 and 10.45 to 11.45 on Monday 25th July, Mondays 1st , 8th and 15th August.
  • where: Main Theatre, The Edge Theatre & Arts Centre, Manchester Road, Chorlton. M21 9JG (In the grounds of the Methodist Church)
  • what: led on the violin by professional musician Owen Little, and based around well-known nursery rhymes and action songs. An opportunity for parents and children to make music together in a supportive, fun and relaxed environment.

Summer sessions

The Summer Little Music Makers sessions are being held in the main theatre at The Edge. We’ll have twice the carpet space, twice the chairs, twice the shakers and also my big new bluetooth speaker – which has enough watts to cope with summer crowds!

Times

  • first session: 9.30 to 10.30
  • second session: 10.45 to 11.45

Dates

  • Monday 25th July, Mondays 1st , 8th and 15th August

Location

  • Main Theatre, The Edge Theatre & Arts Centre, Manchester Road, Chorlton. M21 9JG
    (In the grounds of the Methodist Church)

Cost

  • £4 for first child, £2 for each additional sibling

Please note: children remain the responsibility of their parent/carer throughout these sessions, these are “stay and play” events.

Last ‘term time’ dates

These are the final Music Makers sessions of the 2015/16 academic year. Thanks to everyone who’s contributed to a great year.

Little Music Makers sessions for the final week of the Summer Term will be as follows:

  • Monday 18th July 9.30 to 10.30 in Studio 2 at The Edge
  • Wednesday 20th 10.30 to 11.30 in Studio 2 at The Edge
  • Thursday 21st 9.30 to 10.30 and 10.45 to 11.45 in the Youth Centre at St Clement’s

Junior Music Makers (Monday afternoons) to finish

But the LITTLE Music Makers are still going strong!

I am sorry to have to announce that there will only be two more sessions of Junior Music Makers on Monday afternoons. I’ve taken the decision to let you know this now because I don’t feel it would be right to continue as if all is fine and then just spring it on you when you arrive at the final session on the 23rd.

I know that what we’ve been doing has been of great worth in young peoples’ musical development, and I feel what we’ve achieved – with such a young clientele – has been really good. I don’t intend to “go quietly into the night” – I intend to put on the best two sessions of Junior Music Makers we’ve ever had over the next two weeks, and to go out on a real high.

I would like to apologise if you, or far more importantly, any of the kids feel let down by this decision. I’d also like to thank everyone who has supported Junior Music Makers and tried their very best to spread the word about what we’ve been doing.

The next, and penultimate session of Junior Music Makers will be this Monday, 16th May, 4.00 to 4.30pm in The Youth Centre at St Clements.

I hope to see you there.

Thank you for your understanding,

Owen

A Stop-Start First Half of Term for Junior Music Makers

Hello Junior Music Makers

The summer term always gets a bit complicated. We’ll kick off the first half of term this Monday 18th April 4.00 to 4.30 in the Youth Centre at St Clement’s.

We sing on the 18th and 25th, then have a week off for May Bank Holiday, then come back for a further three weeks through to half term.

So … If you want to pay by subscription the rates are as follows: £17.50 for the five sessions. Otherwise it’s £3.50 per week on the door as normal. I’ll bring all the paperwork with me on Monday. That’s the admin bit out of the way.

What are we looking to achieve in this half term?

Getting everyone to sing of course, but I think we’re also going to go for some more organised choreography – our own mini version of Kids from Fame! We’ll also talk about making some “Street Drums” and getting into a bit of Rhythm Work.

Looking forward to seeing everyone.

Cheers

Owen