Largest Ever Steelband to Play in North East

Over 90 young musicians from nine steelbands in the region will play together this Friday 4th July as the largest steelband ever to perform in the region.

The event is the 2nd annual North Tyneside Festival of Steelbands, held this year as part of the Wallsend Festival, at Wallsend Memorial Hall, Station Road, Wallsend from 10am to 3pm.



Nine steelbands from Bishop Auckland, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Gatehead as well as North Tyneside, mostly from schools will be drumming up a storm. North Tyneside will be represented by North Tyneside Steelband training and intermediate bands based at the Langdale Cetre Howdon, and by Pink Panthers and Twisters Steelbands from Monkseaton Middle School.

During the day, each band will play two short sets on their own before joining together to play prepared pieces. They will also have the chance to work with a different tutor for a short workshop.

At the same venue from 7.30-11pm the NTSB Performance band will be launching their new CD '...bring a smile to your ears' with bar, refreshments and quiz; entrance is free, but please book a ticket on 0775 360 4281 or dave@steelbandsborth.org.uk

Amazing victory for young north east panner

Jenny Gilberg, aged 21, entered this summer's national Pan Explosion Steelpan competition for the first time... and won the solo section outright! Not only did she win, but she won by the highest margin in the history of the competition, over 60 points out of a possible 300!

Jenny represented North Tyneside Steelband at the event organised by the British Association of Steelbands and held this year at the Fairfield Halls Croydon on May 31. The competition celebrates the achievement of steelpan players aged 30 or under, and kickstarts the summer season for the UK's steelpan players. In the whole nine year history of Pan Explosion, winners have always been from in or around London.

For more information about steel panning visit www.northtynesidesteelband.org.uk.

Music cluster comes to Durham

Following the success of our pilot cluster group in Newcastle, Making Music is now setting up a cluster of music groups in Durham City and the surrounding area.

The group will decide its aims together but these might include:

• pooling publicity ideas and establishing where opportunities exist to work together
• anti-clash diary to avoid clashes of concert dates or repertoire
• collective bookings of soloists to reduce fees

An initial meeting will be held in Durham on an evening/weekend between 26 May and 8 June to suit all interested parties. At that meeting groups will discuss what the purpose of the cluster should be, how often it will meet and so on.

At this stage we would encourage society chairs plus one other (possibly a committee member responsible for publicity, venues or dates) to attend, although you are welcome to bring more people if you wish.

If you are interested in coming along to the first cluster meeting or would like more information please get in touch (kirsty@makingmusic.org.uk, 07855 642308) or visit www.makingmusic-northeast.co.uk/cluster.

Charity Awards 2008

Deadline: 14 March 2008

Nominations are invited from arts organisations for the annual Charity Awards in the arts, culture and heritage category. The Awards recognise and celebrate exceptional achievements in the leadership and management of charities of all sizes throughout the UK. The Awards are a great way to boost morale and winners get extensive media exposure which greatly helps influence funding applications.

To submit your entry visit www.charityawards.co.uk. Please note the deadline for entries is 14 March 2008.

Funding from Wear1 in Sunderland and Wearside

The Sunderland Echo is launching its highly successful Wear1 campaign for the second year running. The campaign is run by the paper to raise local pride in Wearside.
As part of the Campaign, the Community Foundation manages the Wear1 Fund awarding small grants to community groups working in Sunderland and Wearside.
Application details are shown in the Sunderland Echo and will be printed from 17 October 2007 and run for the full duration of the Campaign.
Find out more by reading the Sunderland Echo article.