Adages
We want you all to know about a fantastic project called ” Adages”
Adages: a new oratorio written by composer Holly Marland through working with people with Dementia!
About the project
This project involves creating and performing a new oratorio through working with different groups of older people with Dementia and their carers. Holly Marland, an experienced music for health practitioner/composer will work in residence with 3 groups in rural, urban and hospital Dementia settings. Ideas generated through workshops with groups will be crafted into an accessible, secular oratorio for mixed voices accompanied by Kora (West African Harp) and ensemble. This unique work will be performed at Manchester Cathedral on
Thursday 6 April 2017 at 7pm. The performance will be recorded and excerpts from the oratorio will also be broadcast live on BBC Radio 4 to raise public awareness about the role of music in Dementia care. The project is supported through partnership between lead practitioner Holly Marland and Music in Hospitals, RNCM and Manchester Cathedral. It has received funding from Arts Council England as well as support from Music in Hospitals and in kind support from RNCM and Manchester Cathedral.
About Holly Marland
Holly is a singer, kora player, composer and music therapist, widely acclaimed for engagement with diverse audiences and expertise in the field of music for health (M4H).
She pioneered the M4H programme at Central Manchester University Hospitals Foundation Trust (based at RNCM then LIME), delivering an extensive project portfolio funded by Esmee Fairbairn, Youth Music, Leonardo and others. This included brokering dynamic partnerships with regional organisations and securing the patronage of Jools Holland. She recently delivered an ACE funded project in Neonatology commissioned by Appetite Stoke/Royal Stoke University Hospitals (Dec 15 – Apr 16). Holly works for the charity Music in Hospitals delivering participatory concerts with Michael Cretu/double bass in healthcare settings and for BBC Radio 4 Daily Service as singer/music director, having had 3 compositions broadcast during the last 18 months.
Recent composition commissions include You are the Mirror, an extended work for Manchester Cathedral Choir (June 15) and Exodus – reflections on migration and slavery for RNCM’s Big Weekender (March 15).
View Holly’s Portfolio at https://hollymarlandmusic.com
Further information
There is often a focus on what people with Dementia can’t do. Working within Dementia “communities” to develop an oratorio for performance by the wider community supported by eminent local organisations will showcase people with Dementia’s potential and challenge perceptions around their care.
Music has the capacity to re-orientate and restore agency in people with Dementia – triggering conversations, experiences and memories, animating faces/bodies and liberating emotions. Much research literature around music and Dementia has been dismissed by Evidence Based Medicine for using poor methodologies and being limited in size. This project presents evidence in a new light, allowing artistic outcomes to demonstrate music’s efficacy rather than impersonal quantitative outcomes – allowing the voices of older people to be heard.
Drawing on her skills as M4H practitioner, music therapist, performer and composer, Holly will work with 3 different Dementia care settings between September 16 and March 17 to co-create an extended musical work comprising settings of adages/stories/sayings. The words and music will be crafted from workshop interactions with groups, individuals and carers.
This accessible piece will be performed, recorded and broadcast by local choirs and community groups accompanied by the Kora and instrumental ensemble. Hosted by Manchester Cathedral, this Dementia friendly performance will bring different age groups and abilities together to celebrate and showcase the insights of our elders. There will be an exhibition of information available from organisations supporting
people with Dementia and their carers.
Contact hollymarlandmusic@gmail.com 07811 352 102 for further information and a press pack
ADAGES
The project has been devised by Holly Marland and is delivered in partnership
with Music in Hospitals, RNCM and Manchester Cathedral, supported by Arts
Council England.
