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The half termly newsletter from the Love Music Trust
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Hub Wide Celebration Concerts
Love Music Trust is delighted to invite schools, families, and the wider community to a spectacular hub-wide celebration event at Chester Cathedral on 4th July. Supported by Arts Council England, this inspiring day will showcase the breadth and quality of musical activity taking place across the Cheshire and Wirral Music Hub.
Across three concerts, more than 250 young musicians will take to the stage. The day begins at 10am with the Primary Schools’ Ensemble Final, where top groups from across the region compete to be crowned the inaugural Cheshire and Wirral Primary School Ensemble Champion.
At 11:45am, a massed hub orchestra—bringing together players from music centres, LMT ensembles, and partner groups—will perform under the baton of Rob Watson. The programme includes Brahms’ Hungarian Dance, The Typewriter, 49th Parallel, and Jurassic Park. During this concert, outstanding soloists will also compete for the title of Hub Young Instrumental Musician of the Year.
The celebration concludes at 1:45pm with the Primary School Vocal Ensemble Final, featuring the region’s finest young choirs. A truly uplifting day celebrating musical talent, collaboration, and opportunity.
The event will recognise the vital network of partners, schools, and ensembles who support and inspire young musicians. Together, they create rich and varied musical pathways across Cheshire and Wirral, ensuring every child within the hub has the opportunity to learn, perform, and thrive through music.
If you would like to attend any or all of these concerts, tickets will be available via www.lovemusictrust.com/tickets following the Cheshire East Final on the 19th May.
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Young Musician Competitions
The breadth of talent on offer across Cheshire and Wirral was on show at the Young Musician of the Year competitions which took place in March in Hartford, Heswall and Sandbach. These three competitions combined included performances from nearly 200 young people, who played on a variety of instruments and in diverse styles to give a highly varied programme for the audiences.
The popularity of this competition made the task of choosing winners even more difficult for the six professional musicians and music education specialists who judged the competitions. We look forward to this competition returning in 2027 where we hope that it might grow further and showcase even more talent on offer in Cheshire and Wirral.
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Battle of the Bands - 28th February 2026
https://www.northwichguardian.co.uk/news/25986550.voke-returns-deva-fest-battle-bands-win/
We held our very first Battle of the Bands competition on Saturday 28th February at the Hive in Winsford. The day was a great success with over 70 young people form 17 bands competing throughout the day. The competition was judged by local MP Andrew Cooper, Deva Fest promoter Anna Lebreton-Towell and Nest tutor Jake Barnabas.
'The Voke' took first prize, followed by 'June' in second and 'Two Days Late' in Third. As part of their prize all three placed bands will appear at this year's Deva Fest on Sunday 9th August.
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LMT Percussion Ensemble perform at Music for Youth Festival
The Love Music Trust percussion ensemble has achieved outstanding success at the recent Music for Youth Regional Festival, earning an invitation to perform at the prestigious National Festival on 11th July at the CBSO Centre in Birmingham.
Performing an ambitious programme entirely from memory, the group impressed adjudicators with their musical maturity, precision, and expressive depth. Their performance of Ein Liebeslied was praised for its intimacy, lyricism, and strong sense of ensemble connection, while Watercolour Sun vividly “painted with sound,” creating a warm and atmospheric musical landscape.
The ensemble also demonstrated creativity through innovative staging, including a visually striking performance in darkness using illuminated sticks, showcasing exceptional teamwork and rhythmic control.
This achievement highlights not only the students’ dedication and talent, but also the power of collaborative music-making. The LMT is proud to celebrate this success with schools and families across the region and look forward to their performance on the National Stage in July!
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Barnaby Bear - I am Special
On Thursday 26th March, after 6 weeks of enthusiastic participation and the hard work of over 120 children, Congleton Town Hall rang to the sound of Key Stage One children's voices as they sang their way through Barnaby Bear - I am Special! Throughout the project, pupils have enjoyed learning fun songs, percussion accompaniments, instrumental pieces, and listening and appraising skills with Barnaby Bear as their guide.
Leading the way were Victoria Palethorpe (LMT Vocal Lead) and Sally Mace (Curriculum Lead) whose boundless energy and sense of fun ensured that the concert was a great success and reflected the pupils' accomplished performances.
From the ‘What makes Me Special?’ song, through to the hilarious ‘Dancing Face’ and the thoughtful ‘Music Matters’, there was something for everyone, and that included Barnaby Bear himself who came along to join in with the fun on the day!
It was an event that truly celebrated what makes every child special and enabled children to develop their musicianship through songs about friends, talents, kindness, and getting along with everyone with Barnaby Bear as their guide
Next year's Barnaby bear project is ‘Barnaby Bear goes to the Festival’
To sign your school up, go to: www.lovemusictrust.com/barnaby-bear-festival
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Singfest - This is Me Cheshire East
The Love Music Trust's Singfest - This is Me 2027 came to its glorious conclusion in a series of concerts across the area. Audiences were treated to the two fun-packed medleys with songs such as 'Firework', 'Reach for the Stars', 'We are the Champions' and 'This is Me' and to the performances of our much loved playground songs.
Over 800 talented children from Cheshire East schools took part in the project in the fantastic concert halls and theatres of Cheshire College, South and West, Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School, Brine Leas High School in Nantwich and St Michael's and All Angels Church in Macclesfield.
We are looking forward to the culmination of Singfest - This is Me, in Cheshire West and the Wirral, at the schools' massed concert at Cheshire College, South and West in Ellesmere Port on Tuesday 9th June from 1 - 2.15pm.
Thanks to all our venues for hosting these wonderful events. We look forward to next year's Singfest - Pop Parde for a celebration of boy, girl and mixed bands past and present!
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One Voice, One Sound
Love Music Trust is proud to announce the commissioning of composer Jay Stannard to create a new hub-wide celebration song, One Voice, One Sound. Designed to bring together young musicians from across Cheshire and Wirral, the piece has been specially arranged for performance by Love Music Trust music centres, ensembles, choirs, and First Access groups.
This new work builds on a strong tradition of shared musical celebration across the hub. Previous projects include Free to Fly in 2013, marking the first full year of the Cheshire East Music Hub, and Back to Life in 2021, which reflected the resilience of young people and educators during the challenges of the pandemic.
One Voice, One Sound continues this legacy, offering a powerful message of unity and collaboration. Once rehearsed, performances will be recorded across a wide range of ensemble and choir settings over a two-month period, before being brought together into a final video release in July 2026.
Following a year that has presented significant challenges for many, this project celebrates the strength of the hub’s community. It highlights the connections between schools, partners, and young people, united by a shared passion—music.
To view our previous hub wid celebration song 'Back to Life', please click here.
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Primary Schools Music Competition
Primary schools across Cheshire and Wirral came together to compete in the first round of the Cheshire and Wirral Schools Music Competition. 13 performances, from choirs and bands to brass groups and drumming performances took place from a range of schools, wowing audiences with a variety of pieces and styles. These heats took place over three venues and were judged by Heads of Music Helen McKenna, from St Nicholas' High School in Hartford, and Laurie Smith, from St John Plessington Catholic College.
Helen and Laurie were impressed by the standard of music making and chose choirs and instrumental ensembles to go through to a second round in Cheshire East in May and a final in Chester Cathedral on 4th July, where we're looking forward to showcasing some of the best talent in our area.
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Spring concerts
We had lots of concerts at the end of last term across the hub area involving choirs, concert bands, string ensembles and First Access primary groups.
Our Chester Music Centre groups performed at Upton High School and were delighted to be joined by Hoole Primary school's brass ensemble.
Vale Royal Music Centre rounded off a productive term with a concert at Weaverham High School culminating in a wonderful joint piece featuring the concert band, junior band, string groups and choir.
Our Bebington Wirral Music Centre ensembles performed their term's work to parents at a sharing event in St John Plessington High School and our Wirral Schools' Concert band performed in a joint concert with Wirral Symphonic Wind Band at Wallasey Town hall. This concert featured a large-scale joint piece between both bands and was a lovely event for all involved.
LMT Cheshire East ensembles also joined forces to celebrate their musical talents at a Spring Concert at Ruskin School. The LMT String Sinfonia, Folk Ensemble, Sandbach Youth Choir, Sandbach Young Voices and Nantwich Young Voices wowed the audience with their wide ranging performances, combining in the finale with a performance of 'One Voice, One Sound', the newly composed song for the borough. An exciting and enjoyable evening was had by all!
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Wirral Schools’ Concert Band Impress at Wallasey Town Hall Performance
The Wirral Schools’ Concert Band joined the Wirral Symphonic Wind Band at the end of last term for a joint concert at Wallasey Town Hall in March - ‘Sounds of Spring.’
Performing to an appreciative audience, including the Mayor of Wirral, the event showcased the exceptional talent of the area’s young musicians. Special thanks to Rob Watson and Kirsty Alleyne for their continued dedication to the band.
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Rex and Friends
This year's Rex and Friends project is now well under way, with pre-school and nursery children enjoying learning the songs, actions and music as Rex finds out about how friends can enjoy making music together. ‘I can Play’ and ‘The Penguin Song’ are already becoming fast favourites!
We are all looking forward to the picnic and concert in Congleton Park on 10th June with the children and their teachers joining us for a morning of moving, singing, playing and having fun, whilst parents, relatives and carers bring along their deck chairs and picnics to form our audience. We are delighted to also have a mirroring event taking place at Barton Primary School, Cheshire West.
Next year's Rex project 'Rex and the King Who Came to Tea' is now open to Primary School EYFS classes across Cheshire and Wirral.
To sign your school up, go to: www.lovemusictrust.com/rex-and-the-king
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The Love Music Trust has 26 exciting ensembles, from Big Bands and Percussion Ensembles to Choirs, Saxophone Groups and String Ensembles.
To find out more about our ensembles go to our website to hear the groups play and find out when the next rehearsal is.
There is something for everyone!!! |
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