West Norfolk community music event seeks public support

Organisers of a free community music event in West Norfolk are asking for votes in an online competition to help raise money for their week-long festival.

Following the success of the inaugural Community Music Week last year, the West Norfolk Academies Trust will be staging it again this summer – and the event has been shortlisted in a competition to win £1,000 towards costs.

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Robin Norman, Director of Music at WNAT, explained: “Putting on a four-day musical celebration is no small task, and the logistics alone require a huge amount of planning and funds.

“We have an incredible opportunity to win £1,000 towards the costs of the week, as we have been shortlisted in the Ticketsource Community Event Fund Competition.

“This gives £1,000 towards the costs of a community event to the eventual winner – and people can help us with a simple, online vote. By visiting our unique competition page, they can cast votes for us before the closing date of Friday 28th April.

“After the closing date, the top 10 events will go to a judging panel, from which one will be awarded the top prize of £1,000.”

This year’s WNAT Community Music Week will take place from Monday 3rd to Thursday 6th July at Springwood High School in King’s Lynn, which is one of the Trust's 11 member schools, and will include four different themed evenings, featuring jazz, choral, rock, pop, orchestral and band music.

Highlights will include the Norfolk premiere of a new youth opera, Birdland, which has been commissioned by Norfolk Music Hub and written by celebrated choral composer, Bob Chilcott.

“The aim of the WNAT Community Music Week is to bring together educational music ensembles and community groups from across West Norfolk in one celebration of community music, utilising a professional-level stage and sound system,” added Mr Norman.

“In 2022, the first Music Week featured over 500 performers and attracted total audience numbers of over 2,000 across four nights. It’s a musical celebration by the community for the community – and, best of all, the whole week will be completely free to attend.”