We are delighted to be joined by Ben Norris, one of the 23/24 Ruth Sutton 360 Fellows, who has enjoyed a successful year of music-making with Manchester Camerata. He has particularly loved helping to deliver our Music in Mind programme and is now sharing some nuggets of wisdom, tips and tricks that he has picked up along the way!
As part of the Manchester Camerata 360 Fellowship, you will be taking part in various Music in Mind sessions across Greater Manchester. Music Cafés will make up a big chunk of the work that you do with the organisation, so it is important to know what to expect when doing these sessions:
- Always expect every session to be completely different. Although there are some regulars, there will be a different set of people attending these sessions every time meaning that the mood and feel of each session will change. Never expect to turn up and do the same thing you did last week. It can be daunting at first but the sense of not knowing what will happen next makes it more exciting and keeps you on your toes!
- Be prepared to go into different settings to deliver Music Café workshops. Some sessions are bigger and in more open environments such as the Gorton Music Café at the Monastery, but some are likely to be in more challenging settings such as care homes. The care home sessions are usually much smaller and intimate, which I personally found more challenging as there were some patients that required way more energy and enthusiasm than usual.
- Try and learn as much as you can from the people around you. You will be giving these sessions with professional music therapists and musicians from Manchester Camerata that are very experienced in this field. Try to observe what they do and the ways in which they interact with the patients. That is certainly how I learned the most!
- Smile (even if you don’t feel like it)! Your job at these sessions is to essentially make sure that everyone involved is having the best time you can possibly give them. If someone isn’t playing an instrument, that’s okay! They might just enjoy being around the people and the music. If you give out a positive energy, I can guarantee that you’ll get it straight back.
- Be mindful of noise and the moments that you choose to take out your instrument. The larger sessions can get noisy and it’s nice if some more intimate moments can be created across the group. Try and latch on to someone else and keep the connection going and walk around the circle and interact with everyone on an individual level. You will most likely start by playing various percussion instruments like everyone else but bringing your instrument out a bit later in the session for a change of mood can work well and would be appreciated by the participants and your work colleagues.
- Get stuck in! Try and dive into everything with a positive mindset and make the effort to interact with as many people as you can. It’s very easy to feel as if you don’t belong or you’re doing something ‘wrong’ but just being present is more than enough. Support in any way you can, playing percussion, playing your instrument, making the teas and coffees for people… it’s all so helpful and you’ll make more of a difference than you think.
- Lastly, try and have fun! The Music Cafés were one of my favourite parts of the Fellowship. It’s so fulfilling to see how much joy these sessions can bring to people that are living with illness. It’s such a powerful experience and for some it’s the highlight of their week. Make the most of them!
The Camerata 360 Fellowship is built upon decades of excellence and diverse experience to train the next generation of musicians. Our bespoke fellowship programme, created with the generous support of The Ruth Sutton Trust for Music, gives musicians experience in all aspects of our work and the impact it makes.
For more information on the 360 Fellowship, please visit our website: https://manchestercamerata.co.uk/work-with-us/camerata360/
