Monthly Archives: June 2017

Ends Today

All good things must come to an end and so it is with our fifth offer celebrating our 10th Anniversary. “June is bowing out all over” closes at end of business today with “July is just about the home” starting online tomorrow and in store on Monday.

July’s offer includes ceramics (and includes our newest additions to the range hand-decorated in Stoke on Trent), our heritage mill-made tea towel, Northumbrian hand-poured candles, as well as spoons, forks, wine stoppers, and not forgetting our large statement piece sculptures.

Please note that, as with previous offers, some items included are limited and it will be a case of when they’re gone, they’re gone. This includes the sculptures and wine stoppers.

30 - ending soon

Birthday Tribute

Over the years we’ve found days of the year that are filled with the birthdays of certain types of musicians; today is one of them. However, today is slightly different in that the individuals are all composers, musicologists, and educators.

1870 – Joseph Carl Breil; composer
1881 – Curt Sachs; composer and musicologist
1893 – Aarre Merikanto; composer and educator
1898 – Yvonne Lefébure; pianist and educator
1908 – Leroy Anderson; composer and conductor
1910 – Frank Loesser; composer and conductor
1911 – Bernard Herrmann; composer and conductor
1912 – José Pablo Moncayo; pianist, composer, and conductor
1914 – Rafael Kubelík; conductor and composer
1922 – Ralph Burns; composer, conductor, arranger, and pianist
1923 – Chou Wen-chung; composer and educator
1924 – Ezra Laderman; composer and educator
1940 – Vyacheslav Artyomov; composer

Today is even more interesting as, once you get past 1940, there are plenty of other musicians but no musicologists, educators, or composers (but quite a few songwriters though). The “youngsters” include

1948 – Sean Bergin; saxophonist and flute player
1948 – Ian Paice; drummer, songwriter, and producer
1953 – Don Dokken; singer-songwriter and guitarist
1953 – Colin Hay; singer and guitarist
1957 – Robert Forster; singer-songwriter and guitarist
1963 – Anne-Sophie Mutter; violinist
1964 – Stedman Pearson; singer-songwriter and dancer
1965 – Tripp Eisen; guitarist
1971 – Matthew Good; singer-songwriter and guitarist
1978 – Nicole Scherzinger; singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
1983 – Aundrea Fimbres; singer-songwriter and dancer
1986 – Edward Maya; singer-songwriter and producer
1987 – Ana Free; singer-songwriter

31 - birthday

EBacc Update

We’ve written about the impact of the new EBacc on music and other arts subjects previously but there is now evidence showing that the move to the EBacc is causing a decline in these subjects as GCSE entries are down by 8%.

The new figures were published by Ofqual (the exams regulator) on Thursday 15 June 2017 and show the continuing impact the EBacc is having on arts subjects in schools.

With this in mind we are, once again, appealing for your help to save creative subjects in secondary schools in the UK. We are requesting that you take a moment to write to your MP telling them about this new evidence and asking them to fight the EBacc and its exclusion of creative, artistic and technical subjects. You can find out who your MP is here.

If you need a little help in composing something, you can download a template letter here.

Hopefully, if enough of us petition our MPs we may be able to save the creative arts in schools. Thank you

#WednesdayWisdom

17 - EBacc