A Summer of Music at The Battery

Not a Chance with Sound Engineer Keir Vine.

As well as enjoying heatwaves and sunshine, we have been lucky enough to enjoy a summer of music at The Battery. 

On 16th July we hosted our largest performance to date in the Battery – Energy was a partnership performance between Norfolk and Suffolk Music Hub, Orchestra’s Live and Sinfonia Viva. After taking part in singing workshops, children from Grove Primary and Westward Primary came to the Battery to sing with 15 musicians from Sinfonia Viva. It was breathtaking to see 125 school children performing alongside the orchestra to an audience of more than 100 parents – a very special day in the Battery.  

At the end of July, we ran our first ticketed chamber music concert with Academy of St Martin in the Field playing classical family favourites inspired by nature.  The programme included Spring, from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Handel’s Water Music and even A Teddy Bear’s Picnic! We were blown away by an audience of 80, joining 4 musicians in our former retail unit and were absolutely thrilled how lovely it sounded acoustically. The success of the evening means we will be looking to programme more events like this in the future.  

Last week, we had a slightly different musical turn of events – we turned our garden shed and meeting room into a Pop Up Recording Studio with record label 33-33. Following a call out for local young musicians aged 14-25years who were looking to record their own material, we selected two bands, two duos, and two solo artists to come and record a track in our temporary studio with professional Sound Engineer Keir Vine.  

On Monday, we were joined by Silhouettes from Hopton– lead singer Harry brought along his drummer brother Rupert (aged just 11years old!) and they laid down a couple of tracks inspired by their favourite artists Nirvana and Pearl Jam. On Tuesday we were joined by Bodas, a Lowestoft based band whose rock music is full of emotion and intricate guitar work. On Wednesday, Not A Chance Band – a rock band from Woodbridge recorded their material. On Thursday we were joined by local musical duo Lacey and Rafe – who ended up working on a stunning new gritty collaboration together, and then later joined by Enjae who brought city pop vibes from Norwich. On Friday we enjoyed the soulful tones of local Lowestoft singer Scarlett Hogg who made the Battery feel like a late night jazz club. We were overwhelmed by the talent and professionalism brought by the these young people and really did have a fantastic week.  

It’s been a packed month for music at the Battery and it’s really given us a taste for more. Stay tuned for more music programming this Autumn!