Bradninch Music Group - A Short History
In 2000 with assistance of a £500 grant from Bradninch Arts Group the first Bradninch Music Festival was launched and the Bradninch Music Group formed.
Bradninch is a small town in Devon which “punches above its weight in music & arts”. The Bradninch Music Group’s mission is to make music accessible to the community and promote creative performers. The Group runs concerts and the aforementioned weekend music festival on the second weekend of June. We continue to be amazed and delighted by the new young musical talent which visits our town to share with others their love of musical performance.
The Group is a community organisation created by enthusiasts and professional performers. The first artistic director (although the title does not exist in the organisation) was Dick Banovich who established the Group’s continuing approach of presenting exemplar performers and encouraging local performers to develop their talent. We also interposed music of different genres in order to widen audience appreciation of the types of music available. Our programme of performers is aimed at engaging a wide age range although by the nature of original music making there is a significant youth element. The Music Group activities provide a valuable opportunity for new performers to face an audience and to receive help and mentoring from fellow professional performers.
We are very fortunate in Bradninch that the two pubs, the churches and the community owned Guildhall all have a positive attitude to performers including the provision of practice space. The network of support has been valuable in building up the reputation of the town for music making. Importantly this reputation is based on a broad range of music including classical, acoustic roots, folk, jazz, rock, punk and other forms.
The Group promotes concerts, the playing of informal music, lectures, open stage events, workshops, community music making and has produced a CD containing fantastic creative work from many original young artists as well as veterans such as Dave Sawyer and the late Cyril Tawney.
We have included individuals and bands who have flourished on the Devon music scene, festival circuits, gone to university to study music or become nationally known. Among many we have presented and received support from: Bromley Junior Society, , Dib Dub, Jodie Jones, Nick Garcia, Joe O'Keefe, Louise Parker, Ratfinks, School of Trobar, Stephen Snow, The Worry Dolls and Thirty Second Rule. Plus a very long list of original singer song writers like Richard Flanagan, Hum, Jerry Cahill, Jim Causley, Seth Lakeman, Bhryer Simmons to name but a few.
Bradninch Arts Group (BAG)
Bradninch Arts Group (BAG) was established in 1997 to support and promote the arts in Bradninch. The town is fortunate in having a wealth of talent covering many aspects including music, theatre, crafts, sculpture and fine art. At the time there was little co-ordination and BAG was formed by an enthusiastic group of volunteers who wished to enable local people to participate and be involved in creative activities. The group is open to all Bradninch residents and managed by three permanent officers who participate in the day to day decision making and financial management of the group.
The group’s principal function is to organise workshops, theatre and music events, creating funds, which can be used to promote arts based activities for the benefit of the town. This function is a core role, but the group is also here to support other groups within the town to put on events of their own, through advertising and financial support.
We hold regular meetings which will be advertised on this site. These meeting are open to all Bradninch residents and we encourage anyone with an interests in the arts, or with a bright idea for an event they wish to run to come along and discuss it – we may be able to make it happen!