Participatory Commission - Working with people with dementia to curate a piano recital and programme notes.

Following a successful bid to the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Leeds International Piano Competition and the M&S Company Archive are able to offer this exciting opportunity. ‘Stories from M&S Sheet Music – Leeds’ Piano History’ will explore the heritage of a significant collection of historic piano sheet music sold at Marks & Spencer in the early 20th century, and now held at the M&S Company Archive in Leeds. The project will involve a series of workshops, community curated performances, online resources and a public exhibition.

Working with the M&S Archive Outreach Officer we want you to lead on a creative project with a group of people living with dementia. Using recordings of Edwardian sheet music and related archive objects you’ll help participants choose their favourite pieces for a recital, and create programme notes to accompany it, so an interest in or basic knowledge of piano music would be useful but not essential. The programme notes created by the group could contain images, words, poetry, collage or photography to help interpret the music – we want the participants to get creative! 

Each week the group will listen to recordings of two pieces of piano music on a theme, for example ‘music for place’, ‘romantic songs’ or ‘music for commemorating’. The Archive Outreach Officer will introduce archive objects to help give context to the music. The group will take inspiration from both to create the programme notes which will be printed as an A4 booklet, and a digital version.

The programme notes and recordings of the selected music will be made available online for community groups, school, care homes etc, to download and run their own activity sessions.

The project will also inform a temporary exhibition at the M&S Company Archive, curated by the M&S Outreach Officer.

We’d need you to commit to 11 sessions, each lasting 1 to 2 hours, as follows:

• The group project will take place over 7 weeks on the following dates (time TBC): 9, 16, 23, 30 September and 7, 14, 21 October. The 90-minute-long sessions will be held either at the M&S Company Archive in Leeds, or at a Leeds day centre for people with dementia.
• A celebration event and exhibition launch will be held on Monday 13th January at the M&S Company Archive.
• We’d also like you to assist with delivery of three daytime piano recitals at care homes in Leeds – dates tbc.

The group will be a mix of people living with various stages of dementia. Mobility and capability of the participants will be mixed. Some participants will need to remain seated throughout each session. Group size will be around 8-10 people.

At the M&S Company Archive we've undertaken similar projects in the past with successful results. Participants with dementia enjoy the reminiscence as well as the creative elements, we have found that they grow in confidence as the project goes on. Participants learn new skills, meet new people and are able to express themselves in a new way. For info on a previous project, see our film: https://vimeo.com/203293637. The Archive runs a varied programme for older people and people with dementia including memory boxes and a memory café: https://marksintime.marksandspencer.com/community.

The Leeds International Piano Competition is one of the world's foremost music competitions. Our Learning & Engagement programme is at the heart of LIPC. We have a broad programme of activities which are inclusive, accessible and have pianos at their very core. We recognise and champion the unique role of the piano as the instrument that most inspires and connects audiences. For more information see www.leedspiano.com

Budget and Payment:

The maximum budget for the project is £1500, to include materials. The successful artist will be set up as a supplier on the M&S payment system, full instruction on submitting invoices will be given.

The deadline for this opportunity is 9am on Monday 10th June, and we'll notify the chosen artist the same week.

Please include the following in your application: 

• Details of what would take place each week, how that will inform the creation of the programme notes, and what form the programme notes pages will take.
• Details of previous relevant experience working with older people and those living with dementia.
• All fees including material costs and expenses in your proposal.
• Any other additional information you would like to add in support of your application.