Working with communities is at the heart of what we do at Wren Music. Our creative programme is a blend of people, place and culture. Many groups of people can be considered a community, and we love working with them all.
Communities include those of location or neighbourhoods. There are also communities of similar life situation, such as socially dependent people or socially excluded groups. Communities may be those of interest, such as people interested in local folklore music, history and culture.
Our creative work is grounded in culture and music and we work to accommodate people’s needs and promote community inclusion in the work we do.
We have established some regular community work, as well as running one-off projects. We are always happy to discuss ways of working with your group or community to develop community projects.
Okehampton Lanterns is a community project we have run since 2011. It brings all ages in the town together in imagery and music, celebrating the end of dark nights and the coming of spring.
Our Choirs and Orchestras are examples of communities of interest. Anyone is welcome to join these groups, and in addition to the regular weekly / monthly rehearsals there are sometimes special projects which are open only to our group members.
Landkey Sings!
We have been working with the village of Landkey in North Devon since 2016 to revive the tradition of village carol singing. With the community, we researched the carols that are special to the village and helped them create celebrations bringing the village to life in mid-winter. This historic tradition now lives on each winter and new people in the community are welcome to join and learn these fantastic songs. You can explore more about the carols on the Landkey Sings website.
Blackberries and Bandages.
Commissioned to commemorate the centenary of WW1, Blackberries and Bandages was an exploration of the Home Front in the first world war. The project involved volunteer researchers, songwriters as well as a choir and band which toured the show. It featured in a ‘Devon Remembers’ finale at Exeter Cathedral.
A random melody.
This concert brought together the folk songs collections of Devon (Baring-Gould and Cecil Sharp) with the photographs of James Ravilious. Traditional songs linked thematically with the images, the show toured villages in North Devon.
Inclusive Community Choirs.
This is an EU project hosted by Euridea from Florence. Members from our choirs volunteered to work with the professional team, to demonstrate English folk songs suitable for all abilities to sing. We have already visited Serta in Portugal, and Florence in Italy and will be soon hosting an event here in Devon for all our partners.