How to take part in this year's Make Music Day UK

Organisers of Make Music Day UK have announced details of an array of unique performances, workshops and collaborations for this year’s summer solstice event.

Having become the UK’s largest single-day music event in the four years since it reached our shores, Make Music Day began as Fête de la Musique in France in 1982 and is now the world’s largest celebration of music, taking place in 125 countries every year on June 21.

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An open invitation for everyone to play, share and enjoy music, Make Music Day is a grassroots, DIY festival encouraging people to organise events in their communities. Anyone can take part as long as it happens on June 21 and it’s free to the public.

With social distancing measures still in place in the UK, all Make Music Day events are online for this year with three distinct strands of activity giving music-lovers lots of ways to get involved.

Perform: make an event of it and stream your performance or workshop with the hashtag #MakeMusicDayUK and list it on the Make Music Day UK website.

Create: flex your creative muscles with one of our participatory projects between now and June 21.

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Watch: Enjoy the music being made across the country on June 21 via a specially curated broadcast Make Music Day UK Live!

PerformPeople playing music together in the community has always been at the heart of Make Music Day and this year, music’s ability to bring people together has never been clearer.Anyone of any musical ability can take part in Make Music Day, so whether people sing or play, if they’re a virtuoso or a complete novice they can perform a song or a whole show, put on a tutorial, a question and answer or a workshop using the hashtag #MakeMusicDayUK and list the live stream on the Make Music Day UK website.

CreateNot everyone is a born performer, but that doesn’t mean Make Music Day will leave anyone out.Everybody can create by joining in with a participatory project and get their musical kicks with no stage fright guaranteed.

Projects include the Auld Lang Syne Digital Participation project.Scottish musicians Hamish Napier and Cat Myers have created a new arrangement of the timeless classic and invite everyone to join together in a celebratory performance.

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The song has taken on an added poignancy in these times of social distancing, as it acknowledges the importance of friendship and human connection.

Everyone is invited to play along on June 21 by downloading the score and lyrics from the Make Music Day UK website. The final musical collage will be premiered on the official Make Music Day UK broadcast.

Other participatory projects include the Bring Me Sunshine competition in partnership with Hal Leonard Europe and Apollo 5, searching for the best cover version of Make Music Day UK’s official song; the Lockdown Sound Challenge in which everyone is encouraged to submit a favourite found sound or unusual noise. A specially commissioned team of producers will have one hour to create a track exclusively from the samples sent in, that will be premiered on the official broadcast; a special edition of the hugely popular Sofa Singers online singing event which brings together hundreds of people from around the world in real-time, and Bash the Trash building fun instruments.

WatchAs well as all of the DIY opportunities to get involved, the Make Music Day UK team have lined up a feast of festival fun for you to watch.

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A dedicated and specially curated broadcast of unique performances from Make Music Day UK ambassadors and partners, don’t miss 12 hours of music.

Broadcasts will feature a singing workshop and singalongathon challenge from Welsh soprano Elin Manahan Thomas, and folk tales from former BBC Radio 2 Folk Musician Of The Year Sam Sweeney.

Young ambassadors from North Yorkshire’s youth music development charity NYMAZ will produce Rural Fest live streamed performances and workshops from Yorkshire-based musicians, and Making Music showcase, including premiere of their Virtual Choir & Ensemble’s version of official Make Music Day UK song Bring me Sunshine, plus a spotlight on leisuretime music groups.

Explore South London’s musical landscape with Musicity who will showcase architecture-inspired music in partnership with Team London Bridge and Diaphonique as part of the London Festival of Architecture, BBC Radio 1’s Arielle Free will put you in the party mood with one of her legendary DJ sets.

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There will be performances from Glasgow musicians as part of UNESCO Musical Cities programme in partnership with Glasgow Life, and Hamish Napier will team up with Su-a Lee performing in the Scottish Highlands.

Northern Ireland’s Beyond Skin who use music, arts and new media to bridge cultural divides will showcase a plethora of multicultural collaborations and performances from artists as varied as Northern Ireland's own Shankill Defenders, Orchestra of Change and Claire Louise McBride, to Philadelphia’s Ami Yares, Palestine’s Luna Abu Nassar and the Japan Min-On project.Plus, Global Song Circle will present a singing workshop with The King’s Singers as part of Global Days of Unity, also celebrated on June 21.

There will be a live set from Wilswood Buoys while Jack Suddaby interviews Gio Arlotta about ’70s Zambian rock band WITCH, the subject of his film We Intend to Cause Havoc.

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