Sage Gateshead announces new online classes

SAGE GATESHEAD ANNOUNCES NEW ONLINE CLASSES

Sage Gateshead has announced a series of free virtual classes, starting from Monday 29 June, as part of their Silver Programme, for people over the age of 50.

Singing leader Eleanor Mooney will run two weekly Virtual Sing classes via Zoom for six weeks.

Eleanor said: “Classes will be relaxed, fun and suitable for everyone, including beginners. If you are new to singing or have never joined an online group before, there’s no pressure and nobody will be asked to sing solo! Sessions will be based around a changing weekly theme and you’ll be singing songs including Cyndi Lauper’s smash hit True Colours, Gershwin’s classic Summertime, the Scottish folk song Wild Mountain Thyme, a medley of your favourite disco hits and many more.”

Sage Gateshead’s current participants will have exclusive access to weekly virtual ukulele classes which the organisation is trialling and hopes to expand in coming months.

The classes are presented by Sage Gateshead’s Silver Programme, a programme of daytime musical activity for people over the age of 50, and Well-Tuned Gateshead, a music programme to reduce loneliness and isolation in Gateshead delivered with Age UK (Gateshead) and Gateshead Older People’s Assembly.

Wendy Smith, Director of Creative Learning at Sage Gateshead said: “We are delighted to announce these new online classes. We know how important singing and making music is and these classes are free. Right now, we are seeing increasing levels of need in our community. Many people are experiencing social isolation, struggling with their mental or physical health and missing out on their music groups and classes.
During this uncertain time Sage Gateshead is more committed than ever to making sure people can thrive musically and we’re looking forward to working with participants to develop a new programme of classes and workshops for the autumn term.”

Sage Gateshead recently launched a three-year Crisis, Recovery and Renaissance fundraising campaign to raise £3 million in response to the urgent financial challenge posed by Covid-19. These classes are free but donations of any size to support the campaign are welcome.

The new classes follow the successful transition of Sage Gateshead’s Young Musicians Programme from face to face tuition to online learning last month. The transition has made sure that almost 180 students can have one-to-one tuition each week via Microsoft Teams.

Classes are available now to book online at sagegateshead.com