News from producers around Derbyshire

Pollyanna Pickering is one of the most collectable painters of wildlife art – and every winter she opens her private gallery in Derbyshire for an exhibition inspired by the British Wildlife she loves. Over 50 paintings will be exhibited to the public for the first time from the 14^th to 29^th November in the relaxed and comfortable atmosphere of her private gallery at Brookvale House, Oaker, near Matlock (AA signposted). Visitors will be welcome between 10.00am – 6.00pm each day, admission free

Engineering world leader Rolls-Royce plc has re-confirmed its commitment to East Midlands’ orchestra Sinfonia Viva and plans to further strengthen the partnership.

Together Rolls-Royce and Sinfonia Viva will continue promoting science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects to young people in line with Rolls-Royce’s target of reaching 6 million people through STEM education programmes and activities by 2020.

Both organisations have been working together for 20 years and the company’s support for the Orchestra has been confirmed for a further three years.

National Poetry Day is celebrating its 21st anniversary in October. This year the theme is 'Light' which is why we've chosen The Singing Girl by Joan Link.  We really liked the strong sense of place created in the poem and also the descriptions of light which we thought would be perfect for this month's poem. 

Do you know of a local community green space project that would benefit from funding?

Communities across England, Wales and Scotland will soon be able to apply for up to £12,000 for local green space projects thanks to a new grant scheme being launched with the proceeds generated from the sale of carrier bags by Tesco.

It is anticipated that there will be two funding rounds per year over the next three years.

Derby-based regional orchestra Sinfonia Viva are inviting families to join them on a high seas adventure at a special family concert at Rolls-Royce Heritage Centre on Sunday October 25 starting at 2pm.

‘The Boat & The Blue’ has been commissioned by Viva as part of the national Family Arts Festival and is ideal for children aged under five and their families.

The afternoon concert tells the story of a young girl’s wonderful adventures – setting sail with Rowan and her paper boat into an ocean teeming with marine life.

Derby College has appointed a Head Gardener at the Broomfield Hall land-based studies campus in Morley to support students in their work experience programmes and lead work underway to open the grounds to more visitors.

Samantha Harvey (43) from Kirk Langley was a Horticulture student at the College 15 years ago – retraining after a career in retail management.

Derby-based Sinfonia Viva – the orchestra of the East Midlands – has been invited to perform a Harry Potter-inspired concert at the prestigious Bahrain International Music Festival.

A 12- piece Chamber Orchestra will travel to Bahrain next Friday (October 9) and then perform a family concert at the Cultural Hall on Monday October 12 as part of the festival which includes musicians from across the world.

Buxton Opera House & Pavilion Art Centre has been voted the ‘Most Welcoming Theatre in the East Midlands’ it has been announced today. Out of 256 theatres that signed up to take part in My Theatre Matters! Most Welcoming Theatre Award 2015 in Association with Smooth Radio, Buxton Opera House has been confirmed as one of the 12 regional winners.

Transition Belper’s wonderful Station Mosaic and Art Gallery collected two top awards at this year’s Community Rail Awards.  The first was in the category of best community art scheme for the new station mosaic and artwork, a year long project developed by Transition Belper working with four local schools and hundreds of members of the local community.  The project also won best community rail photo, taken by local photographer Ashley Franklin.

A group from Derby will visit Vadodara in India next week to discuss how artists in the two cities can work together to produce new and innovative work.

Representatives from regional dance house Déda, Normanton-based visual arts charity Artcore and the University of Derby will head to India on Saturday October 17 for a ten-day visit with counterparts in Vadodara.

They aim to link together visual and dance artists in Derby and India’s fastest growing city to create work that would be exhibited and performed in both cities.