Arts & Exhibitions

A Northampton College student with a “burning ambition” to grace the airwaves has landed a Silver Award for a sports show on a local radio station at a leading national awards ceremony. Will Oelrich was recognised for his show on NLive Radio at the 2020 Community Radio Awards, the culmination of an intensive judging process to recognise those producing great quality content and engaging with their communities. The awards ceremony was held virtually for the first time, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Will said: “To get Silver in the community radio awards is a fantastic achievement for me but also for the station. I was buzzing when I won Silver as to be recognised at this level feels amazing. The future for sport is bright at NLive. “It’s a great station to be part of. There is a real community feel, and I love doing my show every week and..

Northampton Borough Council launches Explore Northampton- an augmented reality app available on both iOS and Android devices that will enable residents to explore the town through highly interactive digital experiences. The app encouraging residents to explore Northampton like never before launches with two experiences Discover Christmas and A Walk in the Past. Discover Christmas experience offers a digital festive trail for children enabling them to venture out to Northampton town and help Father Christmas collect all things needed for the big day. On this festive trail they’ll be able to see in augmented reality and collect items such as Christmas trees, elves, reindeers, presents and many more! Children will also be able to meet the big man himself at Delapre Abbey, once they have completed the trail and collected all the items in the town centre. Additionally, the app can bring some festive cheer to anyone who would like a..

Covid-19 has been catastrophic for live music, theatre and the arts in general. Gigs and performances cancelled since March, thousands of jobs gone, companies lost and artists struggling. Strangely, the arts were an afterthought when the government announced its aid package and yet the industry brings in billions of pounds every year. Can we get music back on the stage? Sammy Jones spoke with the Milton Keynes man heading up the search for a solution. Back in the 1980s and 1990s Chris Kemp enriched the memory banks of many a local music fan; as promoter at Milton Keynes venue The Pitz, he was responsible for bringing artists including Iron Maiden, PJ Harvey and Blur to town. After delivering more than 3000 bands to the stage, he retired himself as a promoter, and became a professor and Pro vice Chancellor at a university. And then he set about another challenge –..

Over 100 street artists from across the UK came together in Northampton last month to transform disused public spaces and make them feel accessible again with brightly coloured murals. The annual street art project ‘Wall Games’ was coordinated by the local artist James Thompson with support from Northampton Borough Council, who sourced the locations and provided spray paints and materials. The project saw over 100 walls around the Mayorhold car park and surrounding walkways, including Emporium Way and St James Retail Park transformed into spectacular new murals which celebrate the town’s diverse culture and street art. Featured artists included Leanne Conroy, Sowa, Pad303, Gnasher, Posea, Kem, Snot, Pends, Ruelo, Oker, Rainman, Merc, Skore, Petro, Hope, Sone, Mused, Adam Illes to name but a few. Councillor Anna King, Cabinet member for community safety and engagement, said: “We were thrilled to support the..

Northampton’s LGBTQ and Allies Forum, Northampton Pride Committee and Grosvenor Shopping Northampton are encouraging artists, performers, community groups and individuals to get involved in a social distanced celebration of the LGBTQ community on Saturday, 18 July. Following the cancellation of Pride parade and associated events set to take place in the town centre due to the coronavirus outbreak, Northampton Pride Committee and partners will bring the community together through a Virtual Pride Festival and a motivational campaign across town. LGBTQ individuals in Northampton are invited to share their story as part of a motivational, art installation campaign that will take place across town for the month of July. They can get involved by submitting a 200-word story or a video to forums@northampton.gov.uk by Wednesday, 24 June. The submission could be covering areas such as coming out, living and being part of Northampton LGBTQ community and what Pride means to them...

Students at Northampton College have recorded a ‘virtual cover version’ of a classic feelgood song to highlight their hopes for the future as they look to emerge from lockdown life. Musical Theatre and Dance students compiled their version of the Judy Garland song ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ from their own homes during the COVID-19 restrictions, each sending in videos of them singing and performing. The recordings were then stitched together and laid over an instrumental track to form a full music video. The ballad was originally written for the Wizard of Oz film in 1939 but has become synonymous with being a beacon of hope in difficult times. It was most recently covered by Ariana Grande in the wake of the Manchester Arena bombings in 2017. The track was the brainchild of musical theatre tutor Suzanne Lewis and arranged by music tutor Natalie Evans, who said: “It’s been a very..

Nenescape Landscape Partnership Scheme is calling for pieces of music and songs inspired by the places in the Nene Valley to create a book of songs. In partnership with Northamptonshire Music and Performing Arts Trust and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Nenescape will be launching a community songbook. In November 2017, a 25-minute piece of music, ‘Nene’, was performed by over 1,500 local young people at the Royal Albert Hall, Derngate in Northampton and Peterborough Cathedral. It has since been rearranged by composer Benjamin Till into nine short sections for community choirs and singing groups to perform, and it is now available for free and in full on Nenescape’s website. The pieces follow the flow of the river downstream, starting at its source at Badby and ending where the River Nene meets the sea at the Wash. While so many of us are spending much more time at..