Philharmonia's Hear and Now 2026 at DMU

MTIRG again supported the Philharmonia's Leicester Hear and Now project.
Led by Tim Steiner, musicians from the Philharmonia, Leicestershire Music and Leicester Musical Memory Box/Geet Sangeet worked alongside people living with dementia to design, create and perform an hour-long show at The Venue@DMU with song, poetry and dance. The ensemble of musicians included a full complement of strings, bassoon, two harps, keyboard and mridangam and the voices of 35 young and elderly participants.

Following two weekends of preparation, the 2026 show was presented on 16 May.  It was based on the theme of food, including lively renditions of songs such as 'Yes, We Have No Bananas' and 'Khaike Paan Banaras Wala', as well as an experimental percussion accompaniment to a walk-through video featuring Leicester's 'Golden Mile' and a live musicalised demonstration of roti making.

 

Participants in the 2026 Leicester Hear and Now show

Hear and Now Leicester Project

MTIRG supoorted and hosted the Philharmonia Orchestra's Hear and Now project in Leicester this year.
Hear and Now is a community music project run in Leicester by the Philharmonia in collaboration with Leicester Musical Memory Box/Geet Sangeet, Leicestershire Music and Drum and Brass Leicester. The project brings together older people living with dementia and their carers, young singers and instrumentalists from grassroots community organisations, with players of the Philharmonia to devise and present a varied programme of music, poetry and movement.  Over four weekends the participants, led by composer and animateur Tim Steiner, developed the performance, which was presented in the Sue Townsend Theatre on 27 April 2025. DMU Arts and Festivals Management students gained work experience assisting the show's producer, Philharmonia Community and Engagement Manager Stephanie Waldron.

Hear and Now in rehearsal, PACE Studio 1

 

 

 

Hear and Now performance, Sue Townsend Theatre 27 April 2025