About MishMash Productions

MishMash Productions’ vision is to transform perceptions of what classical music could and should be, particularly for young, school and family audiences. Our mission is to introduce and expose every child in the UK (no matter their socio-economic background) to live classical music via experiences where they feel welcome, and where they can enjoy and engage with the music.

We deliver these aspirations through:

1) Producing, and co-producing excellent music led productions for young audiences.

2) Touring productions across the UK and internationally (to professional and community venues, festivals and schools).

3) Delivering accessible and inclusive training for musicians, specifically targeting currently under-represented groups.

4) Delivering an ensemble in residence scheme in our 3 ‘putting down roots’ areas of the East Midlands, West Midlands and North East

5) Driving sector development through the championing of access, diversity and inclusion; facilitating a producers forum; and advocating innovation in research, evaluation and digital provision.

You can find out more about our team by clicking the link below:

Productions

Children, young people and families are the best audiences to make work for. We under-estimate their capacity to engage with sophisticated, exciting, challenging and stimulating music at our peril; and in the UK we sometimes assume that children need to participate and create the music themselves in order to be absorbed by it. At MishMash Productions we are fascinated by the young person as sophisticated audience members in their own right, with the ability to appreciate, engage with and wonder in the broadest of musical offerings. We collaborate with directors and designers to present music intuitively for young audiences, supporting their access to and enjoyment in a range of sound-worlds. We programme exciting music that we, as musicians, are passionate about and then explore how to stage the sounds to make sense of the music for young ears. The musicians memorise their parts so they are free to move and connect with the audience and we tease out the exciting elements of each piece to capture the audience’s full attention. Innovative sets and costume help spark the children’s imaginations whilst framing the music always at centre stage. This concept works, as evidenced by the extraordinary responses of both children and their adults, audiences at leafy suburban theatres, cosmopolitan concert halls, inner city schools, and rural libraries.

Our productions to date include:

Hubbub: A Musical Adventure (2015) toured nationally in 2016 and 2019. More information can be found here.

Smile (2017) was the first production in our trilogy of collaborations with Inspire: Culture, Learning and Libraries (Nottinghamshire) and Nottingham City Library Service. Smile won the Best Family Welcome Award at the Fantastic for Families Awards in 2018 and was the first UK production to be featured at the international YAMSession conference in Norway in 2021. Smile toured regionally in 2017 and nationally in 2018/19 and 2021. More information can be found here.

Strange Creatures (2019) - the second of our collaborations with library partners Strange Creatures toured regionally in 2019 and nationally in 2020 and 2022. More information can be found here.

Inside Out (2019) was our first co-production, in collaboration with the renowned Villiers String Quartet this performance toured nationally in 2019. More information can be found here.

The BBC Concert Orchestra Family Concert, Musical Roots, in February 2020 was our first large-scale co-production and played to packed audiences as part of the Imagine Festival at the SouthBank Centre. More information can be found here.

String! (2021) - co-produced with the acclaimed Gildas String Quartet premiered at the Nottingham Chamber Music Festival and will tour nationally in 2023. More information can be found here.

Chasing Dots (2022) developed out of R&D with the Royal Northern Sinfonia in 2021 featuring a String Quartet of their players the production premiered at the SAGE in Gateshead before touring to local schools and will feature at the Nottingham Chamber Music Festival in 2022. More information can be found here.

Training

In addition to our work in schools, and touring productions, we also work to support professional musicians in developing their performance practice to assist in our aspiration to challenge perceptions of classical music. To do this we deliver professional development opportunities with groups of individual musicians as well as established ensembles, working with professional theatre directors and the MishMash creative team to build a performance practice based on principles of connection and communication.

We are particularly concerned with representation and will be prioritising development programmes with musicians from groups currently under-represented in our sector.

Please follow the links for more information on our workforce development and sector development work.

Putting Down Roots

Over the next 3 years we will be focusing our Ensemble in Residence programme and developing our touring networks in the following areas of the UK:

• The East Midlands

• The West Midlands

• The North East

We are working with key partners in each of these areas to bring live music experiences to children and young people in historically underserved areas.

Opportunities

We are currently advertising for a Performer/Puppeteer for our forthcoming collaboration with Nottingham City Libraries. Please see the call-out here.