Cultural Services Annual Report 2013/14 The four main service delivery areas are now: Ÿ Halls and Music Development Ÿ Fine and Applied Art Ÿ Museum Services Ÿ Learning and Engagement Cultural Services provide the operation, management, development and promotion of arts, heritage, cultural and science services throughout the city through access to high quality educational resources, promoting inclusion in delivering outreach activities. Facts and Figures Ÿ The Creative Learning programme delivered 420 events and activities to 8,756 children, young people and adults. This is a good deal higher than the target figure for core delivery and benefited from National Museum of Scotland funding for Scotland Creates. Ÿ The Caird Hall continues to deliver a varied programme of performances, conferences, events and graduations with 373 taking place with this year's attendance of 114,285. Ÿ The McManus attendance figures were 152,661. Despite this being a reduction on a particularly good year for attendances previously, it is still significantly above targets following redevelopment. Ÿ Cultural Services hosted the third in a series of four partnership exhibitions with V&A London Modern Masters in Print and included prints by Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali and Andy Warhol, considered four of the 20th Century's greatest artists. www.leisureandculturedundee.com/culture Caird Hall The Caird Hall is Dundee's major arts, concert and conference venue located in the heart of the city with easy access via the newly refurbished pedestrianised City Square. It is Grade A listed and has four star theatre status awarded by Visit Scotland. The Caird Hall celebrated 90 years in 2013, quite an achievement for a venue built only as a Concert Hall. As part of the Celebrations Dundee born organist Gordon Stewart gave a performance which was warmly received as was the scrumptious birthday cake. Despite hosting virtually the same amount of events as last year, with 373, there was a reduction in attendance figures at the Caird Hall with 114,285. This trend is inline with the business in other similar venues for the same period and follows three solid years of growth. The Caird Hall hosted a number of high profile concerts including Simple Minds with their Greatest Hits Tour, Britain's Got Talent phenomenon Susan Boyle on her first ever tour, and the Modfather Paul Weller, who has commented previously on the great audiences at the Caird Hall and this gig was part of an exclusive 10 date tour which Paul had a hand in putting together. Other concerts included The City of Discovery Charity Concert with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Leslie Garrett, Christmas with the Ratpack, TV Star Jane McDonald, The Ladyboys of Bangkok, Triple 80s Header with Go West, Hue & Cry and The Christians, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Scottish Ensemble seasons and many more! Comedy also played a major part in the programme with appearances by the current biggest stars including Micky Flanagan, Reginald D Hunter, Jack Dee, The Lumberjacks and Father Ted star Ardal O'Hanlon. The Caird Hall is established as a conference venue and the programme included the Embroiderers Guild Regional Members Day, The Jehovah Witness Conventions, The Order of the Eastern Star, The Church of Scotland AGM and The Scottish Trade Union Congress Women's Conference. The Friends of the Caird Hall Organ staged the first ever Battle of the Organs Concert in Scotland with support from Viscount Organs and two world class organists, Carol Williams and Kevin Bowyer. Although only set up in 2010 the Friends play an important role in the promotion and development of the world class Harrison and Harrison Organ. Tayside Contracts and Dundee Sports Awards hosted their glittering presentations and a number of local musical societies and professional companies, united to present the first Springfest, a Festival of Classical Music for Dundee in March. The BBC recorded their Question Time programme with David Dimbleby and Classic FM broadcast live from the Caird Hall to celebrate the tenth anniversary of its partnership with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. John Suchet who attended the University of Dundee presented the flagship morning programme. www.leisureandculturedundee.com/culture Brendan Cole and Anton Du Beke starred in their own individual Dance Shows which proved just as exciting for the audiences as their appearances on Strictly Come Dancing. In between all of the events a programme of capital works was co- ordinated including the refurbishment to the Ashton Hall and the new carpeting/matting at all of the main doors. This was appropriate to compliment the new steps and external ramps which were part of the City Square refurbishment. The full events listing also included Graduations, Presentations, Dare to be Digital, Opera, Ballet, Cat Show and Schools Concerts. The Caird Hall continues to play a major role in the quality of life for the citizens of Dundee. Dundee City Box Office Dundee City Box Office is the main ticketing agency in Dundee and provides a professional ticketing service to the majority of venues in Dundee, event organisers, amateur societies and charitable groups within the area. In July the Box Office made the long awaited move to a purpose built facility at 16 City Square. This new facility allows staff to provide a vastly improved service to the public and enhances the visitor experience. The new box office was officially opened by the Vice-Chair of Leisure and Culture Dundee Sinclair Aitken with the assistance of The Ladyboys of Bangkok. Since the move staff have received many positive comments from customers on the new facility, and the excellent service provided. The ticketing system Audienceview was upgraded in spring 2014 and this allowed for a refresh of the online website which is now more user friendly and attractive to customers. The Community Information team assisted greatly in this upgrade and continue to provide support to the Box Office. With the new online service the Box Office provides e-flyers to customers direct to their inbox announcing on sale dates, ticket offer and events listings and this helps us to engage positively with our customers. www.leisureandculturedundee.com/culture A highlight for the staff this year was a visit to the new office by the dancer Brendan Cole prior to his Show at the Caird Hall. The total number of tickets sold was 119,762 up 3% on the previous year. Music Development The quality and diversity of applications received for the Dundee Musicians Awards resulted in the external panel, granting the following four Awards: Ÿ Richard Gordon - Support for Music Business Training Course. Ÿ Dundee Russian School - Record and translate Russian Songs and their equivalent Scottish Songs for the choir to perform. Ÿ Sonny Carntyne - Production of Music Video as part of a 6 month 'music in residency' with Fleet Collective. Ÿ Layla Brown - To learn and perform a “Birthday Hansel” by Benjamin Britten and set Mary Brooksbank's poem a “Dundee Lassie” to music. The music grants administered on behalf of Dundee City Council provided support to the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Ensemble, Jazz Scotland, Dundee Choral Union, Dundee Symphony Orchestra, Dundee Chamber Music, Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, Music in Hospitals, Dundee Blues Bonanza, Children's Classic Concerts, Scottish Opera and Scottish Chamber Music to further enhance the musical offering within the City. The Soundbase Summer Slam for 12 - 18 year olds once again proved successful and thoroughly enjoyed by all participants. The new Soundbase Byte recordings in April and November caught the imagination of the participants and a unique tour of the Solid Silver 60's stage set by the Road Manager added to the excitement. A successful collaboration between Music Development and Tayside Health Arts Trust provided a Musicality Workshop as part of the Luminate Festival in the Marryat Hall. Over 100 people attended with song tutor Debra Salem and music tutor Paul Wright leading the group in an enjoyable afternoon session of singing and music. World Music is an established part of the Caird Hall programme with concerts from Claudia Aurora a Portuguese Fado singer and a singing and dancing workshop and concert by Black Umfolosi 5 the World famous acappella group from Zimbabwe. www.leisureandculturedundee.com/culture The Big Big Sing Day took place in the Caird Hall, which was part of the Glasgow 2014 Cultural Programme and an official Festival 2014 Commonwealth Games Event. Over 300 people attended with a fun packed afternoon of song and workshops with inspirational choirmasters Stephen Deazley and Eugene Skeef, singing songs from Africa, the Caribbean, Samoa, Canada and listening to the brilliant sounds and rhythms of the Commonwealth. The inaugural Springfest took place in March 2014. Springfest is a festival of classical music for Dundee which included a fantastic programme of concerts for both adults and children, with over 20 events taking place. Springfest is about celebrating local and national musical talent, from the RSNO to Dundee Symphony Orchestra, with audience development as a key aim. As part of the Games for Scotland Programme, Dundee Dance Day was a unique celebration of dance, which was organised by Music Development and involved a day long celebration beginning with a Mass Zumba Party in City Square and continued with exhilarating dance performances and workshops in the Caird Hall and Marryat Hall. The day showcased an impressive range of dance styles, from a Tea Dance to Bollywood, Sword Dancing, Hip- Hop, Street and Contemporary Dance and was open to people of all ages and abilities. A total of 96 events were staged with 2,707 participants. This figure is up significantly due to first full year with part time music development officer in post.