Some of you will have seen BCPs Local Plan consultation document recently and we wanted to thank you for your support and concern about how some of the proposed developments may affect Coda’s future on Chewton Farm Road.However, Coda and our work on site is under no threat and, in fact, we are currently pursuing plans to expand our activities and convert more of our disused farm buildings into spaces for cultural activity, learning programmes and creative therapy.Our masterplan (which incorporates ideas from prepandemic consultations with you all) for the stable block and adjacent barns, our car park and driveway, and ideas to upgrade some of our existing spaces is almost ready to publish and we will be very keen for your feedback, so please look out for further news in April.In the meantime, thank you again for your support!
EXAMS & STUDENT SUCCESSESCongratulations to all of our students who have recently taken Trinity or ABRSM exams. The results for February & March have been excellent: 100% passes – ALL with Merits and Distinctions! We would like to do more to highlight student achievements, so if you have any news of recent (music-related) accomplishments, please let us know as we are planning to share these on a more regular basis. CLUB CREATE Our new ‘Club Create’ sessions in partnership with hArt have been underway for a few weeks now and are receiving very positive feedback from participants. We wanted to share some of the artwork that has been created, as we think it is just brilliant!Here are some of the creations for Red Nose Day
… and here are some of the fabulous Easter creations! 
‘Club Create’ arts and crafts sessions for learning disabled adults are led by professional art facilitator Karen Blake and are fun, active workshops with an emphasis on hands-on making for anyone who loves to draw, stick, paint and create!Sessions take place in Coda Music Centre’s Café on a Friday morning from 10.30am to 12pm throughout term time and we would love to encourage a few more people to come along and try Club Create, so we are offering a FREE trial session.
BE CREATIVE – NEW ACTIVITIES FOR LEARNING DISABLED ADULTSFrom late April, together with our partners at Forest Forge and hArt, we are launching a series of fun and engaging activities for learning disabled adults across the New Forest. This will include drama, music and arts & crafts sessions at venues across the area in Ringwood, New Milton and Lyndhurst. Full details are below – please pass on this information to anyone who may enjoy and benefit from these new activities. We are also looking for volunteers to help us out with all of these sessions, so if you think you may be able to volunteer, please get in touch. 
PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITIES 
From next term, we are keen to re-introduce our performance evenings in the Coda Social. These provide fantastic opportunities for students who are keen to perform and are a great way to develop confidence (especially when exams are coming up). These free events will take place on a Friday between 7pm – 9pm in The Coda Social. Dates and details are yet to be confirmed, but will probably include aCLASSICAL EVENING for students who would like to play a classical piece, an ACOUSTIC NIGHT for students wishing to play/perform a non-classical song or piece in any genre and a NIGHT OF VOICES for any students who would like to sing (to a backing track). If you would enjoy performing at one of these evenings, or would benefit from the opportunity to play in front of a friendly audience, we would encourage you to speak to your tutor so they can let us know. NEW COURSES FOR SUMMER TERM Our evening ADULT BEGINNERS PIANO COURSE (Tuesdays 7.30 – 8.30pm) is now full for the Summer Term. We have a waiting list for the next available evening course, so please get in touch if you would like to be added to this.We do still have ONE space available for the daytime Wednesday 2.30 – 3.30pm course, starting 27th April, so please get in contact if you would like to sign-up!There are still spaces available on our ADULT IMPROVERS UKULELE COURSE which will run on Thursdays 6 – 7pm, starting 28th April
in The Acoustic Room, Coda Music Centre.
The course will run for 10 weeks and costs £100. WE ARE ALSO LOOKING FOR NEW RECRUITS FOR …
Our KIDS UKULELE BAND. If you are aged 6-11, would like to learn to play the ukulele, meet new friends and be part of a Ukulele Band for young people, Coda’s Kids Ukulele Band sessions are enjoyable, informal sessions which teach the foundations – but, most of all, how to have FUN with the ukulele!Sessions take place on Thursdays 4.45 – 5.45pm at Coda Music Centre£5 per session (paid termly). 
and our HEALTH & HAPPINESS CHOIR. If you are over 50 and enjoy singing for pleasure (even if you think you can’t!), the choir covers a wide range of songs alongside fun, accessible breathing and vocal exercises. Belonging to a singing group is good for body and soul and The Coda Health & Happiness Choir is a great way to enjoy group singing – as well as improve your wellbeing and social life!The choir runs on a Thursday from 10am to midday (with a break for coffee/tea in the cafe) at Coda Music Centre and is £5 PAYG. If you are interested in any of our courses or groups, please contact the Coda office. To speak to reception, call 01425 276161 or email contact@coda.org.ukGUY GARDNER: THE MIRROR GAME
Our brilliant piano tutor Guy Gardner is also a successful author! Guy’s latest publication, a historical crime novel entitled ‘The Mirror Game’ was released in January 2022 and is getting amazing reviews. We have copies available in the Coda cafe for anyone who might like to buy one, or visit Guy’s website here www.guygardner.co.uk/books for links to buy online. LAURA REID: LOST & FOUND
Congratulations also to Coda tutor Laura Reid, who wrote the music for ‘Detritus’ – one of seven micro-operas collectively called ‘Lost & Found’ written by all-female teams for the Royal Opera House to mark International Women’s Day.St Pancras train station became the pop-up venue for Lost & Found on 8th March which received 4* in The Guardian – to read the review click here
An enormous thank you to everyone who has already sent stories, images, video and audio clips of your part in Coda’s story to date, it is hugely appreciated. We are really enjoying these celebrations of 25 years of Coda Music Trust! If you have a story about Coda or picture from the past 25 years that you would like to share with us – or if you would like to send us a message letting us know how Coda has made a difference to you or your family, we would love to know how we have impacted your lives. Please send all stories, images and messages to marina.tucker@coda.org.uk Once we have collated them all, we will find a way to share these with the Coda community. We wish you all a happy and relaxing Easter Holiday and look forward to welcoming you all back to Coda for the Summer Term.
