Sheffield Makes Music: What’s On

From the town hall steps to the train station, from bars and cafes to the Moor Market, music will fill Sheffield city centre for 24 hours on Friday 9 June. In collaboration with BBC Music Day, Sheffield Makes Music will bring 1000 musicians – some already well-known, others newly emerging – to perform across the city from dawn until dusk.

Just like the venues, the music on offer throughout the day will be varied and often unexpected. From folk to grime, from techno to classical orchestras, the event will celebrate the diversity on offer in Sheffield’s exciting music scene.

The events kick off at 8am in Sheffield Train Station, as Sheffield University’s Indian Music Ensemble brightens up the morning commute with a traditional Raga performance. The music will continue here until 5pm, including folk punk by Lily Gaskell and one man band Stuart Faulkner.

Throughout the afternoon there will be the chance to follow the acoustic Sounds All Around Trail, curated by the Leadmill. Beginning at Food Hall at 11:30am and ending up at the Green Room by 5pm, some of Sheffield’s biggest talents will be playing intimate acoustic sets in the city’s cafes, bars and pubs.

The Moor Market will also play host to an afternoon silent disco and the Concord Allstars, a marching band made up of 8-12 year olds, kicking off at 6pm.

All afternoon Barker’s Pool will be busy with performances from a wide variety of emerging local talents. This includes Otis Mensah, a Sheffield-based hip-hop artist, and performances of original numbers by the All Stars Band, an ensemble whose members all happen to have a learning disability and/or autism. The nearby Winter Gardens will also feature folk and classical performances.

There’ll also be other classical music throughout the day. Opera on Location perform an Aria on the town hall steps at lunchtime, while local choirs sing Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem in beautiful St Marie’s Cathedral at 7:30pm. Topping off the classical line-up will be a late-night, outdoor performance of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana in Tudor Square.

During the day, Trafalgar Warehouse will be hosting the first No Bounds Festival. Alongside performances from artists at the forefront of techno and electronic music, there will be Q&A sessions and workshops, such as live coding masterclasses and an opportunity to question Nina Kraviz on her work. As the night goes on, simultaneous raves at Hope Works and Trafalgar Warehouse will conclude the festival. Headliners include Helena Hauff and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, and there will be a free shuttle bus between the two venues.

Meanwhile, Yellow Arch presents an evening of performances which transform sounds from all corners of the world into modern dance music. Orchestra of Samples uses recordings from hundreds of musicians across the globe to create an innovative audio-visual live performance, while Kog and the Zongo Brigade fuse African music with funk, reggae and jazz.

Abbeydale Picture House will host more multi-media performance, thanks to the album launch of ‘Frontiers of a Seductive Mind’ by the surreal Cuckoo Clocks. The Up North Session Orchestra will also accompany them for this special performance.

Sheffield’s lively grime and RnB scene will also feature at West Street Live, with performances from well-established artists Matic Mouth and L-Dizz.

For a full line-up of the day’s events, head here.