MMA Conference was fun and interesting

Alice Dagger and Teresa Rogers of Black Cat Music at MMA.

Black Cat Music exhibited a comprehensive range of equipment for music, performance, practice and theatre at the 2012 MMA Conference held at Rugby School, Warwickshire, 18th to 20th May. Products on show from the Black Cat Music range included music posture chairs, music stands, the z3 iPad stand, Preface Conductor's stand, Mighty Bright lights, music folders and of course sound-isolating practice rooms. 

Alice Dagger, Marketing Manager of Black Cat Music said, “as usual, the MMA Conference was both fun and interesting for all involved. Congratulations to the organisers, and many thanks to Rugby School for kindly hosting the event'. 

Sales Manager, Teresa Rogers, added, 'it was great to catch up with so many familiar faces from the MMA (Music Teaching Professionals) Association. We had plenty of new products to talk about, such as our new Wenger conBRIO music posture chair, the Edge instrument storage system, and our z3 iPad stand. It was great to see so much interest in our sound-isolating Music Practice Rooms, which are a really good cost-effective solution for creating extra space and solving noise problems in school music departments'.

New dynamic frame chair supports natural movement of musicians - discount offer still on

Until the end of May, the Nota conBRIO chair is available from Black Cat Music with a ten per cent reduction from the usual price. 

Built on a dynamic, flexible frame that encourages and supports a musician’s natural movement the Nota conBRIO chair was developed following years of discussions with educators and musicians who were looking to progress the functionality of existing music posture chairs. Inventors, Wenger explained, “with the variety of postural positions required of musicians, and brain, mind, and body research establishing significant links between movement and learning we knew we had to develop a dynamic chair.” The Nota conBRIO chair, with its cantilever frame, is as much a “teaching tool” as a chair. Built on a dynamic frame that encourages and supports the musician’s natural movement, it promotes the engagement of the musician’s entire body in the musical performance. It also further enhances the chair’s ability to mimic a standing posture - the posture that is the strongest and most supportive - when in a seated position. “There’s never been a music chair that provides such a stable, yet fluid foundation and the means to so co-engage in the musical performance” said a Wenger spokesman. Another smart feature is music directors can mix and match the ConBrio with the traditional Nota chair as the look and footprint of the chairs allow them to work together, even inter-stacking the two models of chairs on the same cart. 

Out and about at Frankfurt Musikmese

Black Cat at ISM’s Going for Gold conference

Alice Dagger at the ISM conference.

Martin Loft on the Black Cat stand at the ISM 'Going for Gold' Conference.

The Black Cat team exhibited at the ISM 'Going for Gold' Conference 2012 showcasing some exciting new products and offering a special discount on Black Cat products to ISM delegates. 

Martin Loft (pictured on the Black Cat stand) congratulated the organisers on an interesting conference programme including some great live music. 

This year's annual conference held at LSO St Luke's and Guildhall School of Music & Drama (13 and 14 April) was described as “a hugely enjoyable event with performance at its heart.” 

The ISM holds a unique position, with its membership reflecting the broad spectrum of activity in professional music making, composing and performing, along with those directly involved in music education at all levels, from nursery to conservatoire and university. The ISM conference is an essential calendar event. 

This year's conference celebrated aspiration and achievement through a wide variety of thought-provoking talks, debate and live music, including legendary conductor Sir Colin Davis in conversation with journalist and writer Richard Morrison, a concert celebrating 100 years of jazz composer/arranger Gil Evans by the Guildhall Jazz Band, Professor John Irving’s talk on Mozart and a masterclass with Guildhall students led by soprano Amanda Roocroft. 

Additional discount on Classic 50 music stands

During April, Black Cat Music is offering an additional 5 per cent discount on their best selling Classic 50 music stands. Quantity discount breaks allow purchase prices as low as £38.00. Schools and colleges looking to equip with new music stands designed for robust and regular handling can take advantage of this great offer throughout April. 

Already a top seller, the popular Classic 50 Music Stand is tough enough to handle the hardships of regular classroom use thanks to a formula of advanced polymers offering inherent tensile strength that will not bend or dent like metal stands. Its elegant design makes it quiet and rattle-free during performances. And the scratch resistant desk surface also incorporates a unique recess for keeping pencils in place. The patented one-hand height adjustment of the music desk is simplicity itself, requiring no screw or locking collar adjustments. To learn more watch the Classic 50 put through its paces at YouTube.comFor full details on the April offer can be found on the Black Cat Music web site. 

Music Practice Rooms are ‘spot on’ for Lancaster and Morecambe College

Lancaster and Morecambe College discovered that by installing three Music Practice Rooms, the college not only made more effective use of available space, but was able to reach out to support musicians in the local community. 

Head of Music at Lancaster and Morecambe College, Pete French explained that “this is only the third year we have been running this course and we required proper facilities. There was a need for music practice rooms because we had facilities that were a little bit outdated and we wanted something new to accommodate the new course that we are building on.” Describing the new suite of music practice rooms supplied and installed by Black Cat Music he said, “the facility used to be a lecture theatre, it was just one space we could use, fortunately now we've got three spaces. The music practice rooms are being used every day with all three year groups time tabled in, so they are getting maximum use. We also have some work with an outside community organisation called ‘More Music in Morecambe’ who are now hiring them out on a Tuesday night, so we are getting use in the evenings as well, not just in the daytimes.” The opportunity for other local musicians to hire the facilities is also important for the college within the community. 

The rooms, from MusicPracticeRooms.com , use a prefabricated panel design that is affordable, easy to install and allows rooms to be custom configured to suit available space. “We are very happy having them here,” continued Pete French. “After the college had planned how we were going to use the existing space they built in the floor plinth in what was the old lecture theatre and got the maximum use of space available. Black Cat Music then came up and erected the music practice rooms in a pretty short period of time, last summer. The service we got from Black Cat was absolutely spot on,” said Pete. “The music practice rooms have changed the whole nature of the course, because they are so sound-proofed. Before we had a big echoing lecture theatre, now we have three contained spaces. The students love them and yes, they work very effectively.” 

“We found out about MusicPracticeRoms.com on the Internet. We got prices from several other possibilities, some of which were a lot more than Black Cat Music, which came out the best in terms of overall cost.” Information and technical specifications for Music Practice Rooms can be found at MusicPracticeRooms.com or by contacting MPR on 0844 846 9740 for a free consultation. 

Lana is Sevenoaks Young Musician of the Year 2012

Judge Ruth Gerald, third place winner Kristina
Greally, winner Lana Trimmer, runner up
Laure Chan and judge William Bruce.

Black Cat Music would like to congratulate Lana Trimmer for winning the Sevenoaks Young Musician of the Year competition 2012.  Lana is a highly talented violinist from Clifton College, Bristol.  Our congratulations also to all the competitors, who achieved a superb standard of performance in the competition.


Fifteen year old Lana began learning the violin with Bristol Suzuki at the age of 3 and, at 7, won a place at the RCM Junior Department to study with Marius Bedeschi, and did very well in the Hugh Bean Competition. Continuing studies at Guildhall SMD, Lana also gained success in a competition in Italy. At Clifton College she obtained Grade 8 Distinction aged 10 but then changed to viola! In 2009 Lana took up the violin again, with Mr Bedeschi and has enjoyed successes - winning the King Thelma Award at Bath, the ‘overall best performer’ in South Glamorgan and in 2011 winning both the Bristol Rotary and Bath Young Musician of the Year competitions. She loves fashion and shopping!