Making Music (National Federation of Music Societies)
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| Formation | February 23, 1935 |
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| Type | Umbrella arts organisation, Not for profit |
| Legal status | A company limited by guarantee. Registered in England and Wales no. 308632. Registered Charity in England and Wales no. 249219 and in Scotland no. SC038849 |
| Purpose | To be the leading ally and advocate for voluntary music making |
| Headquarters | 8 Holyrood Street , London, United Kingdom SE1 2EL |
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Key people
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Barbara Eifler, Executive Director |
| Website | www |
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Formerly called
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National Federation of Music Societies |
Making Music (formerly the National Federation of Music Societies) is a UK organisation for voluntary music, with around 3,000 member groups. Its members include choirs, orchestras, music promoters, jazz and wind bands, community festivals, and samba groups, among others.
Making Music aims to be the leading ally and advocate for voluntary music making, and to help communities and individuals flourish through music making.
The organisation believes that there are three principal objectives it needs to fulfil if it is to succeed in its mission and realise its vision. These are:
The National Federation of Music Societies (NFMS) was founded in York on 23 February 1935 primarily to support amateur music groups in the wake of the Great Depression. At the time, there was concern about how the economy was affecting professional musicians. Amateur choirs, orchestras and music clubs were struggling to promote concerts and even to survive, and, as a result, they were offering fewer engagements to professional artists. A group of influential musicians decided to create Regional Federations of Music Societies to help amateur choirs and orchestras to exchange information and music, avoid clashes of concert dates and arrange professional artist tours in order to make their events more financially viable. By the end of 1934 there were 11 federations representing 486 societies. In 1935, these federations united to form the NFMS with the support of the Carnegie UK Trust and at the instigation of Frederick Woodhouse of the Incorporated Society of Musicians and Sir George Dyson (1883-1964), the first Chairman and President.
Historically they distributed public funding to music societies, beginning in 1935 with those of The Carnegie UK Trust in 1935. When The Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts (CEMA) was created, it invited them to allocate funds to larger performing societies and music clubs who were not eligible for support from Carnegie. This role continued when CEMA became the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1945. They stopped administering national funds to amateur music groups in England in 1984, but did continue this practice until 2007 with funds provided at a regional level by some of the English Regional Arts Boards. And in Scotland they continued to provide this role for the Scottish Arts Council until it became Creative Scotland in 2011.
In 2000, the NFMS rebranded to Making Music to reflect the diverse nature of the amateur music sector and its membership.
Making Music is a registered charity. They have an office in London and a team of Area Managers who work alongside volunteers in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Making Music has seven non-executive directors on its Board of Trustees, who work for the organisation on a voluntary basis, and are responsible for the overall wellbeing of the organisation with the Executive Director, Barbara Eifler.
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