News from producers around Derbyshire

Cyclists joining the annual Cycle Derby Spring Classic Sportive on Sunday April 23 will be vying for the DNS King or Queen of the Mountain crown for the first time this year.

A 100m section of Long Lane between Radbourne and Longford will be laid with timing chip technology and riders taking part in the 40k, 80k and 160k will be timed on the uphill climb.

Both the fastest male and female riders will win the DNS sponsored King or Queen of the Mountain title, organised by Cycle Derby and HUUB Events.

Innovative theatre company Creative Cow brings an evening of hilarity and satire in this witty adaptation of Graham Greene’s spy thriller ‘Our Man in Havana’.  Known as one of Greene’s ‘entertainments’, the play tells the tale of a luckless vacuum cleaner salesman who gets sucked in to a dirty world of espionage and double agents when the chance of helping out MI6 with a job or two proves too good an offer to resist.

Derby-based Sinfonia Viva, the East Midlands’ only professional orchestra, will mark its 35^th anniversary this year by touring the region with its inflatable mobile venue and is inviting local creative groups to join them.

The Orchestra will start its month-long tour by erecting its mobile venue in Derby Market Place on June 13 and 14 before moving onto Mansfield, Scunthorpe, Mablethorpe and North Norfolk.

Derby Comedy Festival will burst into life in the Cathedral Quarter on Saturday April 15 with  free entertainment for all the family between 11am and 3pm in the Market Place.

‘Blast Off!’ will be the launch event for Derby Comedy Festival (Friday May 5 to Sunday May 14). It has been produced by FFTS Events Ltd and supported by the Cathedral Quarter Business Improvement District (BID).

Derby College’s agriculture apprentice Mike Bosworth (23) has won a place in the  finals of the National Shepherd Association’s Young Shepherd competition after winning a bronze medal in the regional heats.

Mike, from Little Eaton, is combining his apprenticeship on the working farm at College’s Broomfield Hall land-based campus in Morley with supporting younger students there.

Following an incredibly popular preview at Derby Theatre in 2015, and a phenomenally successful, award-winning run  at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2016, JOAN, a Milk Presents  Production in association with Derby Theatre, has  embarked on another national tour and will play at the Wales Millennium Centre, The Oval House, Camden People’s Theatre, Lawrence Batley Theatre, Barnsley Civic, Birmingham Rep and at Touchstones Rochdale.  

A wide range of organisations from across the county exhibited at a series of events for students at Derby College campuses to promote health and wellbeing.

The events were organised by the Derby College Students’ Union at the Roundhouse, Broomfield Hall and Ilkeston campuses.

Not for profit organisations based in the UK with projects that involve the creation, performance and promotion of new music of any genre have until the 8th May to apply for up to £10,000 of funding from the current round of the Open Fund for Organisations. The Open Fund is available to any not-for-profit organisation based in the UK with an eligible project, this includes: 

•    Promoters
•    Festivals
•    Orchestras and large ensembles
•    Talent development or composer development organisations
•    Venues
•    Curators.

PRS for Music Foundation has announced that the next application deadline for the Momentum Music Fund is the 16th May 2017. The Momentum Music Fund offers grants of £5,000-£15,000 for artists/bands to break through to the next level of their careers. Activities eligible for support include: 

•    Recording
•    Touring
•    Marketing.

The next application deadline for the Greggs Foundation Local Community Projects Fund is the 24th June 2017.