Culture of Sheffield

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Sheffield has a growing cultural reputation. 7.2% of Sheffield's working population are employed in the creative industries, well above the national average of 4%.[1] The music scene has produced many music acts during the last 25 years. It is also home to the largest theatre complex outside of London. The council has attempted to build upon these foundations with the creation of the Cultural Industries Quarter.

Contents

[edit] Popular Music

Sheffield has been the home of several well known bands and musicians, with an unusually large number of synth pop and other electronic outfits hailing from there. These include the Human League, Heaven 17, the Thompson Twins, Wavestar and the more industrially inclined Cabaret Voltaire. This electronic tradition has continued: techno label Warp Records was a central pillar of the Yorkshire Bleeps and Bass scene of the early 1990s, and has gone on to become one of Britain's oldest and best-loved dance music labels. Moloko and Autechre, one of the leading lights of so-called intelligent dance music, are also based in Sheffield. The city is also home to Gatecrasher, one of the most popular nightclubs in the north of England.

Sheffield has also seen the birth of Pulp, Def Leppard, Joe Cocker, The Longpigs, and the free improvisers Derek Bailey and Tony Oxley. 1998 Mercury Music Prize award winners Gomez are also connected to Sheffield as some of the founding members went to Sheffield Hallam University together. The immensely successful Arctic Monkeys are currently Sheffield's biggest musical export, and have helped lead the way for chart hits for fellow Sheffield indie bands Milburn, Little Man Tate and The Long Blondes. Other successful Sheffield bands include math rock band 65daysofstatic, glam-punk band Pink Grease, Quirky songsmith Stoney and classic rockers Firegarden. Sheffield was home to the world renowned Lindsay string quartet, who are retired from the stage in June 2005.

The city's ties with music were acknowledged in 1999, when the National Centre for Popular Music, a museum dedicated to the subject of popular music was opened. It was not as successful as was hoped, however, and later evolved to become a live music venue, then in February 2005 the unusual steel-covered building would become the students' union for Sheffield Hallam University.

The three main music venues are the Sheffield Arena, the City Hall and Leadmill for smaller acts. Other live music venues in the city include the Corporation, the Boardwalk, the University of Sheffield, The Plug, and the Studio Theatre at the Crucible Theatre. Smaller venues supporting the local scene include The Grapes, D 'n' R (formerly Under The Boardwalk) and The Cricketers, The Earl, The Harley and The Howard. The legendary Classic Rock Bar is now sadly demolished.

[edit] Classical Music

Sheffield is unusual for a city of its size in having no resident professional orchestra, but there are a number of amateur local orchestras including the Hallam Sinfonia, Sheffield Symphony Orchestra, the Sheffield Chamber Orchestra, the Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra and the City of Sheffield Youth Orchestra. There are also many choirs within Sheffield including The University of Sheffield Singers' Society, Hallam Choral Society, Sheffield Bach Society and Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus. The Lindsay Quartet were based in Sheffield, and their members continue to be actively involved in the city's musical activities. Music in the Round, which started off as an annual festival of chamber music has grown to be a year-round series of performances and tours. The Sheffield Music Academy is an organisation for development of young musical talent across the region.

[edit] Cultural Industries Quarter

The Cultural Industries Quarter has been established in the surrounding area of the Red Tape Studios. Other facilities include the National Centre for Popular Music, now used as a student union, the Leadmill nightclub and Sheffield Science Park. The Showroom Cinema shows independent and foreign films.

[edit] Attractions

See also: Listed buildings in Sheffield

Tudor Square is the largest theatre complex outside London. It has two major theatres, the Lyceum Theatre and the Crucible Theatre as well as the smaller Studio Theatre. Other theatres include the Montgomory and Merlin Theatres. There are four major art galleries, the modern Millennium Galleries, Graves Art Gallery and the Site Gallery which specialises in multimedia. The Mappin Gallery is currently undergoing refurbishment. Sheffield Galleries and Museum Trust that runs all the galleries except Site is part of the Tate partnership programme.

The city also has a number of other attractions such as the Sheffield Winter Gardens and the Peace Gardens. The Botanical Gardens currently undergoing a £6.7 million pound restoration. There is also a city farm at Heeley City Farm and a second animal collection in Graves Park that is open to the public. The city also has several museums, including the Sheffield City Museum, the Kelham Island Museum, the Sheffield Fire and Police Museum, Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet and Shepherd Wheel. Victoria Quays is also a popular canalside leisure and office quarter.

[edit] Media and film

The films The Full Monty, Threads, and Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? were based in the city (indeed, Threads depicted it being destroyed in a thermonuclear war with the Soviet Union!). F.I.S.T. also included several scenes filmed in Sheffield. Actor Sean Bean is from Sheffield and starred in When Saturday Comes, a film based upon his beloved Sheffield United Football Club. Monty Python's travelling Michael Palin also hails from the red and white half of the city. Sheffield's daily newspaper is the Sheffield Star, complemented by the weekly Sheffield Telegraph. The BBC's Radio Sheffield, and the independent Hallam FM and sister station Magic AM broadcast to the city.

[edit] Festivals

Open Up Sheffield is an annual event over the first two weekends in May where local visual artists and fine craft workers invite the public to their studios and other venues. The Sheffield International Documentary Festival, the UK's leading documentary festival, has been run annually since 1994. Grin up North is a two week comedy festival in october. Summer Sounds is a yearly two day world music event.

[edit] Universities

Sheffield has two universities, the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University. The two combined bring 45,000 students to the city every year, including many from the Far East. As a result of its large student population, Sheffield has many bars, cafes, clubs and shops as well as student housing to accommodate them.

The University of Sheffield is stretched over a large area to the west of the city centre. It is among the most respected of the Red Brick universities. It owns the Arts Tower which is currently the tallest building in Sheffield and the tallest university building in the UK. Sheffield Hallam University is also highly respected among New Universities. It is based on a large campus in the city centre. Both universities have extensive links with local industry and the English Institute for Sport.

[edit] Reference

  1. ↑ Council "Facts and Figures" (Last accessed 16 December 2005)

[edit] External links


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