We’ve been thinking deeply about the Usual Place values…

As we move into the busy festivities of Christmas we have added an ‘unusual’ and special event to our programme and we want to share the news with everyone who supports and follows The Usual Place.

You are all invited to either drop in or to linger longer.  You also don’t have to come, it’s just an open invitation!

Sunday 10th December 2023 is the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We will be marking this by providing a contemplative space within our beautiful building for anyone to come along, to sit, listen and think.

We will light up the cafe area and have places to sit. Filling every part of the space will be the most beautiful, atmospheric music peppered with voices from across the globe creating an atmosphere of peace and hope.

We invite you to be part of this experience…

A special event to mark the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Usual Place, Academy Street, Dumfries DG1 1BZ

Sun 10th Dec 2023
at 4pm  & 5pm

A contemplative space to listen and think.

A 56 minute recording of Voices by Max Richter will be played at 4pm and 5pm. Come into the space to experience this powerful piece of music which was created as a response to our enduring need for compassion.

Free event.  Drop in or sit down to hear the full 56 minute recording at 4pm or 5pm.

Please note no food or drink will be served at this event.

Recording played with kind permission of Decca Publishing
and Studio RichterMahr

The Usual Place has chosen to share this moving recording with you in a free event. We have chosen Voices by Max Richter because it aligns with our own core values:

Everyone is of equal worth
Everyone can contribute to the community
Everyone should be treated with dignity and respect

This event will be simple, contemplative and an opportunity to stop and think within the rush and excitement of the festive season.

“VOICES is 56 minutes of music for orchestra, choir, electronics, solo soprano, solo violin and solo piano.  The orchestra is a radically reimagined ensemble”. As the world has been turned upside down, so have the proportions of this orchestra. It is nearly all basses and cellos.

In addition to readings by a narrator, hundreds of readings of the Universal Declaration Of Human Rights in dozens of languages have been sourced from all over the world. These readings are the aural landscape that this music flows through: they are the VOICES of the title.

The opening words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, drafted in 1948, are “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” These inspiring words are a guiding principle for the whole declaration. At times it is easy to feel hopeless but, just as the problems of our world are of our own making, so the solutions can be. While the past is fixed, the future is yet unwritten, and the declaration sets out an uplifting vision of a better and fairer world that is within our reach if we choose it. VOICES is a musical space to reconnect with these inspiring principles.” Max Richter

Please note, this will be a recording rather than live performance.