While our parliament descends into performance art, music teachers continue helping students experience the joy of learning and playing an instrument.
There’s lots of negativity in the media and the press though, and plenty of concerning and worrying news, so we hope you’ll enjoy reading our latest round-up of positive stories about music and music education.
- Junior Extreme Cellists fundraising for Music for All
- Sound Diplomacy report gives further evidence of social and economic benefits of music
- National Orchestra for All’s FREE season finale concert
- Google’s doodle celebrating Johann Sebastian Bach
- New Youth Performance Partnerships in Croydon, Derby, Medway, Plymouth and Salford
- PRS Foundation’s 45 Talent Development partners for 2019/20 were announced this week
Four young cellists from our home city of Sheffield are the members of a Junior Extreme Cello group. The 12 to 15 year olds will be playing up mountains, down caves, and at other “extreme” locations in the Peak District on 1 April, in aid of the charity Music for All, which provides instruments and learning opportunities for people from disadvantaged backgrounds or who would not otherwise get the opportunity to play.
The Junior Extreme Cello group hopes to raise £1000 for Music for All. We’ve sponsored them – it’s a great cause.
A new report from Sound Diplomacy reveals how investing in music can lead to economic, social and cultural development in cities. One of the report’s 13 recommendations is to reverse cuts to music education funding. Read the report here.
National Orchestra for All’s season finale concert takes place in Birmingham on 14 April. Tickets are free and the concert includes the world premiere of a newly commissioned piece developed by NOFA members. Tickets and more information here.
This could be fun for you and your students. Google’s “doodle” (the animated graphic above the search bar) on 21 March celebrated Johann Sebastian Bach and encouraged users to compose a melody, which Google then harmonises into Bach’s style using machine learning. Have a go here.
A Youth Performance Partnership programme is to be delivered in Croydon, Derby, Medway, Plymouth and Salford. “World-class cultural organisations will team up with local schools to encourage young people into the performing arts,” according to an announcement from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport. £5 million will be used to set up Youth Performance Partnerships, particularly focused on engaging young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. More details
PRS Foundation’s 45 Talent Development partners for 2019/20 were announced this week. They were selected for the “quality and range of opportunities they are offering in their region/music specialism and the year-round impact their work is having on the music creators they support.” We love reading about projects making a positive contribution to society (we’ve worked with and volunteered for many social enterprises and charities over the years).
It’s good to read about impactful work being supported – for example, Drake Music is one of the 45 Talent Development partners. Drake Music will create new opportunities for Disabled musicians. Further information on the Drake Music website.
What next?
- Read earlier editions of Good Music News
- If there’s something you would like us to cover in Good Music News, please email us.
- Here’s some good news for music teachers: our free 29 tips for a thriving music teaching business will give you things you can do immediately to boost your music teaching business. They’ll also make you smile.