Banded About

Between September 2009 – July 2010 THSH took part in Banded About, an exciting collaboration between six of Birmingham’s leading Music Education organisations: Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (BCMG), the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO), Birmingham Jazz, Birmingham Music Service, Sound It Out Community Music, and Town Hall Symphony Hall (THSH).

Children and Young People from five clusters of Birmingham schools took part in a range of creative ensemble music making led by professional musicians working in partnership with their teachers. Participants also experienced live music performed in the city by each of the partner organisations and gave concerts of their own at some of Birmingham’s most internationally renowned venues.

THSH worked closely with Bishop Vesey Grammar School, Whitehouse Common Primary, Town Junior School and Little Sutton Primary.

Soweto Kinch and associate musicians lead workshops in school and after school, investigating the idea of music’s DNA through fun and experimental workshops involving all forms of music – from Qawwali, Reggae, Irish Folk and Bhangra to Indie and Grime.

The young people involved also explored lyric writing techniques, notation, composition, improvisation and performance. One of the project’s aims was to inspire primary school children to continue with their music making when they reach secondary school.

THSH also worked with multi media artists and a film maker using our Patrick Multimedia Studio so that young people involved in the project were able to document their experiences.

Focus
Making music as part of a creative ensemble (bespoke ensembles in secondary schools and in class groups in curriculum time)
Transition between Key Stage 2 and 3
Working in partnership
CPD for musicians and teachers

Rationale

The traditional school ensembles do not always fit the diversity of musicians in schools in terms of genre and culture
Exploring the creative side of music making will encourage more young people to become involved in music making
Wider opportunities teaching could benefit from creative ideas
Key stage three curriculum music is challenging and new models of practice can only help
Many of the partner organisations already run out-of-school hours creative ensembles
Music leaders need to be skilled at supporting young people’s creative musicianship

Activity

Projects in the primary and secondary school(s) across the year led by the partner music organisation in each cluster focusing on the idea of the creative ensemble
A bespoke creative ensemble will be set up in the secondary school in each cluster
Cross cluster sharing events at the end of each term.
Shared CPD for all musicians, teachers (classroom and instrumental)