Over the summer we'll be profiling the five winning bids for the government's music partnership grants. Read on to find out all about the Staffordshire Music Partnership.
Children are set to experience a whole new world of music thanks to the linking of a number of creative partners in a new collaborative project, The Staffordshire Music Partnership (SMP).
The SMP has successfully won a tender and been awarded a grant of £200,000 from the government to unite creative agencies including: Manchester Camerata, Make Some Noise, the New Vic Theatre, Sound it Out Community Music and the School Improvement Division, with Cannock Chase District Council, East Staffordshire District Council and Staffordshire Moorlands Council.
County Councillor Maureen Compton, Cabinet Support Member for Cultural Services said: "This is fantastic news for Staffordshire. We have a brilliant music service providing great opportunities for young people to learn an instrument, sing, play in rock bands, orchestras and choirs. This new partnership with the Manchester Camerata, the New Vic, Make Some Noise and Sound it Out and the grant from the government will enable even more of our young people to participate and make more music in a whole range of styles."
A targeted campaign of activities will be rolled out across the key areas of Rugeley, Cheadle and Uttoxeter which will encourage and enable a range of young people to get involved, ambitiously cutting across age ranges from three to 19.
The SMP's music activity initiatives will include:
- Learning an instrument
- Playing together in bands
- Going to live workshops
- Taking part in concerts
- Listening to internationally known musicians appearing in the towns
- Rugeley will also be hosting a family day for young people and their parents and a residential weekend for young composers
Nigel M Taylor, Head of Staffordshire Performing Arts, said: "We are really excited and proud to have been selected as one of the five partnerships around the country. It will give children and young people in the three towns a big boost to their music making opportunities and provide the partners with a chance to work together in new ways.
"We are really keen to see how we can join up music that happens in and out of schools and in the community so that young people have a better and richer experience and hopefully will gain many more skills as well as having a great time."
The SMP's proposals also aim to work closely with local schools and other key groups such as Community and Learning Partnerships to develop the projects and as an initial taster, international violinist Tasmin Little will be visiting some of the schools involved and also working with the Manchester Camerata to put on exciting concerts and workshops locally. However it's not just the children that will benefit as Sound it Out will be working with other partners to provide training for teachers. Make Some Noise will lead on Early Years work and band building projects, whilst the esteemed New Vic theatre will be developing workshops around its Christmas production. All the hard work in the year-long project will culminate in a final celebration performance in June 2009.
The Staffordshire Music Partnership, which also has the support of the Arts Council England West Midlands, will be linking in with work already being done by Staffordshire Performing Arts and with research being undertaken by Keele University on how music can affect other aspects in the lives of children and young people.