In Harmony is up and running. The community based project I am chairing which uses music to change the lives of young yesterday announced where its pilot projects are going to be. In three of the most deprived areas of England children will receive free instruments and free tuition and I am delighted and excited by the standard and ambition of the winning bids which were chosen from eight short listed applications. Any of the eight could easily have run an excellent scheme and I hope that one day they will all get the chance to do so.
Now it is all systems go in Liverpool (West Everton), London (Lambeth) and Norwich. West Everton is backed by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Lambeth by the local Music Service in collaboration with the South Bank Centre and Norwich by NORCA – a community arts group.
Each has set out their In Harmony programme which will be locally based and administrated. Here are the visions which convinced us to choose them: Liverpool: “In Harmony will make music part of everyday life. Children will be able to participate in weekly, whole-school singing sessions, group instrumental tuition twice a week (on string instruments), based at Faith Primary School. With weekly musicianship sessions, including fun games and activities, the In Harmony project will provide 5 days per week of music making each day for nearly 100 children. By 2011, we will expect to achieve the following outcomes from the programme: All local primary school-aged children to have the opportunity for daily music making; An improvement in levels of achievement and attendance at Faith Primary School; A significant increase in reported levels of self-esteem, self-confidence and increased well-being amongst West Everton children; A significant proportion of family and community members from West Everton reporting improved wellbeing through engagement in music making and live music performance; A community that feels ‘music is a normal part of our life’.”
London: “The Lambeth project centres on the Lansdowne Green Estate in Stockwell and the surrounding schools and nurseries, intending to use the power of music to lift the aspirations of children in challenging circumstances. Now children just starting school and those in key stage one will have an opportunity to learn music through singing and playing instruments with the best teachers available. Children will have intensive, hour-long music sessions in school several days a week and ensemble sessions on the estate in the afternoons. Parents, carers and older siblings will be involved in both music-making and planning, organising and delivering events, holiday courses and visits, so the project is embedded in the community. Over time, this opportunity will provide additional direction and meaning to children’s lives, reasons to stay in education, skills to build satisfying careers and increase access to the country’s network of high-quality youth orchestras and bands.”
Norwich: “Involving parents, carers and the wider community will be a key part of our approach. The pilot will focus on work with 4 to 5 year old children from the city’s most deprived areas aiming to get as many of these children and their families involved as possible. Using the unique power of music making, our aim is to really make a difference. We want to enthuse and motivate children, families and communities so that children can improve their skills, attainment and ‘life-chances’, families can improve their well-being, and communities can improve their cohesion and mutual respect.”
Now that the first areas have been selected my official job is to oversee their development and progress. My unofficial (and even more important) job will be to coax, cajole and encourage all three projects to the point where they are so obviously beneficial to their communities that, come 2011, and the next round of funding the Government will feel inspired to extend In Harmony to cover the whole of England.
