MUSIC IN THE COMMUNITY 2015-18 Learning & Participation 2nd February 2015 Music in the Round puts Music in the Community (MitC), its Learning & Participation programme, at the heart of its commitment to inspire, enthuse, educate and engage people of all ages through high quality music experiences specifically to develop both the artists and audiences of the future. During 2015-18 we will build on the success of the previous three years, learning from the evidence and evaluation of previous projects, to extend our offer to more people of all ages. Between 2011 and 2014, MitC led 326 specific activities with around 37,098 attenders* across its programme. By 2018, we aim to increase the number of participants by 1,500, increasing the number and range of concerts in the programme, engaging with new audiences, forging new links between MitC activity and the MitR concert series, and working on audience development. * Attenders includes both audience members and participants Our programmes are driven by these overall principles: Excellence: We are informed by a wealth of knowledge and experience gained over the last 30 years. We work in consultation with audiences, participants, teachers and other leading providers to ensure that there is a proven need and demand. We pride ourselves in delivering events that have integrity and meet the expectations of attenders. We engage highly trained educationalists, professional musicians and composers and we regularly evaluate projects and lead research projects in order to fully understand, advocate and share the impact of our work. Diversity: All strands of our activity aim to explore many musical styles and genres (e.g. Latin American, Goan Indian, Jazz, Early Music, Choral) to engage children, young people (CYP) and adults from diverse backgrounds. Conscious that there is no one ‘audience’ for music, but rather that individuals negotiate their own journey through ‘musics’, we want to give everybody the opportunity to meet quality music in the environment that is right for them. We are sensitive to, and have made strides in understanding and catering to, the particular nature and needs of specific community groups, especially in Sheffield, a very diverse city. Continuing this drive to listen to community needs and engage in meaningful, sympathetic ways to share a love of music will inform our programming and practice. Accessibility: Low prices are a feature of all our work with CYP and adults. In South Yorkshire (SY), schools’ concerts are free to teachers and £3 per child; they usually sell out. Music Box workshops in Early Years settings are free to children, with schools making a small contribution. We make 35 tickets free to schools for every lunchtime concert in Sheffield, and under 18s tickets for all concerts are £5. We encourage partner venues on tour to offer concerts and INSET sessions at low prices to ensure that cost is not a barrier to participation. We often work with partners to enable hard-to-reach families to attend events for free and we regularly take projects into communities, especially where there are physical or other barriers to attending performance venues. Commissioning new music: Our work supports the seven principles identified by Arts Council England (ACE). Our ‘commissions model’ creates credible and authentic experiences for children, teachers, parents and carers through enjoyable, high-quality chamber music. The British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) commended our work as a model of best practice for its inclusion of Sheffield children in the composition process, its longevity through touring, and its sheer fun. We were also awarded the David Bedford Award in 2013 for ‘exceptional education projects’ . Arts Industry and Arts Professional magazines have recently profiled our model of good practice to a national audience. 2 Digital engagement: An increasing digital offer makes our activity highly relevant and accessible to CYP, and we continue to expand our thinking in this area. Our commissions model uses video and audio, as part of participation packs and on YouTube, to support learning before concerts, deepening children’s engagement with the new works and for training Early Years practitioners and teachers. We design and deliver digital media projects in schools, often with specialist partners. For older CYP and adults, the MitR YouTube channel offers inspiring video interviews with composers, musicians and other artists, plus rehearsal footage and documentaries. We make use of social media to disseminate clips from these films. We will research and work with a publishing partner to produce advanced digital content for Paul Rissmann’s commissions, creating a new interactive way to explore and experience the music and its instrumentation. Partnerships: Our partnership with Sheffield Music Hub (SMH) in delivering and promoting The String Project, Powerplus and Soundplay has increased our engagement with CYP from 170 to 480 per year. The partnership with ESCAL (Every Sheffield Child Articulate and Literate) would not have developed without SMH. We have strong partnerships with all SY Music Hubs and with other Hubs around the country, engaged through the national touring programme. We collaborate with several partners in Higher Education. The impact of our work in EYFS and KS1 settings was the subject of a recent research project by the University of Sheffield, funded by their Arts Enterprise Fund; this report supports planning and fundraising for 2015-18. The University values our activities, encouraging students to volunteer with us to gain work experience. University Campus Barnsley music technology students record our concerts annually and we plan to involve them in the live recording of mini-festivals there. We work in partnership with Sheffield Hallam University including their Tourism and Leisure faculty and their marketing/ film/ digital departments. Strategic partners include Cape UK and the South Yorkshire Family Arts Network. We are members of ACE’s Arts and Learning Forum and SNAP (Sheffield’s Children and Young People’s arts providers network), which brings together NPOs and other providers to join up the cultural offer for CYP in the city. MitR works closely in partnership with Wigmore Hall Learning department and regularly shares methods of good practice. Ensemble 360 and narrator Polly Ives have given children’s concerts there for seven consecutive years. MitR has also led highly successful partnership projects with Royal Opera House, Sing Up and Live Music Now. MitR is a registered supporter of the Arts Award (AA) scheme. Our website carries the logo and highlights ways in which our concerts and activities can help CYP achieve their Arts Award at all levels. We will continue to develop this offer and to work alongside AA centres in Sheffield to provide additional opportunities that support and complement the work of partner organisations. MitR already works with a number of Artsmark schools in SY and offers high-quality music experiences for primary, secondary and special school pupils which enrich their understanding and experience of a range of genres of music. Together with our partners, we will support Artsmark schools wishing to develop imaginative multimedia projects that take their inspiration from music and/or contain musical elements. Our offer to Artsmark schools runs from EYFS to KS 4 and supports progression in music. Via Cape UK we make special offers to Artsmark schools, and via the SNAP network, we share evidence of impact and examples of good practice. 3 The work we produce for Children and Young People (CYP) supports and goes beyond the aims of Goal 5 of Arts Council England’s Strategic Framework. It comprises two strands of activity, from Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) & Key Stage 1 to 4 (KS1-4), and comprises: • Access and Opportunity : introducing and engaging children, their families and teachers, through a variety of activity, including the commissioning of new classical chamber pieces for school and family concerts • Nurturing Talent: supporting the development of young musicians from the region MitR reached a total of 22,834 children and young people between 2011 and 2014 through these two strands of activity. We produce Family events at venues across the UK every year MitR reached 10,697 people in our family programme between 2011 and 2014. We produce Learning & Participation activities and initiatives for adults for both new and regular concert-goers, comprises of two emerging strands of activity: • Concert Plus: a wealth of complementary activities and initiatives to broaden adults’ knowledge of, passion for, and confidence in attending and engaging in live music. • Participate: a varied and innovative programme of participatory events for adults to play, sing, and perform. MitR reached 3,297 adults in this activity between 2011 and 2014. Informing our thinking for the next three years (2015-2018) are the following priorities: • Increase the diversity of people who engage with our work • Establish a more strategic basis for programming and planning • Research and develop our KS2 and KS3 provision , in particular linking more closely to the National Curriculum • Research and develop the work we lead for families • Explore further opportunities to engage adults • Explore the possibilities offered by digital technology and increase our know-how of it • Focus on increasing the skills, knowledge, confidence and sense of progression of our wider workforce • Establish more rigorous evaluation mechanisms that better inform programming and planning Target Outputs (2015 – 2018): • Approximately 450 sessions • With approximately 50,000 people of all ages 1 • 100 schools across South Yorkshire and 90 more across the UK as part of the touring programme (nursery, infant, junior, secondary and special-needs schools) • Develop demonstrably sustainable and creative partnerships with other organisations committed to extending access to music provision including local music services, Children and Young People’s Services, amateur orchestras, choirs and bands • Develop a defined team of regular musicians and workshop leaders with excellent musical, communication, improvisation and planning skills.