In Training - Cumberland Sessions

This morning I was back at Cumberland School for the second session with the dance group. It was a hot day and everyone was finding it difficult to concentrate but we eventually got a routine together, combining the verse and chorus the group had come up with before half term and a brilliant dance routine created by the group in their own time. This was all set to a rhythm played by NLO muso Genevieve - check out the video to see what you make of their final rehearsal!

What really helped was having the basketball team there at the end who performed their own anthem. The groups were really watching and supporting each other and giving constructive feedback on the performances. The basketball team managed in just 3hrs to come up with a brilliant anthem of their own to rival the dance group's, using basketball bounces to enhance the rhythm. Come along to the final concert on 9th June and see the groups and more, live! Go to www.nlo.co.uk for more details.

Selwyn School - Deaf project

I've just got back from Selwyn School in Newham where we had our last session today with the deaf group.

We've been working with the deaf children at Selwyn for the last couple of years and over that time have introduced them to a whole host of instruments including the harp, bassoon, tuba and today the electric guitar. Our musicians show the children how their instruments work, how the sound is made and then join in with the second part of the session where everyone plays together using percussion and their own bodies to create rhythms.

Orphy, who wasn't in today (he's at Hackney Empire rehearsing for a show, our musicians get everywhere!) has been leading the sessions. Over the last 8 weeks he's got the group thinking about visual scores which can show long and short, loud and quiet sounds, as well as indicating when to play different instruments, or use parts of the body to make noises. From seeing the first and the last sessions, I can see how much the children have all picked up the concept and can now play quite long and complex visual scores, stopping and starting together, which they devise themselves using colours and lines to indicate changes.

As I mentioned, today was the last session, which is a shame as the children are a really great group to work with, always interested and keen to ask questions. They even give everyone sign names, mine is me miming playing the viola, as that's what I do in my spare time! We really hope to be back, funding dependent, as Selwyn are going to be seeing a lot more of NLO players in 2009/10 as we take up residency there, providing the whole school with music as part of the curriculum as well is after school activities.

Thanks to Max who joined us for the first time today and who we hope to involve in our projects in the future. All the children got a go on Max's guitar today, check out the photos!

Shutting children out of classical music? Not us!

Have you read this?: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/apr/02/classical-music-children

Tom Service is arguing that not learning an instrument means that less young people go to classical music concerts. Do you agree? Do you have to play or have played an instrument at some stage in your life to attend and appreciate a classical music concert? Thoughts please!

Here's what Julian Knight (the New London Orchestra's Executive Manager) said in reply:

Dear Tom,

I read with interest your article entitled “Why we are shutting children out of classical music”, and agree with your bleak assessment of the state of music provision in schools across England especially with regards the opportunity to learn a musical instrument. Although the many government initiatives you mention will increase access to music-making in schools, these programmes do little to address the problem of individual instrumental tuition. You are right to draw the comparison between playing an instrument and attending classical concerts – I am sure that the more people who learn, the greater our future audiences will be – but there are other ways we, as classical performers, can attract younger people to our concerts.

The New London Orchestra is not alone in delivering a wide range of musical experiences within schools: our own projects use music as a tool to enhance learning in the key subjects of Literacy and Maths. However, there is little evidence that the education projects taking place across the orchestral sector over the last decade have yet had much impact in reducing the average age of the concert-goer, although anything that successfully engages young people with classical music can only be a good thing. We need to look at the concerts themselves.

Two weeks ago the New London Orchestra performed in a nightclub in Newham in east London, a venue more commonly associated with hiphop and dance nights (and, unfortunately, stabbings and shootings). We brought in an audience of more than 500 people of mixed ages from primary school children to older people, most of whom had never attended a classical concert before. 90% said they would like to see more such concerts in their area (there is currently no regular series of orchestral concerts in Newham and no concert hall anywhere in the area). This concert was part of the Orchestra’s long-term community involvement programme in Newham, and was presented from the stage by Artistic Director Ronald Corp. Over the next few years we plan to experiment with other simple ways to change the classical concert experience from being one that is perceived as intimidating to the uninitiated, to an experience that feels accessible, relaxed, and fun. These changes to the format or ‘feel’ of a concert need not be expensive – and need not involve any artistic ‘dumbing-down’.

I am not suggesting that all orchestras in the UK should adopt a different approach to concert-giving overnight: there is still a market need for the ‘traditional’ concert. But a fresh look at the way of presenting and programming some of our concerts – and where they happen – will start to change the demographic of audiences.

Yours sincerely,

Julian Knight