The North West Music Partnership chose to launch the new music partnership project and welcome staff back to a new academic year with a joint day of networking, inspiration and an insight into other music leaders' practice. Naomi Benn, Head of Ensembles at the Hallé and coordinator for the partnership, shares her experiences of the event.
Building on the success of a North West Pathfinder event last September, staff from the music services of Bolton, Manchester, Salford and Stockport joined Hallé musicians for a day of specialist workshops, networking, discussions and music-making on 1 September. The event was organised by Music Leader North West on behalf of the Partnership.
The workshop choices were varied and interesting and it was hard to decide on the favourite three to participate in! Personally I really enjoyed:
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Watching Paul Harris deconstruct any new piece of music to make it manageable to the most beginner of pupils
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Listening to and singing with Beth Allen, who dispelled some of the myths that surround healthy singing and stressed the importance of enjoyment in singing
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Learning things about web technology that teenagers know inside out and don't even think about - which led to an interesting discussion about the usefulness of programmes such as Guitar Hero for igniting interest in music and YouTube as a source of very honest and direct feedback!
Colleagues also learned from:
- Tim Steiner teaching how to improvise with large groups and make sure everyone is positively engaged with the session
- Gerri Moriati making links across the performing arts
- Em Whitfield-Brookes demonstrating warm-up games for older pupils
To conclude the day everyone came together to meet Courtney Pine (pictured) and share excitement over future partnership working as one of the five national projects.
Courtney Pine gave an inspirational speech about his own experiences while growing up and his current work in supporting music education and exploration, sharing a few tips to encouraging a wider interest in music from pupils. Gerri Moriati talked about the importance of reflection and risk-taking in creativity and Richard Milton set the scene for the coming 12 months of collaborative work.
On behalf of the partnership I would like to thank Music Leader NW for organising and facilitating the day.
When asked 'What is the main thing you'll take away from this to help your future practice?' participants' responses included:
- A sense of shared good practice and the chance to network with other colleagues
- New ideas/material for classroom teaching, particularly improvisation with large groups of children
- Advice and inspiration from top musicians
- Enthusiasm is so important to get you focussed on the topic
- I feel inspired to review my teaching methods - especially with beginners. I'm usually in a rush to get the children onto the next stage but now I will take more time, to make the details more fun and therefore, more thoroughly learnt.
Photograph © Joel Fildes