Earlier this year the Southern Music Hub Alliance (a collection of 5 Music Education Hubs) was successful in a major bid to Youth Music to lead ‘Our Future Music’, a new programme of inclusive music-making for young people across the South East region.
The application was led by Brighton & Hove Music & Arts/SoundCity, for a programme focused on increasing access to music and supporting musical progression for children and young people living in ‘coldspots’ and/or with Special Educational Needs/Disabilities (SEND).
The programme has three strands of activity:
Your Music Spaces – youth-led music activities, located in community venues.
Inclusive ensembles – a regional network of inclusive music groups for young people with SEND.
Workforce development – training for music leaders to develop more inclusive approaches to teaching music.
In Brighton & Hove we are pleased to be working with SoundCity partners including Audio Active, Hangleton & Knoll Project, The MET and Trust for Developing Communities to start Your Music Spaces in both Hangleton and East Brighton. Our inclusive orchestra, o360 will also be working with Surrey’s UP Orchestra later this year to develop new progression pathways for young musicians with SEND.
‘This is such an exciting programme and an excellent opportunity for 5 Music Education Hubs to work together – to share and develop new practice that will have a positive impact on the musical lives of young people who can often find it very difficult to take part in traditional music activity, despite having a love of music’, Programme manager, Emma Collins.
Working collectively as the Southern Music Hub Alliance (including Music Hubs in Brighton & Hove, East Sussex, Kent, Surrey and West Sussex) has made the ‘Our Future Music’ programme the largest partnership of Hubs, operating across one of the widest geographic areas, within the Youth Music portfolio.
As part of 13 strategic grant-holders across the UK, this programme is also part of the Alliance for a Musically Inclusive England, a pro-active and strategic group working together to increase access to music for young people in challenging circumstances and/or with SEND and improving the quality of inclusive music opportunities, through workforce development.