The West Midlands Music collective – a partnership of 14 music services from across the West Midlands region – was launched with a flood of social media posts showing children singing and playing. The videos were part of the Big Month of Music, an initiative instigated by the partnership to improve access to music-making and encourage collaboration among music hubs.
The Big Month of Music was the largest celebration of young people's music-making ever attempted in the West Midlands region. The project was originally intended to encompass over 130 concerts and events covering an exceptional musical range from jazz and pops orchestra concerts, performing arts festivals and orchestral weekends to choirs, recorder festivals and rock and pop galas. Of course, readers will be aware that social distancing measures to slow the spread of Coronavirus were introduced in the middle of March, so only half of the planned live programme was able to take place, but fortunately the project already had online components planned which were able to go ahead later in the month.
One of the main aims of Big Month of Music was to showcase the musical achievements of young-people across the entire region. Through the ‘Big Play’, schools with Whole Class Instrumental provision were invited to film ‘One minute of music in your school,’ with the resulting clips profiled on social media. ‘The students in my schools were so excited when they heard they would be filmed playing their instruments and be able to see themselves online at the end of the month,’ says Ruth Parkes, an instrumental tutor for Entrust Music Service in Staffordshire. ‘It enabled us to have a short-term goal to work towards by preparing pieces to play for the clip and also to think more about what other music activities take place within the school and what makes us proud.’
Musicians from Severn Arts
The Big Play took place as planned on 27 March, showcasing 168 One Minute of Music films from primary, secondary and SEND schools on Twitter and Facebook, with approximately 20,000 children involved overall. These films clocked up an impressive 7,816 views on YouTube, and over 2,000 ‘likes’ across Facebook and Twitter, far exceeding the reach of a traditional celebratory concert.
The project also aimed to signpost children and young-people to music-making opportunities across the region. Regional TRY and ‘come and play’ open events gave families and children a chance to chat to music service staff and discover opportunities for their first or next musical steps, from trying out an instrument to joining an ensemble. The importance of these opportunities for disadvantaged children cannot be understated, as Peter Bravo, executive headteacher of Learning Link Multi Academy Trust points out; ‘Children here do not come from communities where cultural capital is valued and developed. Things like the Big Month of Music are therefore really important.’
One of the most interesting aspects of this project was the opportunity to shine a light on ‘real’ music-making in schools. Normally, when hubs come together to share their work it is in the form of a concert or event that schools have been working towards for months, and presents a ‘polished’ performance without showing the nitty-gritty of the work in the lead-up to the event. While these events are thrilling for the pupils involved, and for their friends and family to watch, they can give the impression to other schools and teachers that ‘we could never do that.’
‘Other projects I have been involved in have generally been public performances or school concerts. The Big Play has meant we can share our classroom music making – showing just a little of what goes on in a weekly lesson in school,’ says Parkes. ‘Hopefully it will encourage other schools to take part in more music in their own setting when they see what an impact it can have on pupils and their learning. The smiling faces say it all!’
Ciaran O’Donnell, Head of Wolverhampton Music Service, echoes this sentiment; ‘Often on social media it's the really advanced individual performance that goes viral. With this project it was great to have the everyday musicians going viral – I hope it has encouraged them to keep practising and making progress.’
With this spirit of celebrating the ‘ordinary’ music making that happens in the region, West Midlands Music is looking forward to next year's Big Month of Music. Technology is likely to still play a big part, with more involvement of youth voice, and marginalised groups like children with SEND and children in care. They may also try to connect all the hundreds of ensembles across the region into an online event, which, given how fast people have had to get used to the creative use of remote technology during this year's pandemic, will be ambitious but not infeasible. As O’Donnell says ‘I don't think we'll be short of ideas.’
Top tips
Ciaran O’Donnell, Head of Wolverhampton Music Service, gives his advice when it comes to working with a large number of partnership organisations.
The following are vital:
Trust
Vision
Funding
Capacity
Tenacity.
Guiding principles
Collectively agree on a set of guiding principles that you will refer to throughout the project. This requires a high level of trust but it helps to establish a way of working that means you are heading towards the same future vision.
Ensure financial viability
Clearly this is always a challenge. In this particular project, each service contributed financially and we were supported brilliantly by our bridge organisation Arts Connect, who matched our contributions and helped to guide the work.
Keep going
There are lots of people to work with when you start planning for new ways of working. We've kept our collective workforce involved every step of the way. It's important to get your head down and stay committed.
Find out more about West Midlands Music at www.westmidlandsmusic.org.uk
Search ‘West Midlands Music’ on YouTube to watch the Big Play ‘One Minute of Music’ films.
