Manchester Camerata recently collaborated with Parkroyal Community School in Macclesfield on a week long project forming part of the school's enterprising Arts Week.

Based on the theme of a journey through space, the week culminated in a sharing performance involving every single pupil in the school, in which the creativity and energy of the children was as dazzling as the sunshine out on the school playground.

Camerata musicians Amina Hussain (flute), Heather Bills (cello), Dave Tollington (Horn) and Simon Davies (Bassoon) helped each class to create individual musical pictures of their journey through space, and Gemma Bass (violin) and Hannah McCabe (Clarinet) accompanied the reception children on their own music and movement interstellar travels.

In the final sharing performance, given al fresco, each class stepped forward from its place in the circular ‘space station' to perform its own space verse, interspersed with the communal chorus song, sung in canon by the entire school. Parents watched the proceedings from beyond the final frontier! All the participants took great delight in the alien space costumes they had made-and this goes for the pupils as well as the Camerata musicians!

The project was a perfect example of creative music making instigated by the young people themselves, and the resulting blossoming of confidence during the week was a joy to behold.

Here you can read a selection of media coverage of the highly successful Songbook of the Earth Project:

MusoLife - 26 April - A Triumph

Lauren Strain from Musolife.com reports from the Songbook of the Earth gala concert at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall on 19 April, where more than 400 school children and the Manchester Camerata unveiled a collection of pieces

about the environment.

"It's delightful to hear a hubbub of hiccups, giggles and fast-paced chatter fill the Bridgewater Hall. Gone are the polite whispers and stifled coughs of adults - in their place, the sound of what looks to be more than 400 excitable kids from schools around the North West and that's just those on the stage, eagerly awaiting their performance of a song-cycle they've written themselves; there's a good deal of classmates and siblings in the stalls, too."

Read More

Manchester Camerata - 2 April - Countdown to Songbook of the Earth

Listen to a podcast by poet Terry Caffrey and Composer Kate Pearson discussing how they approached the Songbook of the Earth project.

Read More

Musolife - 7 March - Praise for Songbook of the Earth

Lauren Strain at Musolife.com blogs about Manchester Camerata's Songbook of the Earth event at The Bridgewater Hall.

"It's a little after the fact, but we wanted to flag up a rather special event that occurred at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall on 27 January. More than 2000 school children from Manchester and its attendant regions were present that morning for a special concert from the Manchester Camerata. The orchestra mesmerised the packed-out hall with a performance of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony, complete with explanations and jokes for the little ones."

Read More

Manchester Camerata - 10 February - Songbook the Story so Far

See the latest video of the Songbook of the Earth project presented by Manchester Camerata.

Read More

Rochdale Online - 10 February - Budding Songwriters at Beethoven Concert

"It was fantastic, a once in a life time experience and it sounded just like a CD". Children from St Andrew's CE Primary, Littleborough were invited to attend Manchester Camerata's special performance of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony on 27 January at The Bridgewater Hall.  The special performance of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony by Manchester Camerata, one of the country's leading chamber orchestras, included introductions by the Hall's poet-in-residence, Terry Caffrey who, together with Camerata musicians, took the children on a musical journey. "

Read More

Manchester Camerata - 28 January - Noisy Day Out at The Bridgewater Hall

2500 kids from the North West come together to be inspired by Manchester Camerata. The Bridgewater Hall was packed to the rafters with kids from across the North West - all to hear Manchester Camerata play Beethoven's Symphony No. 6. Children from across Greater Manchester, Stafford and Cumbria, as well as the 14 primary schools that have been taking part in the Songbook of the Earth project, which is a collaboration between Manchester Camerata and the Bridgewater Hall Community Education Trust, experienced the concert.

Read More

Manchester Camerata - 9 November - Songbook of the Earth Online

Songbook of the Earth is an excting project that Manchester Camerata and the Bridgewater Hall Community Education Trust are delivering over the 2009/10 season. Inspired by Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, we will be working with 14 primary schools across Greater Manchester, The Wirral and Chester to create a brand new song cycle inspired by the Earth, its environments and communities, which will then be performed live on the Bridgewater Hall stage, accompanied by Manchester Camerata, on 19th April 2010. All the songs will then be published in a Songbook at the end of the project.

Read More

Songbook of the Earth was produced in collaboration with The Bridgewater Hall Community Education Trust Songbook of the Earth is supported by Bank of America.

Join us for our next popular Family Creativity Day this coming Sunday 4 July at Queen's School in Chester.

This is a hands-on musical event, led by professional musicians and is a fantastic opportunity for children and their parents, guardians or grandparents to compose music, make costumes and act. Create your very own masked comedies based on the Renaissance stories that inspired Punch and Judy. No experience is required - you just need enthusiasm and energy, and there'll be a free performance by all participants at 2.30pm on the stage. Family and friends who are not already taking part are invited to come along and watch.

The day will include:

A hands-on craft workshop where you will make props, costumes and sets for the final performance.

A music workshop in which you can have a go on a huge range of percussion, from sleigh bells through to exotic African and Asian instruments, creating a soundtrack for your drama.

A drama session with a storyteller. Everyone gets involved to create a script and act out the story. 

Children must be accompanied by a supervising adult. Most suitable for children aged between 7 - 11 years but other ages are welcome.

Tickets

Adults £5.00 Children £3.00.

Places are limited so we recommend you book early. Entry for the final performance at 2:30pm is free, but you'll need to book a ticket through the box office.

Top tip for mums and dads: there will be a short break for lunch, so bring along some snacks and a drink.

Click here for Booking Details

Find out about Chester Festivals

Part of the Chester Festivals Education Partnership

Supported by Bank of America

Manchester Camerata Family Creativity Days are great way to keep youngsters amused, whilst encouraging creativity and the exploration of musical posiblilities.  Sunday 4 July 2010, 10:30 am at Queen's School in Chester. Places are limited so we recommend you book early - Booking details below. The aim is for families to spend the day together working creatively on a particular story to produce an afternoon performance. When each family arrives at 10.30am they are allocated into one of three groups and working on a rotation basis each group experiences three workshops. The day is most suitable for children between the ages of 7 and 11 although this is very flexible. Children must be accompanied by an adult, who will also have the opportunity to take an active role in the day's activities! There is a short break for lunch and you can invite non participating family members along to the final performance.

The first workshop is a percussion workshop when everyone can have a go on our principal percussionist's huge range of percussion, including sleigh bells, gongs, timpani, drums, wind chimes, exotic African and Asian instruments etc

The second workshop is craft based and children and parents make props, scenery, costumes and instruments for the final performance.

The third workshop is with a storyteller and is drama based - everyone gets involved with bringing the script to life and acting out the story.

The three groups come together at the end for a final performance on the stage.

Tickets

Adults £5.00 Children £3.00.

Places are limited so we recommend you book early. Entry for the final performance at 2:30pm is free, but you'll need to book a ticket through the box office.

Booking information

Telephone the Chester Festivals ticket line on 08452417868

In person, go to Chester Tourist Information Centre opposite the Cathedral

Manchester Camerata has recently finished a run of brilliantly organic musical workshops based on Dalcroze Eurythmics with children from the Blacon Kids' Childcare Campus in Chester.

Dalcroze Eurythmics is, in essence, any way to physically associate ourselves with music so that our response to it becomes innate, and, in terms of imbedding this process into a project with children aged 2 - 4, playfully unstructured workshops were the way to go. The idea galvanising the project is that, in the same way that children acquire their surrounding language(s) almost by osmosis rather than study, Dalcroze fosters a natural sense of musicality in intrinsically linking music with physical movement and response.

Dalcroze specialists Emma Dixon and Bethan James worked alongside Manchester Camerata musician Amina Hussain to introduce traditional songs, rhymes, improvised tunes and sound effects to the children at the Campus. "We're trying to integrate music into their play", said Emma, "by finding ways to make what we do resonate with them and making a musical experience out of it".

Among many highlights, the project saw children ringing bells to each other across the Campus garden; a crocodile-line of cheeky-faced but intent 2-year olds stomping gleefully after Amina to the sound of a beating drum; while a song - led by Emma or Bethan - at the end of the sessions became a game in which the children focussed on the movements of a ball and rolled it to each other in turn.

The project's success lay in its deliberately organic process. Amina commented, "We didn't want to impose structured music [lessons on the children]. It's about them choosing to do it...and encountering it for themselves". With the culmination of the project, the hope is that the children will have developed social skills, self-confidence, and a greater awareness of others for the future, as well as gained a sense that music can be accessible and freely expressive.

Listen to a podcast on our Blacon Early Years project

Tameside Music Service Teams Up With Manchester Camerata

Pupils from St. Peter's CE Primary , St. James's CE Primary and St. Anne's Primary, Denton delighted an audience of parents, teachers and governors with the world premiere of "Night Spirits" - a piece by Liz Sharma on 24th May 2010 at Hyde Town Hall.

The piece was written and arranged specially for the evening's performance which was organised by Tameside Music Service. The children joined forces with musicians from the Manchester Camerata . The year 4 and 5 children have been taught to play brass and stringed instruments as part of the Tameside Music Service's Wider Opportunities programme - which gives all children in primary school the chance to learn a musical instrument. Nick Ponsillo, Head of learning and participation at the Camerata said: "We were delighted at the level of professionalism that the children showed. They really rose to the occasion. Music teaching is a vital part of every child's development, but when you see the impact on these young children, and how much they get out of it - it makes the job even more worthwhile."

Glenys Dyer headteacher at St Anne's said: "For the children to achieve so much in such a short time was remarkable - I was overwhelmed by the response afterwards from the parents, teachers and governors. It is quite incredible how the schools interacted worked so well together"

Visit the Tameside.gov.uk website

Read more on Tameside Council's Facebook Page

Musicians from Manchester Camerata are working with groups in Tameside schools to rehearse specially arranged repertoire for a side by side performance of brass, viola and guitar groups with an ensemble of Camerata musicians.

School children will also develop an improvised section in their workshop, which will be included in their joint piece performance.

The project runs in partnership with Tameside Music Service's Wider Opportunities Programme, and will be performed at Hyde Town Hall on Monday 24th May, starting at 6.30pm.

To read more about Tameside Music Service's Wider Opportunities Programme click here. 

Manchester Camerata is excited to announce that as part of our newly announced 2010/11 season, we plan to deliver an exciting series of learning and participation projects, ultimately leading to the creation of a "Manchester Symphony."

Following on from the highly successful Songbook of the Earth project, we'll be offering a series of residencies in schools, working with a visual artist, a composer, architect and musicians from Camerata, to create a visual and musical response to the bricks and mortar of this proud city, reflecting the orchestra's theme for the season - Urban Symphonies.

Camerata will again be working with The Bridgewater Hall, and Ian Simpson Architects to create a new work inspired by the buildings all around us.  Goethe saw architecture as frozen music. This project aims to unlock the hidden stories in the chosen buildings, thawing and liberating each building's internal musical score.

Each project (or movement) will focus on a different building in Manchester related in some way to our season concerts.  Each piece will be premiered as part of selected concerts in the Camerata season.  At the end of the project, all the movements will be drawn together to create a final Manchester Symphony.

We hope to involve 120 children across Greater Manchester, giving them the opportunity to experience the thrill of working and performing as equals alongside the professional musicians of Manchester Camerata.

The main architectural/musical themes chosen for the project are: Classicism/Neo-Classicism, The Baroque, Modernism, Contemporary and Dreams.

The Classicism/Neo-classicism movement will be presented on 23 October 2010 before Prokofiev's Classical Symphony.  It'll focus on the "order and balance" of classicism, and how it influences the structure of music and art. But also the subversion of this as demonstrated by the "tongue in cheek" approach of Prokofiev.

The Baroque element will precede the concert of Italian Baroque on 19 and 26 February 2011, and explore the trademark flow and embellishment of the style.

Modernism is being represented - in musical terms at least - by the Second Viennese School on 26 March 2011, and will deal with experimentation with form and function, and new musical techniques.

The Contemporary breaks through on 30 April 2011, when the orchestra will play the works of Adams and rising star Nico Muhly. Here we find minimalism, and how the smallest kernel of an idea can be expanded into a magnificent final piece of art or architecture.

The final section is Dreams - musically expressed by Mendelsson's A Midsummer Night's Dream on 28 May 2011.  This final movement of Urban Symphony, we will unlock the score of Manchester's iconic Bridgewater Hall. Inspired by and using elements of Shakespeare's text and Mendelssohn's music, community groups across the city will be able to explore the unique architecture of the Hall, creating music and art specific to different areas of the building.

The final performance will take the form of an afternoon of "promenade-style" celebratory events in the Hall itself, bringing its interior to life through music and art, celebrating the progression  from the drawing board `dream' to the actuality of a world-class venue.

An exciting project indeed, which will unfold throughout the year, reaching out to communities across Greater Manchester, becoming intertwined with the musical offering of Manchester Camerata's new season.

We hope you'll travel with us for this exciting musical journey through the architecture of Manchester, and the Cities of the World.

To find out more about Manchester Camerata's 2010/11 Season click here

For more about the 2009/20 season project Songbook of the Earth, click here

Lauren Strain from Musolife.com reports from the Songbook of the Earth gala concert at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall on 19 April, where more than 400 school children and the Manchester Camerata unveiled a collection of pieces

about the environment.

"It's delightful to hear a hubbub of hiccups, giggles and fast-paced chatter fill the Bridgewater Hall. Gone are the polite whispers and stifled coughs of adults - in their place, the sound of what looks to be more than 400 excitable kids from schools around the North West (and that's just those on the stage, eagerly awaiting their performance of a song-cycle they've written themselves; there's a good deal of classmates and siblings in the stalls, too).

Photo: Children from Mottram C of E Primary School performing at the Songbook of the Earth concert on 19 April

Partway through the afternoon I narrowly escape a missile to the head in the shape of a dummy, its elusive owner nowhere to be seen in the seats around me - I can only assume it was thrown from a great height in a particularly enthusiastic appreciation of the music.Songbook of the Earth is a 50-minute piece in four movements that has been written over the last few months in collaboration between children from 14 schools in Greater Manchester, Cheshire and the Wirral, the Manchester Camerata, composers Kate Pearson and José Guillermo Puello and poet Terry Caffrey.

In acknowledgement of this year being the 150th anniversary of his birth, the pupils studied Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth) as their original inspiration - and then let their imaginations run riot with ways of describing and singing about 'the environment' in all its forms, whether personal or public, local or global. As further inspiration, earlier this year the children were treated to a Camerata performance of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony.

Having since put the finishing touches to their lyrics and melodies, they've turned out today in their kaleidoscope of school colours - greens, reds, purples, blues, yellows - to showcase their hard work.

The piece's first movement focuses on animals, with lyrics describing a tiger poaching its prey - using Rousseau's famous painting, Tiger in a Tropical Storm (Surprise!), as a starting point - and the rather unconventional flight of an urban bumblebee ("Lands on a can of coke on the Costa coffee floor").

The children's portrayal of a lone polar bear whose last area of ice is being invaded by humans is especially touching, the final verse intentionally left open-ended ("I smell the breath of humans/In their strange white houses/A banging noise shatters the night/A blast of silver/Spirals towards me").

The Polar Bear and a later song, Life of a Child Soldier - which was written in response to the contrast of the way guns and fighting are glamorised in our culture and the horror and grief they cause in real life - are really quite moving. It's clear that the children have been encouraged to think deeply not only about such huge issues as global warming and war (two subjects that can be very difficult to teach), but also about how they can affect individuals.

The coda to Life of a Child Soldier is particularly interesting - the kids have obviously taken the recent Royal Navy recruitment campaign and turned it on its head, making what was originally intended to sound like a series of exciting challenges and reasons to join the Navy sound, instead, like a warning against warfare. ("You're born, you cry, you play, you learn, you change, you turn, you chase, you fight, you pause, you click.") The result is rather eerie.

But 'the environment' as a theme doesn't have to make you think big - it can make you think about your own personal space, families and friends. The connecting songs between each movement, entitled Little Steeping 1, 2 and 3, are variations on a theme, each being about the everyday task of walking the dog but in different seasons ("Woolly mittens, warm scarves... while parents drink steaming hot tea" for winter; "Short shorts, filmstar shades... while people sit in roasting cars" for summer; "Our trackies splash through/The muddy puddle traps" for autumn).

A song that imagines what the children's perfect bedrooms would be like if they had their way - they list iPhones, "plasma TVs", "succulent burgers" and even a "bubbling spa" - draws wry smiles from parents (along with some protective fingering of wallets).

Recurring images of the sun, the rainforests and the danger our planet currently faces complete the programme, leaving audience members with plenty to think about. "Drenched in colour, blue and green/Nations of grass and emerald trees/Clouds and birds, everything bright/Dark and delicious dolphin blue seas", sing the pupils during one of the final songs, Earth Voice, painting a poignant image of our vibrant earth and the delicate balance it finds itself in. It seems Songbook of the Earth certainly achieved its aims - to celebrate, through music, our planet; and emphasise just how important it is that we look after it."

musolife.com

You've read about Manchester Camerata's Changes Project involving two schools in Chester.  Now you can watch the movie! 

On Friday 26 March, Children from Upton Heath Primary and Dorin Park Specialist SEN College came together to present a high-tech performance which was the culmination of a year long project. Youngsters collaborated to create a music based performance which making use of the latest adapative technology to allow everyone - whatever their abilities - to take part in the show. Musicians from Manchester Camerata, Drake Music, Cheshire Dance and digital artist Sam Meech have been working with the children on the project with the final sharing performance taking place on Friday 26 March.

Click HERE to see the film.

To read more about the project - click HERE

To hear a podcast about the making of the production - click HERE

The project is part of ongoing Chester based learning work supported by the Bank of America Charitable Foundation.

Building on the success of the Lullabies project in 2008, Blacon Early Years is an extension of the partnership with the Blacon Community Trust which used traditional songs and rhymes to enhance parent-child relationships and communication whilst supporting holistic child development. The participants created a Blacon Songbook which is now a centre resource for future users. Children were introduced to traditional songs and rhymes were introduced to pre-school children by a specialist in the Dalcroze Eurythmics method and a musician from Manchester Camereta.

Together they explored the songs, rhymes and children's stories with pre-school instruments to support the development of social skills and awareness, self confidence, musical skills and wider holistic development which will prepare the participants for their first steps into primary school education.

Hear a podcast about the project by clicking HERE.

This project was supported by the Bank of America Charitable Foundation.

Just days to go now till the climax of the Songbook of the Earth project.

Songbook of the Earth is an exciting collaboration between Manchester Camerata and the Bridgewater Hall Community Education Trust.

The project was inspired by Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, and has been working with 14 primary schools across Greater Manchester, The Wirral and Chester to create a brand new song cycle inspired by the Earth, its environments and communities, which will then be performed live on The Bridgewater Hall stage, accompanied by Manchester Camerata, on April 19 2010. All the songs will then be published in a Songbook at the end of the project.

Working with poet Terry Caffrey, composer Kate Pearson, and musicians from Manchester Camerata, each school has been involved in a series of workshops over the year, where they devised lyrics, and composed the music to go along with them. The result will be a brand new piece of music that is diverse, topical, and electrifying! As part of the project there was a special concert for schools to help kids get to know the orchestra on January 27 2010.  Hear a podcast by Terry and Kate here.

Almost 2500 pupils came together at The Bridgewater Hall to learn about the orchestra and be introduced to Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony by conductor Douglas Boyd and presenters Terry Caffrey and Kate Pearson. Read more about this fantastic day here.

The Songbook of the Earth project has created a wealth of learning resources to help music teachers with their own lessons in schools.

This project has been supported by:

Children from two schools in Chester present a high-tech performance today (26 March 2010) which marks the culmination of a year long project.

Youngsters from Upton Heath Primary and Dorin Park Specialist SEN College have collaborated to create a music based performance which makes use of the latest adapative technology to allow everyone - whatever their abilities - to take part in the show.

Musicians from Manchester Camerata, Drake Music, Cheshire Dance and digital artist Sam Meech have been working with the children on the project with the final sharing performance taking place on Friday 26 March. Musician Alex Monro has been working closely with the children. "It's been quite a journey to get to this point. What we've been doing is trying to bring musical experiences to children who might not have been exposed to them, or helping foster an interest in music they might take with them through the rest of their lives."

Speaking about the project, Manchester Camerata Head of Learning, Nick Ponsillo said "Music can be used to develop people to their full potential. It's also an inspiration and great fun. But it can also offer a way for children who struggle to be involved in class activity but who then excel in something creative."

The project has built on an earlier project - Elements - which created a piece which was then performed at The Bridgewater Hall.

The project is part of ongoing Chester based learning work supported by the Bank of America Charitable Foundation.

To hear our podcast on this project - click here

Lauren Strain at Musolife.com blogs about Manchester Camerata's Songbook of the Earth event at The Bridgewater Hall.

"It's a little after the fact, but we wanted to flag up a rather special event that occurred at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall on 27 January.

More than 2000 school children from Manchester and its attendant regions were present that morning for a special concert from the Manchester Camerata. The orchestra mesmerised the packed-out hall with a performance of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony, complete with explanations and jokes for the little ones.

This writer was pleased to hear of such an event; such large-scale concerts expressly for an audience comprised of Key Stage 2 students are, sadly, quite rare, probably for reasons of logistics (getting all those kids out of school and into the city centre can't be simple!) and timetabling (day trips involve lots of co-ordination between teachers and extra parental help, not to mention money).

But, when the effort is made, the overwhelmingly positive results can be clearly seen on the kids' faces; for many of these children, the concert will have been their first ever experience of an orchestra in action."

Read the whole blog by clicking here

Planet Musician Blog highlights Manchester Camerata's hand in helping kids send a message to the skies

"I had a hard time getting up this morning - maybe I could get some help from English schoolkids. As part of Manchester Metropolitan University"s celebration of National Science and Engineering Week, students from three Manchester-area schools, St. Paul"s (Walkden), St. Barnabas (Clayton), and Wyche Primary (Nantwich), composed wake-up music for the residents of the International Space Station, with some help from the members of the Manchester Camerata: "The musicians... worked with the children composing new music for the wake-up calls based on astrophysical data, such as the radio waves emitted by celestial bodies, and visual images of space." (They also had an Internet improv session with astrophysicist/rock musician Fiorella Terenzi.)

The three entries were judged by Russian rocket scientist Alexander Martynov and legendary cosmonaut Alexander Volkov, with the Camerata recording the winner for future early-morning duty (though this news report was coy as to who that winner actually was.) In the words of MMU Science Week organizer Conway Mothbi, "The call will be heard 250 miles above the earth by Expedition 14 cosmonauts under conditions of weightlessness. This is a great honour as it is a UK first."

Read the blog - Click here

The Nantwich News Blog reports Manchester Camerata musicians helping a local primary school win a

Space Station music contest

"Children at a Nantwich primary school have helped to compose wake-up music for International Space Station residents!

The youngsters from Wyche Primary beat two other North West schools to win a competition run as part of Manchester Metropolitan University"s celebration of National Science and Engineering Week.

Pupils from Wyche, St. Paul's in Walkden, and St. Barnabas in Clayton were given a helping hand by members of the Manchester Camerata.

Musicians worked with children composing new music for the wake-up calls based on astrophysical data - such as radio waves emitted by celestial bodies and visual images of space.

The three entries were judged by a Russian rocket scientist and cosmonaut, with the Camerata recording the winner for future early-morning duty.

MMU Science Week organiser Conway Mothbi said: "The call will be heard 250 miles above the earth by Expedition 14 cosmonauts under conditions of weightlessness. This is a great honour as it is a UK first."

Visit the Nantwich News Blog

The Brass Herald highlights Manchester Camerata's involvement a new scheme to train musicians.

"Three chamber orchestras in the North West - Manchester Camerata, Lancashire Sinfonietta, and Northern Chamber Orchestra - have teamed up with Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) to deliver a tailored training programme for orchestral musicians who are involved in the delivery of education work.

The course, believed to be the first of its kind, is supported in this pilot year by the North West Universities Association (NWUA) as a Higher Level Skills Partnership. Its first fifteen students, drawn from all three orchestras and the North West's freelance pool of orchestral musicians, began their studies with tutor Barry Russell on 1 February at MMU's Didsbury campus. Some elements of the course, focusing on the use of technology/different media, will be delivered at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM).

The need for the course grew from the huge growth in the education and community work undertaken by the UK's professional orchestras that has taken place over the past twenty years. Orchestras are reaching more children each year, performing concerts to 300,000 school children in 2008/09. . Much of this work takes place 'off the platform' and beyond the concert hall and incorporates both informal and formal learning. This new course is a long term commitment to increasing and developing this valuable work. Charlotte Spencer, Head of Learning and Participation at Manchester Camerata, where the idea for the course first originated, explained further:

"Here at Manchester Camerata Learning and Participation is now central to our work and runs hand in hand with our concert season. It's the same for the other orchestras: education work is right at the top of the agenda. Some of our musicians who want to participate in work of this kind, particularly those who trained before outreach experience was part of the conservatoire curriculum, felt they would benefit from extra training for their work in the education sector.

"The beauty of this course is that players have been asked for their input into its design. It aims to deliver what they really want and need. And of course the extra skills and understanding that the musicians gain as a result of completing this course will improve still further the quality of the workshops they deliver."

The North West Chamber Orchestras Training Programme will be very much a hands-on experience, with a balance of creative and theory-based modules, ranging from general skills required for working in the formal education sector to specially-tailored modules with experienced guest lecturers from the UK music education scene. It includes placements in a range of educational settings, including the educational workshops being run by the various orchestral partners.

The course's part-time structure means it can be fitted in to the musicians' busy schedules. It is hoped that after a successful pilot year the course will lead to a Post Graduate Certificate in Professional Studies and be subsumed into MMU's ongoing Post Graduate offer. MMU already has a track record for practical courses for musicians, having pioneered the very successful PGCE in Specialist Instrumental Teaching jointly with the RNCM.

Dr Jonathan Savage, at MMU's Institute of Education said: "The University is delighted with to be associated with these three marvellous orchestras. Education is a very important branch of work for the modern orchestra and we look forward to seeing musicians ‘graduating' and really benefiting from their learning."

From The Brass Herald

CHESTER FAMILY CREATIVITY DAY

Saturday 20 February 2010

10:15am till 3.00pm

University of Chester, Kingsway Campus

To book telephone the Chester Festivals ticket line on 08452417868

or in person by going to Chester Tourist Information Centre.

ULVERSTON FAMILY CREATIVITY DAY

Sunday 21 February 2010

10.15 am till 3.00pm

Coronation Hall, Ulverston

To book telephone the box office on 01229 587140

Or in person to the Coronation Hall, County Square, Ulverston.

Manchester Camerata invites you to take part in our latest Family Creativity Days in Chester and Ulverston.

The days are made up of three workshops, leading to a special performance in the afternoon. Everyone gets experience of each of the sessions during the day.

The first workshop is a percussion workshop when everyone can have a go on our principal percussionist’s huge range of percussion, including sleigh bells, gongs, timpani, drums, wind chimes, exotic African and Asian instruments etc

The second workshop is craft based and children and parents make props, scenery, costumes and instruments for the final performance.

The third workshop is with a storyteller and is drama based - everyone gets involved with bringing the script to life and acting out the story.

The three groups come together at the end for a final performance on the stage.

Children must be accompanied by an adult, who will also have the opportunity to take an active role in the day’s activities!  There is a short break for lunch and you can invite non participating family members along to the final performance. The day is most suitable for children between the ages of 7 and 11 although this is very flexible. 

Tickets for both Chester and Ulverston are £5 for adults and £3 for children. Entry for the final performance at 2:30pm is free, but you’ll need to book a tickets through the box office and places are limited!.