Future Music Makers

The Future Music Makers project culminated in a sharing event at the University of Bedfordshire on 20^th April. Some wonderful pupils from Castle Newnham School wowed the audience with their creativity and newly developed beatboxing skills: demonstrating how engaging and accessible this musical style is. The event was a great opportunity to share the outcomes and very rich learning from the project.

We are now working on the next phase of this development: working with local rappers and beatboxers to continue to broaden the range of our offer both in and out of schools.  We will also be providing further training opportunities for music teachers to incorporate beatboxing and rap into their delivery. This will be supported by some fantastic new resources - soon to be available on our website.

Hear and Now

Hear and Now is a fantastic project run annually by our partner, the Philharmonia Orchestra. It is a unique musical collaboration between older people living with dementia and their carers, young singers and instrumentalists and members of the Philharmonia Orchestra. This year, members of Bedford Kids Chorus and North Bedfordshire Youth Chamber Orchestra joined Faith in Queens Park, Tibbs Dementia, Orchestras Live, Fusion Youth Choir and Da Capo String Ensemble for creative sessions, rehearsals and a final performance at the University of Bedfordshire Theatre. 

It was a wonderful experience for all involved. As one participant said, “Here and Now is one of my favourite projects!  It’s a project that’s great for the soul and unleashes talents within young people and those with Alzheimer’s and Dementia”.

What's On in June

On Monday 26th June, the Bedford Music Cooperative's Intermediate Strings will be performing the Mozart Horn Quintet with the internationally renowned French Horn soloist Alex Wide. The concert will also feature performances by students from Biddenham International School.

Tickets are available from the Bedford Music Cooperative Ticket Source page.

School Music Development Plans

The National Plan for Music Education 2022 requires schools to create a School Music Development Plan and we have been working hard to develop some guidance and resources to support this. After gathering feedback and contributions from a group of music leads from local schools, we are now in a position to share these more widely. They will be emailed directly to schools and will be available on our website. We hope you find them useful.

New Beatbox and Rap Project

The School Brochure now offers a project that teaches children how to beatbox and rap as well as how to use these skills to create group and whole-class performances. Our Future Music Makers project (see above) investigated how contemporary musical genres such as rap and beatboxing could be integrated into classroom music provision to increase access and inclusion and to engage upper KS2 pupils. 

The response of the pupils was incredible: “100% investment and 100% engagement from all the kids for the whole 2 weeks – they were completely engaged and my Year 6’s are still doing the beatboxing now!” Emily Green, Second in Department – Performing Arts, Castle Newnham School.

We are really keen to capitalise on this positive response and the rich learning from the project and so have invited 2 primary schools to work with us on a pilot project with Year 6 pupils this term. Our newly found local rap/beatbox artists will be working alongside music leads and class teachers to run workshops that offer an exciting, engaging and authentic experience to the Year 6 classes as they approach the end of their time in primary school.

Details of the project can be found in our brochure.

Saturday Morning Music Centre - Learn To Play

The Saturday Morning timetable begins with the Learn To Play groups. These are large-group (up to 12), 30-minute instrumental lessons for complete beginners, with a choice of Brass, Wind, Strings, Guitar, Keyboards or iPad Music on offer. They offer a fantastic opportunity for children to discover and explore music together through learning an instrument. No prior experience is required. Over the course of three terms students will learn what they need to know to continue their musical journey in a Play Together group in the following year. You can find more information on the Bedford Music Cooperative website.

Our full range of weekly term time groups

Bedford Kids Chorus : Tuesdays, 4.30-5.30pm @ Castle Newnham

Digital Beats : Wednesdays, 6-7.30pm @ Castle Newnham

Bedford Rockschool : Thursdays, 6-7.30pm @ Castle Newnham

Friday Flyers (various groups) : Fridays, 4.30-9pm @ Castle Newnham

Saturday Morning Music Centre (various groups) : 9am-12pm @ Castle Newnham

On Wednesday 29^th March, Wilstead Primary School held their first Musical Extravaganza: an event which celebrated the development of their music curriculum and the young musicians that they have inspired.

The teaching staff at Wilstead pride themselves on their performing arts provision. Their Music Mark status reflects the commitment to music within the school.  From West End musicals to recitals of Shakespeare, the school has a long history of developing excellent performances and wonderful performers.  As with all schools, music provision suffered during lockdown, but in the years since an even greater effort has been made to raise the profile of music in the curriculum, developing in-class teaching through the use of the Charanga Music School and working with the inspiring teachers of the Bedford Music Cooperative and Music for Bedford Borough to expand the offer to aspiring musicians.

In addition to piano, guitar and violin instrumental lessons, children have the opportunity to join the recorder club or school choir, to perform at the Young Voices festival and to take part in half termly music competitions.  The school focusses on the appreciation and understanding of different genres during their Wednesday assemblies, and a weekly singing assembly which helps to prepare children for a termly performance to parents at the local church.