GLOBAL
CALENDAR |
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February 21 International
Mother Language
Day
23 Fairtrade
Fortnight begins
March2
Shout About Climate Change week 5 World Book
Day 8
International Women's Day 9 Commonwealth
Day 21
International Day for the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination 22 World Water
Day
April
7 World Health
Day
May
9 World Fair
Trade Day 21 World Day for
Cultural Diversity
June
5 World
Environment Day 15 National
Refugee Week
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PROGRAMME
PACKAGES |
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For further
information contact Julie on: tel: 01227 459
243 julie_at_musicforchang_dot_org
To find out how we can
help you to programme workshops and events to mark
any calendar events, please contact us or visit
our website at www.musicforchange.org The Following packages
can be delivered through residencies in schools
and community settings:
Safe and
Sound KS2
+ Workshops for and about Asylum
seekers - i.e. raising awareness of who they are
and why they may come here.
Silence
the Violence Upper KS2 +
(specifically the transition
period) Tackling the problem of gun and knife
crime and gang culture in an innovative and
creative way.
Eat
to the Beat All
ages Healthy eating
awareness-raising through comparisons between food
we eat in England and food eaten in other
countries and cultures.
Calypso
Cleanup KS2
+ Awareness-raising of
environmental issues through calypso
song-writing.
Sound
Subjects All
ages Creativity in the curriculum
- working with teachers to use the music and the
arts to introduce, develop and revise national
curriculum subjects.
World Wide
Words KS1+ Increasing
boy's literacy skills through storytelling,
percussion and songwriting. Not artist
specific. Building
Friendships KS2
+ Refugee and community
integration for schools with either a refugee
population or a large number of newly arrived
pupils. Includes work on celebrating similarities
and differences, as well as issues that arise
through attempting community integration.
Tablas,
Tala and Trees KS1
+ Raising awareness of the
environment and interdependency through Indian
Dance through storytelling and Indian percussion.
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Greetings!
Welcome to our Spring edition of
the Music for Change newsletter! This season
we're bringing you updates from all of our
departments: Education, Community, Events and
Projects. So whatever your interest you'll be sure
to find relevant information about how Music for
Change can work with you to add a lively,
culturally diverse theme to your programme of
activities. |
NEWS and
FEATURES
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New
Artist Profile brochure
Music for Change is
excited to be launching its new Artist Profile
Brochure. The brochure is intended to
provide you with a comprehensive guide to the art
forms and biographies for each of the artists we
work with to help you when selecting who you would
like to work with.
Without the skills and inspiration of
our artists we would achieve very little. Their
commitment, energy and focus is exceptional and a
constant factor in our development and
growth. We hope the new brochure will give
you an insight into the many exciting
possibilities of working with Music for Change in
your setting. To view the brochure (pdf
download) click on the following link
or visit our website at www.musicforchange.org
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EDUCATION NEWS
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For more information about this and
other themed packages contact Katy on tel: 01227
459243 or email: katy_at_musicforchange_dot_org
World
Music Matters Lonesome Primary School in
Merton responded to a call for schools to
participate in Music for Change's World Music
Matters project funded by the Department for
International Development (DFID). The school had
decided to extend Black History Month activities
with a whole school heritage project to explore
the family links that the school has with other
areas of the world - around 36 different countries
and ethnic groups are represented in the school.
The Head Teacher David Winters thought that this
project would tie in very well with our World
Music Matters Project, and that together they
would feed in to the national WhoDo We Think We
Are? project, with which the school is also
involved, and EveryChild Matters outcomes.
The aim of the World Music Matters Project
is for schools to collaborate with visiting
artists to encourage a global dimension across the
curriculum so that children better understand the
global context of their lives and develop
awareness and respect for different countries and
cultures and an understanding of inequalities in
the world.
Year 4 classes had the
opportunity to work with three artists: Winston
Nzinga, Daniel James and Kevin Campbell. Over the
4 week residency the children learned and then
performed songs and stories from Jamaica and even
wrote, recorded and performed their very own
reggae track!
Winston Nzinga introduced the
children to uniquely Jamaican Mento rhythms and
oral storytelling featuring Anansi, one of the
most important characters of West African and
Caribbean folklore.
In the song writing
sessions with Kevin and Daniel, lyric ideas were
generated through lively discussions and from 'Me
Trees' which the children all drew depicting
themselves, their families, hobbies, favourite
foods etc.
On the final day of the residency the
children showed off their fine new oral
storytelling, music and performance skills to
fantastic effect to an invited audience of
parents, carers and siblings. Their
new CD was also exclusively available to purchase
- the proceeds of which went to charity.
If
you are interested in introducing a similar
project at your school or community setting, or
finding out more about how Music for Change can
help you to programme your multicultural
activities and Who Do We Think We Are? ideas,
please contact us. Click here
to listen to the track recorded by pupils at
Lonesome Primary School.
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Sing-Up set to record 'In My Shoes'
rap
In our Autumn newsletter we told you
about a successful programme of workshops in
schools which took place to mark National Refugee
Week 2008 in Kent. Music for Change worked
in 6 primary and secondary schools in Kent in
partnership with Migrant Helpline. Artistic
expertise was provided by Bosnian former refugee
and musician Téa Hodzic and Kent based rapper MC
Lethal.
The artists
fused their diverse styles to facilitate
songwriting and support learning about the
experiences of refugees, asylum seekers and
migrants. Over 200 pupils took part in educational
workshops to equip them with facts and definitions
to help them make up their own minds about the
subject and to enable them to question the
negative stories that they are exposed to through
the media. They
used what they learnt as the starting point for
writing lyrics, placing themselves in the shoes of
an asylum seeker. The final recorded rap
includes voices from all 6 schools.
The
project was funded by Sing Up, Music Manifesto's
national singing campaign, and we are pleased to
announce that the 'In My Shoes' rap has been
recognised as a valuable learning tool and will be
recorded professionally by Sing Up for teachers to
use in schools.
The
recorded rap will be accompanied by a set of
comprehensive teaching notes. We are
delighted that the inspired lyrics written by Kent
school pupils will become nationally used in
classrooms.
If you would like to find out
how Music for Change can help you to programme
your National Refugee Week activities this
15th-21st June then please contact julie_at_musicforchange_dot_org.
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Folkestone Extended
Schools ask 'Who Do They Think They
Are'?
This summer Music for Change will work via
Sing Up, the Music Manifesto's national singing
campaign, to introduce singing workshops for
primary pupils who will perform at events
specially programmed and developed by secondary
students.
Year 10 students at Pent Valley,
Folkestone School for Girls, and Brockhill Park
School taking part in the community based learning
module will form steering groups to work towards
programming events and preparing primary students
to contribute in their extended schools
hub.
The theme for the events will
ultimately be decided by the young persons'
steering group, and will be based around the make
up of the local community, geography and
heritage in Folkestone.
The events
will be scheduled to coincide with National
Refugee Week (15-21 June 09), and Who Do We Think
We Are? week (22-27 June 09), both national
calendar events that focus on the diverse make-up
of the community. www.wdwtwa.org.uk www.refugeeweek.org.uk
Students
will be supported by Music for Change artists who
will enable them to work with primary school
pupils to form vocal performances for the
event.
This programme model can be adapted
for any extended schools network and encourages
older students at a hub school to interact with
local primary pupils and childrens' centres whilst
gaining valuable project management skills.
If you would like more information about how this
model could be introduced in your own extended
school area, please contact us. Top
Sing
Up at the Royal Albert Hall Music for
Change was delighted to be involved in Music for
Youth's Schools Prom 2008 at London's highly
prestigious Royal Albert Hall in November. As part
of our Sing Up East Kent project, MfC commissioned
three new choral works by Andrew Larner for Kent
Music's Mass Choir. Five hundred primary
school children from across the county worked with
Kent Music teachers to learn the songs,
culminating in the performance to a packed venue
of 3,500 people.
The annual Schools Prom
event is the most important annual showcase of
musical talent from schools across the country and
is the culmination of a country wide annual
programme of regional festivals. Show
stopping performances from forty ensembles of
various music genres featured throughout the three
days, and the show was compared by musician,
composer and educator Richard Stilgoe and composer
and radio presenter Howard Goodall.
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COMMUNITY NEWS
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For
all Events Information contact Katy at Music for
Change on tel: 01227 459 243, email:
katy_at_musicforchange_dot_org
Sure Start
Ashford awash with music! Sing Up
East Kent is working in partnership with Sure
Start Ashford to promote singing in the
community. 'Sing to Smile' involves weekly
community singing on Tuesday evenings, sessions
for parents on Wednesday lunchtimes and family
sessions on Saturday mornings, and we are aiming
to foster a sense of well-being and fun through
singing, as well as providing opportunities to
explore language through song.
Sure Start
Ashford children's centre, The Willow Centre, has
also been successful in securing Youth Music
'First Steps' funding, and their new project 'My
World of Music' is a partnership between MfC, Kent
Music 'Colourstrings' practitioners and early
years settings based in the area. Young
children are involved in weekly music sessions and
with termly training sessions it is hoped the
nursery staff will feel inspired and confident
enough to deliver and develop music activities
once the funding for the project has
finished. For information on
how to get involved in 'Sing to Smile' please
contact Katy as above. Top
Find Your Talent in
Shepway Music for
Change will be working closely with Shepway's Find
Your Talent programme (one of ten national
pathfinder projects on behalf of the Government
trialling different ways of delivering a
comprehensive cultural offer to children and young
people) over the next couple of months, engaging
with young people through creative
activities. We will be finding out what
cultural activities they are already involved in,
what activities they aren't involved in and the
possible reasons for this.
In
partnership with the Thanet-based Youth Music
Action Zone, Pie factory, we will also be
organising music activities leading towards an
open-to-all event on Sunday 5th April at the new
Quarterhouse venue in Folkestone's Creative
Quarter for families and young people, so come
along and join in with the revival of the popular
Club Caramba featuring the London Bulgarian Choir,
U'Zambezi, the Sacconi Quartet, and many
more! Contact: katy_at_musicforchange_dot_org
-------------------------------------------- National Find
Your Talent News The Find Your Talent
initiative is currently setting up a Young
Persons' National Development Group (YPNDG) to
advise on the programme. The group will be
made up of approximately 20 young people aged
14-25 and has three key roles: Research, Advisory
and Consultancy.
The group will receive
free training in consultancy, facilitation,
exclusive access to pathfinder programmes, the
opportunity to get their voice heard at the
highest level, lots of networking opportunities,
as well as the chance to influence an industry
that they are passionate about.
Recruitment
workshops are being held across the country
throughout February and FYT are inviting any young
person aged 14-25 with an interest in culture to
attend. Travel costs will be
reimbursed. For more information contact Vicky
Bell Young People's Consultant Tel: 07880
500982 E-mail: victoriabell1_at_googlemail_dot_com ---------------------------------------------- Top
Funding
Opportunity Children
and Young People's Minister Beverley Hughes has
announced £9 million funding for a new scheme to
help young people develop ideas for positive
activities - anything from sport to music to art -
which they would then deliver in their communities
on Friday and Saturday nights.
The
Department for Children, Schools and Families
(DCSF) is inviting third sector organisations to
apply for funding to run the scheme and support
the young people involved. Application materials
are available on the Youth Sector Development Fund
managing body website. http://ysdf.ecotec.com http://www.dcsf.gov.u/pns/DisplayPN.cgi?pn_id=2008_0298 The
closing date for completed proposals is 13 March
2009.
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PROJECT NEWS
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For all Projects
information contact Donna on tel: 01227 459 243,
email: donna_at_musicforchange_dot_org
Exploring International Development through
the Arts
Northfleet girls
prefer ethical fashion!
As part of the Department
for International Development's World Music
Matters Project residencies are taking place in
schools around a number of development-related
themes.
Sujata Banerjee
who specialises in Indian Kathak dance, movement
and storytelling, and members of the well known
vocal harmony group Black Voices will
be working with Northfleet girls school to explore
issues around ethical fashion.
Kent and
the Wider World are also collaborating on the
project, introducing the girls to the issues
surrounding ethical trading and suggesting
resources for research. The project will
culminate in a showcase to visitors from Gravesend
Age Concern at the school.
Other related
projects include artists exploring children's
rights in partnership with Amnesty International
trained speakers, and a calypso project with
Alexander D Great looking at refugee and migration
issues, working with a partner organisation
Migrant Helpline.
If schools and community
settings would like to explore similar
international development issues working alongside
Music for Change artists, please contact the education team. Themes can
be adapted to ensure relevancy across the
curriculum.
A subsidised INSET is also
available as part of the project for schools who
would like to arrange a session with teachers
addressing how to work with artists to explore
themes through the arts.
For more information
contact donna_at_musicforchange_dot_org Top
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EVENT NEWS |
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For all
Events Information contact Julie at Music for
Change on tel: 01227 459 243,
email: julie_at_musicforchange_dot_org
Dhoad Gypsies of
Rajasthan come to the UK
Music
for Change, along with its roots/round/about partners, are producing a
tour in May 2009 by the world renowned Indian
artists the Dhoad Gypsies of Rajasthan (who
recently performed for Mick Jagger on the occasion
if his 60th birthday). Described as an
authentic and magical experience, the Dhoad's
bring to life the passion and epic heroism of
their Indian forefathers. Their musical
harmonies and incredible feats transform the
monotony of everyday life with the enchanting
sounds of the Indian desert, and their live show
includes fire-eating, walking on nails and dancing
on swords and broken glass! The heritage they have
bequeathed is spiritual, artistic and musical, and
has inspired a way of life in which love,
happiness, suffering and death are all expressed
through song. The tour takes in 9 shows across
the region and London. The band also undertake
educational work and Music for Change will be
offering them to schools in the UK for special
workshop performances and discussion sessions.
Should your school be interested in hosting a
workshop, please email: mark_at_musicforchange_dot_org.
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