Join us for The Nutcracker! (December 2024)

We are excited to share with you that the Essex Youth Chamber Orchestra will be presenting a magical live performance for families and schools in December.

The concert will be an interactive introduction to the world of orchestral music include excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite and then the music reimagined by jazz legend Duke Ellington.  The performance sets out with Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson and the concert concludes with festive songs, accompanied by the full orchestra.

Your children will see musicians perform live, discover the sounds and colours of the orchestra and to sing along with the musicians.  Our evening performances also include local school choirs

 

Tuesday 3 December, Colchester, Charter Hall

Public Performance 6.30-7.30pm

Get your tickets here: https://events.mhtickets.com/events/95341

 

Friday 13 December, The Brentwood Centre

Public Performance 6.30-7.30pm

Get your tickets here: Essex Youth Chamber Orchestra Presents…The Nutcracker at The Brentwood Centre event tickets from TicketSource

 

Join us in Colchester for our latest Essex Music Spotlight Sessions!

Join us for our latest Essex Music Spotlight Sessions!

Spotlight Sessions are the perfect place for young people to showcase their musical skills. Much like an open mic night, these sessions are relaxed, informal and free!

Audience members: we welcome supportive audience to watch all acts. There will be a bar where you can buy some drinks and show your support for all the performers. Admission is free and you do not need to buy tickets in advance.

It doesn’t matter which instrument you play, the style of your music, whether you are a soloist or part of a music group. We welcome performers up to the age of 21. If you do not get a place this time, we will prioritise you for our next Spotlight Sessions evening in March 2025.

For further details on this event, please contact us on the telephone 0333 013 8953 or email: musichub@essex.gov.uk

Join us in Basildon for our latest Essex Music Spotlight Sessions!

Join us for our latest Essex Music Spotlight Sessions!

Spotlight Sessions are the perfect place for young people to showcase their musical skills. Much like an open mic night, these sessions are relaxed, informal and free!

Audience members: we welcome supportive audience to watch all acts. There will be a bar where you can buy some drinks and show your support for all the performers. Admission is free and you do not need to buy tickets in advance.

It doesn’t matter which instrument you play, the style of your music, whether you are a soloist or part of a music group. We welcome performers up to the age of 21. If you do not get a place this time, we will prioritise you for our next Spotlight Sessions evening in March 2025.

For further details on this event, please contact us on the telephone 0333 013 8953 or email: musichub@essex.gov.uk

CPD: Ukulele- Teach your class!

 A practical CPD session for primary practitioners to prepare to teach whole class ukulele

Date and time: Wednesday 11 December 2024, 4.00-5.15pm

Venue: St Michael’s Primary School, Maple Avenue, Braintree CM7 2NS (Google Maps)

Aimed at: Class teachers, Music leaders KS2

This course will explore the how to teach the ukulele to beginners, as a beginner, keeping one step ahead of the class. The session will be delivered using materials from the Charanga music scheme but the ideas and methodology can be adapted to use with other resources. The session is aimed at class teachers in primary school.

There is no cost for Essex DfE funded schools to attend this training. Other schools will be invoiced £40 for the event.

Register by clicking here

Developing Music in the Early Years – Training Opportunity

We are delighted to offer the popular training course, Developing Music in the Early Years.

Following its popularity last year, this course aims to give you confidence in delivering music in your Early Years setting and includes lots of practical ideas to take away.

This includes songs that help develop your young people’s singing, fun circle games and practical ways to use music to develop communication, personal and social skills.

The course is £30 and runs as a 3-hour face to face session OR two x 2-hour online sessions.

There is an option to buy a small music equipment pack to continue the ideas in your setting, but there is no need for any specialist equipment to get the most out of the course.

We have funded spaces available for settings that have a Looked After Child, a post-Looked After Child or a Child that has had contact with Social Care in their setting.

The free offer includes attendance at the one of the three dates on offer as well as a small music equipment pack for use in your setting. Please make sure to indicate you have an eligible child in your setting when booking.

 

Book a slot now for Chelmsford, Rayleigh, or online:

 

 

Open Rehearsals – Brass, Symphonic Wind and Young People’s Orchestra (October & November 2024)

Join us for open rehearsal of one of our youth ensembles!

Come and join the students of our wonderful Youth Ensembles and their directors for a free open rehearsal in October . Attendees will get to know our conductor, other music students, and play music together!

“This is a great opportunity to come and experience one of our excellent ensembles. Being part of an ensemble is something that is so important for young musicians to experience, and I am sure that after attending one of these open days, it will start a life long love of making music with others!” Peter Lovell, Music Service Lead Officer

Any young person who plays an orchestral string, woodwind, brass or orchestral percussion instrument and is Grade 4 or above can sample the groups for free – click the links below!

For brass players, join our Youth Brass Ensemble in Witham

For woodwind and brass players, join our Youth Symphonic Wind Orchestra in Chelmsford

For budding orchestral players, join our Young People’s Orchestra in Chelmsford

We are proud to have a number of leading and high-achieving top-level ensembles offering opportunities for young musicians in Essex including:

Essex Youth Orchestra
Essex Youth Choir
Essex Youth Jazz Orchestra
Essex Youth Symphonic Wind Orchestra
Essex Youth Brass Ensemble

This doesn’t happen by accident – we also run a number of starter ensembles in our community music venues as well as intermediate ensembles including our Essex Young People’s Orchestra to bring together young people together in making music with each other.

If you have a young person in your setting who would benefit from joining such an ensemble, please contact Beverley Heard, Music Ensembles Lead Officer, telephone 0333 013 8953 or email: musichub@essex.gov.uk

Dido and Aeneas (Chelmsford, October 2024)

“A tale so strong and full of woe might melt the rocks, as well as you.”

We’re delighted to welcome our partners Gabrieli ROAR and their director Paul McCreesh to Essex.

In October 2024 they will be working with secondary schools across the Hub Region to then come together and perform Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, the story of the Queen of Carthage and a refugee from the Trojan Wars.

Paul McCreesh is one of the UK’s greatest champions for young people, leading hugely successful performances of colossal choral works across the country’s greatest and most impressive venues, enabling thousands of students to develop a life-long love of choral singing.

Where and when?

There will be rehearsals on 15 October (9.00am-4.00pm) at Christ Church URC, Chelmsford and on the concert day (16 October) they would be needed from 12.45pm until 8.30pm at King Edward VI Grammar School on Broomfield Road in Chelmsford.

Who are we looking for?

We are offering 3 pathways for schools depending on the current abilities of the young people:

  1. Learn a group of choruses in parts
  2. The same as above but with some additional more challenging choruses
  3. Learn some unison sailor songs / sea shanties

We can provide music and some learning aids to help the young people learn the notes prior to the rehearsal on 15 October or even provide some tutor support to help the young people to learn the music.

How to get involved

Complete with sailors, witches, Greek gods, love and tragedy, combined with our young people and the Gabrieli Consort and Players directed by Paul McCreesh, this is sure to be one of the highlights of the Essex calendar!

Musical Mondays and Music Man Project – online music sessions

Live Music in your classroom!

We are so pleased to be able to share two opportunities for your pupils to experience high-quality live music in their own schools.  Both series are fully funded by Greater Essex Music Hub for school-aged children and young people across Essex to enjoy.

For both series, you only need to sign up once and we will share the links for the concerts with you.

Musical Mondays

Join Live Music Now and Greater Essex Music Hub for Musical Mondays, a series of live online concerts for primary schools and special schools streamed directly into the comfort of your school hall or classroom. Musical Monday concerts are engaging, lively and educational, featuring a variety of world-class professional musicians from a wide range of backgrounds and genres. Say hello and engage with the musicians using the webinar chat function, and ask them questions during the Q&A.

  • Concerts are held as Zoom Webinars, a very safe way of holding an event online.
  • Only the musicians & Live Music Now host are visible on screen.
  • Say hello and engage with the musicians using the chat function, and ask them questions during the Q&A.
  • To get the most out of the experience, we recommend children at home watch the concert with a parent or carer if possible.
  • Concert recording/videos are made available for 1 month after the initial live performance.
  • Concerts for mainstream primaries will take place on 14 October, 9 December, 3 February, 3 March, 9 June, 7 July and details of the artists can be found here.
  • Three concert dates for SEND settings will be confirmed later in the term.

Sign up for sessions here

Join together with the Music Man Project!

Join Essex-based disability charity, ‘The Music Man Project’ for 45-minutes of accessible online music-making and fun. Featuring the famous Music Man Project Global Ambassadors and charity founder, David Stanley BEM.

Students from The Music Man Project have already delivered ground-breaking in-person workshops to 15,000 Primary and Special School children across the county. Now you can join them live from their teaching session in Southend on Zoom. Your pupils will learn to sing, sign and play music from The Music Man Project songbook, led by inspirational musical role models with learning disabilities.

When?

Sessions will take place on Tuesdays from 11am -11.45am on the following dates: 10 December, 4 February, 25 March, 20 May and 1 July

Sign up for sessions here

 

Manningtree: Jack Petchey Music Bursary Award

We are delighted to offer Bursaries to students in Tendring this year, with generous funding from Jack Petchey. This means eligible students can access fully funded lessons, ensembles and instrument hire.

Who is eligible?

  • Secondary school aged students
  • Household income of less than £24,000, or Looked After or Adopted
  • Have been learning an instrument for a year or shown commitment to an instrument

This is a perfect opportunity to progress your instrumental learning and participate in ensembles to develop your musicianship further.

What is on offer?

Eligible students can access:

  • A 30-minute group lesson in either Brass or Strings
  • A 30-minute ensemble
  • Free instrument hire

Lessons will take place at Tendring Community Music Centre which is on Saturday mornings at Manningtree High School. These new groups will start on 21 September 2024.

Apply for a bursary place here where you can let us know whether you are interested in strings or brass. We will be in touch with more information and timings.

Basildon Bands!

We are delighted to announce a new Music Centre for Basildon!

Who is this for?

The centre will focus on developing band instruments and putting bands together. If you are interested in Guitar, Drums, Vocals or Keyboard, this is the place for you!

We will be running group lessons for KS2 and KS3-4 in Guitar, Drums, Keyboard and Vocals as well as running bands to give students the chance to practise their new skills.

Regular sessions will take place at De La Salle school, but are open to students from across Basildon and nearby areas. We welcome students aged 7 – 18.

Where and When?

Venue: De La Salle School, Ghyllgrove, Basildon SS14 2LA (Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/i5KdHGynB51c4kfWA)

Date and Time: Fridays after school, starting from 27 September 2024.

What is on offer?

  • 30-minute group lesson in your instrument (either guitar, drums, keyboard or vocals) at £50 per 10-week term
  • 30-minute band rehearsal at £40 per 10-week term
  • Limited individual instrumental lessons are available starting at £96.75 for 10 x 15-minute lessons

Masterclasses and Performances

  • Week 5 of each term will see the groups come together for a masterclass at the Towngate Theatre
  • Week 10 we will again go the Towngate for an Open Mic night to showcase all that has been learnt.

Register for a place here by selecting your preference in ‘Choose your courses’