Music Makers

Music Makers was a two-year programme funded by Youth Music, aimed at engaging young people in a long-term involvement in making music. At the core of this programme was an exciting, active workshop that encouraged young people to work together to

• create their own music,
• develop their musical and compositional skills,
• develop instrumental skills,
• use their voices and music technology (particularly for recording) and
• work towards performance.

After School Programme

Music Makers mostly consisted of an eight to ten week programme of after-school sessions, which culminated in a performance at the school or other event. The project focused on three High schools, Sprowston High School, the Hewett School and Earlham High School, and on years 7 and 8 within the school. The programme was run several times in each school, with new participants each time. We sought to pick up young people who were struggling with the transition to High School, offering involvement in music as a way of developing confidence, social networks and self-esteem. Engaging these young people was achieved through links with the school transition officers and the music teachers, with them making up about half of each group.

Open Sessions

Music Makers also had an open access element. We ran holiday workshops, which could be anything from a half day to four days. Performances were focussed on Showcase events, including the Greenstock festival (to an audience of around 1,000 people), the Garage's Summer Showcase and the Norwich Playhouse Showcase.

We had an overwhelming response to the programme, with over 250 young people taking part over the two years. You can hear some of the music produced on the media page. The programme attracted a range of young people, from those who had no previous experience of music at all, to those who maybe played an instrument but had not previously been involved with writing their own material or playing in a group. A large proportion stated that they would like to continue to do music and we hope to see them getting involved in NORCA's future programmes.

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