In Harmony

In Harmony is a community development programme aimed at using music to bring positive change to the lives of young children in some of the most deprived areas of England, delivering benefits across the wider community. The programme encourages participation in music - in the form of the Symphony Orchestra - which can have huge personal benefits for the children involved, providing opportunities to grow and develop, both socially and musically. The programme is inspired by the hugely successful Venezuelan project, El Sistema, and is chaired by world renowned cellist, Julian Lloyd-Webber.

In Harmony held a concert on the 3rd of December click the button below to see the photos

Three organisations have been chosen to deliver In Harmony projects, in three areas of England, and Norwich has been successful in being selected as one of these, along with Lambeth (Lambeth Music Services) and West Everton (Royal Liverpool Philharmonic). In Harmony is funded through the Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCSF).

Read the latest news about In Harmony

NORCA is thrilled to have been selected to run an In Harmony Project. It is a fantastic opportunity for us to put our experience into practice and to see community arts working on a major scale, as well as making a real difference to the lives of young people in Norwich. We profoundly believe in the potential of the arts, and music in particular, to achieve these sorts of changes.

What is In Harmony about ?

• In Harmony is primarily a social programme, using music through the model of a Symphony Orchestra to improve the lives of individuals and communities.
• The project is conceived as an early years intervention. In Norwich it will initially focus on Reception and Year 1 children, in areas of the city considered to have above average levels of deprivation. In each subsequent year, additional year groups will be added. Older children will, however, also be able to get involved.
• The project is focussed on long-term, sustained and intensive involvement of the children.
• In Harmony will be strongly rooted in the community and aim to develop the support, goodwill and commitment of parents and carers, children and young people and community and voluntary organisations in the area.
• The project is not just about developing musical skills. Social development is as, if not more, important. However, music is the vehicle for achieving this and our work will strive for musical excellence and offer high quality music provision.

What do we aim to achieve ?

• Regular and, if possible, daily sessions for children.
• New cohorts joining the programme each year.
• Older children (who may have been learning instruments through other routes) involved in the project and mentoring the younger children who start on the project.
• Teaching of instruments and musicianship taking place in group sessions.
• Instruments available to all children who participate, at no charge.
• A continuing experience for all children who join the project.
• The development of a large ensemble and regular performances.
• A growing sense of community cohesion, as the children make progress both in musical ability and social skills.
• A plan to sustain and grow the experience driven by the parents, carers and wider community, including training for volunteers.
• Training for musicians, who will need to understand the backgrounds of the children and working with deprived communities, and to be able to interact with the children, parents and carers.
• Interest growing amongst older children and young people who may want to join in / help out with the project.
• Strong links with the other two projects, to share information and experience and offer cross project opportunities for participants.
• Dissemination of learning through the website, reports and other means.

Key Themes

The project will draw on a range of methods and approaches, many of which overlap and have similar themes, seeking to build on best practice and existing experience. In this way we aim to develop an approach that will be flexible, effective with the age and communities we are working with, and able to meet the challenges of this work. Key methods we are looking at include, Suzuki, Dalcroze, Kodaly, conventional teaching, Sheila Nelson, Wider Opportunities and Community Music. In this way we hope to bring together the best elements of each into an effective method. We have already started drawing on these as part of a programme of training for the In Harmony Norwich team. Key features of the work are :

• Early Beginnings,
• An initial focus on listening and playing from memory,
• All teaching based in group work,
• Playing regularly in public,
• Common repertoire,
• Parental involvement,
• Mentoring by older young people, including students.
• Strong links to a local orchestra.

What are we actually doing ?

The delivery of In Harmony Norwich is:

• Targeted at the Larkman, Mile Cross and Catton Grove areas of the city, three established areas of deprivation.
• Based in the three key Primary schools for these areas, Larkman, Catton Grove and Mile Cross Primaries, and built on strong partnerships with these schools.
• The programme takes the form of a mixture of in-school and after-school provision. In school, all Reception and Year 1 children in these schools will get between one and one and a half hours of provision per week, mixing instrumental tuition with general musicianship sessions.
• After school we are offering provision at two locations, Larkman Primary School and Catton Grove Primary School, from Monday to Thursday. This is offered to all Reception and Year 1 children we are working with in school time, plus a few places for the most interested children across the other year groups. Reception children only attend for the first hour, which is focused on general musicianship, with instrumental teaching taking place in the second hour. Every week on a Thursday there is an 'ensemble' session that brings together the different instrument groups, and also offers a chance to mix the children in the two after school groups.
• We are working with Violin, Viola, Cello, Double bass and Percussion as key instruments, in addition to singing, which everyone does. Year 1 and older children have selected their instrument of choice, whilst Reception children make this choice in the second half of the academic year.

Why Norwich ?

Norwich is not necessarily somewhere that people would associate with deprivation, an image we are working hard to counter in getting the appropriate level of support for the city. However, Norwich is the most deprived local authority area in the Eastern Region based on rank of average score, Index of Multiple Deprivation. This is the most reasonable indicator of overall deprivation, with 43,500 people in Norwich living in the most deprived 20% of the country. This level of deprivation has been recognised by central government, which has designated Norwich as a Neighbourhood Renewal Fund area. In addition, research shows that Norfolk has the lowest literacy and numeracy levels in the eastern region, with Norwich having particularly poor performance. Currently 30% of all children in the city are growing up in benefit dependent households and 18% are income deprived.

The three In Harmony wards are established areas of deprivation in the city. On the basis of the Index of Multiple Deprivation (2004) eight of Norwich's thirteen wards are in the most deprived 15% nationally, and the three In Harmony wards include some Super Output Areas (SOA's) that are in the most deprived 2% nationally. All three wards are also in the most deprived 6% nationally on the basis of the Educational Domain of the IMD (2004).

Key Partners

The following organisations are the key partners that we are either already working with or developing links with.

• Future Projects (formerly the NR5 Project)
• UEA School of Music
• Chamber Orchestra Anglia
• Larkman Primary School
• Catton Grove Primary School
• Mile Cross Primary School
• Earlham Early Years Centre
• Norfolk Music Service

The Launch of In Harmony

Representatives of all three In Harmony projects attended the launch of the Programme in December 2008.

Julian Lloyd-Webber commented:
"I am excited and delighted by the three In Harmony projects. Each has its own individual character and each is firmly rooted within their community. Music has the power to change children's lives and I can't wait to see In Harmony in action at last!"

Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls added:
"I'm delighted that we can announce the successful projects for the In Harmony programme. The quality of bids was high but the successful applicants demonstrated an exceptional understanding of what the project is aiming to achieve: namely raised hopes and aspirations, discipline and rigour and the provision of skills to young people that will stay with them for life. I am also very pleased that Julian Lloyd Webber is leading this programme. Not only is he a brilliant musician, he is a passionate advocate of In Harmony - a programme that we believe will be a powerful agent of social change."

Schools Minister, Sarah McCarthy-Fry said:
"These projects form part of an exciting programme which will show how different projects led by different organisations can use music to bring about a transformation in the lives of young children and the communities in which they live".

Contact In Harmony