Bringing the joy of music to local schools

Children from local schools came together for a special St David's Day Outreach Concert at Winchester Cathedral.

Since the start of the year, staff from Pilgrims', Winchester Cathedral and Winchester College have been working with six schools in Winchester to learn songs for a St David's Day Concert. Over 160 children came together to rehearse and perform in the Cathedral in front of their proud families. For some, it was their first time in our wonderful Cathedral.

Excited children joined us from St Faiths, St Bedes, All Saints, Western, Twyford St Marys and Pilgrims’. They had a chance to have a brief look around the Cathedral and as well as singing, they heard a demonstration of the organ, performed by Sub Organist, Joshua Stephens.

Speaking about the event, Project Lead, Mr Burton said, "It's so wonderful to bring everyone together in this amazing space, to sing the same songs and share this fantastic opportunity".

Singing teacher, Anna Leyland, said, "It was very special today to see our local children joining together through music in their beautiful Cathedral. Singing plays such an important role in children’s development, on many levels. It is essential that we keep promoting it and making it available to the next generation".

Mr Burbridge, Headteacher at Western CE Primary School was thrilled with the event, saying, "The experience that you have provided for our young children is exceptional and the power of music in a collaborative performance cannot be underestimated. I am most grateful for the Headteacher at Pilgrims' allowing you to undertake such outreach work and I want to say that we can visibly see the impact that this quality experience has on a significant number of our children".

Mrs Hall, Headteacher at All Saints CE Primary School also loved it, saying, "I just wanted to send my heartfelt thanks to you and your team for the beautiful concert yesterday. It was a truly special afternoon and such an amazing experience for our Year 4 children and their families. We have had such positive feedback from our parents/carers who attended, and I think we all floated back to school yesterday after such a wonderful afternoon!"

Aims

Outreach objectives:

- To encourage Year 4 and 5 children to experience singing, ultimately in the Cathedral.
- To bring local community together with a common goal of exposing young people to music.
- To raise the awareness of musical expertise at Pilgrims’, Winchester College and Winchester Cathedral.

Logistics:

Five music experts went out to 6 schools every Wednesday afternoon for the first half of the Lent Term with the same music repertoire so that they would ultimately sing as one in Winchester Cathedral. Parents were invited to the concert on Wednesday 1 March, St David's Day.

Background

This is a wonderful community outreach event organised by project-lead, Chris Burton, Assistant Director of Music at The Pilgrims' School. Local schools were keen to work with Chris and music experts from Pilgrims', the Cathedral and College to help bring the joy of music to children and the opportunity to sing in the beautiful Cathedral.

Speaking about the event, Project Lead, Mr Burton said, "It's so wonderful to bring everyone together in this amazing space, to sing the same songs and share this fantastic opportunity".

Resources

Five music experts from Pilgrims', Winchester Cathedral and College went out every Wednesday afternoon during the first half of the Lent Term.

There was no financial cost involved.

The project came together on Wednesday 1 March with a rehearsal in the Cathedral following by a half an hour concert in front of the children's families.

Over 160 children were involved.

Impact

Children and schools loved the event with the following feedback received:

We also had great press coverage with the photograph of the children on the front page of the Hampshire Chronicle.

Pupil Involvement

Over 160 boys and girls involved from five local church schools along with Pilgrims'. Children were in Years 4 and 5, aged 8 to 10.

Frequency

We are definitely looking to organise future events like this.