On Sunday 22 May the newly formed Music Hub Festival Choir performed at MAST Mayflower Studios’ big birthday bash. The choir performed  'It's Our Jubilee' , the hubs newly commissioned song to celebrate the queen's jubilee. 

The choir was formed of community members and representatives from 14 schools across the city. 

Composer Jo Downs, who also sang in the choir says:

“It was wonderful to see my song coming to life. I loved the inclusion of signing in the performance and I was blown away by the standard of singing after two rehearsals.”

Akindu, one of the singers, says:

“It was really good fun to sing at the concert. I really liked the jubilee song.”

On Saturday 2 October, children and their families got to take part in iPad music-making workshops with Southampton Music Hub as part of the Mayflower Studios’ ‘Festival of Loveliness’.

In the workshops, participants used Garageband to create electronic soundscapes inspired by movies and video games. Listen to some of the recordings below:

The Everybody Sing Song Bank has loads of great songs to help children and young people feel healthier and happier through singing together, and this Mental Health Awareness Week, here’s a few highlights:

Health and Wellbeing Songs

Emotional Literacy Songs

Growth Mindset Songs

This term the schools up and down the country have been delighted to share in the successful 10 Minute Sign & Sing project.  The project has seen sign ups from as far afield as Rotherham, London, Leicestershire and Bedfordshire plus many local schools both in Southampton and the Isle of Wight.

Currently the hub is collecting videos of schools, classes, bubbles and individuals signing along to a song from the songbank, to be stitched together into a digital premiere performance on Monday 29th March over on the hub YouTube channel.

Participants will also be given a link to participate in a new sign and sing workshop which will be on the hub YouTube channel just before the premiere at 1.30pm on the same day.  

The deadline for video submissions is Wednesday 17th March but if you’re not yet signed up to participate in this there’s still time! Whether you’re a school bubble or an individual learning at home in isolation or a whole school participating you can get involved!

Nia Collins, Music Hub Relationship Manager, says:

“We know that currently schools are finding it challenging to find larger scale performance activities that pupils can safely get involved in and this project gives you the perfect vehicle to do so. Not only are we taking the hassle of the digital editing off your hands but we’re also offering schools the opportunity to come together and do something as a community post lockdown and start to build those vital connections again for children and young people”

On Sunday 7 February 2021, at 2pm, Art Asia hosts an online celebration of the community art project, ‘Belonging’.

This free event will feature stories, poems, and the debut of a brand performance of ‘Naya Rasta — Sailing Towards a New Horizon’: a digital collaboration made up of video performances from musicians across the city. Included among the contributions will be iPad performances from Matt Brombley, who lead’s the music hub’s technology provision.

Matt Brombley says:
”Even though recorded alone at home, this was such an exciting project to take part in. I can’t wait to hear the ways other performers have, from their homes, re-imagined and been inspired by the music and the stories Art Asia have shared. To be able to be a part of something with others, to work on something together even though we are apart, is so wonderful.”

This term Southampton Music Hub is offering as many people as possible the exciting opportunity to join in with Big 10 Minute Sign & Sing — no matter where you are in the country!  Whether you’re a school bubble, or an individual learning at home. or a whole school participating, everyone can get involved.  

Those taking part can choose any song from the Song Bank to participate in this project (you can find songs on the website or YouTube channel), use the 10 minute Teaching video to learn the signs and/or body percussion and practise with the performance video.  When you are ready you can submit videos of your class bubble in school, multiple bubbles and pupils learning from home can submit their own individual videos to be included.

The hub’s brilliant digital team will stitch together the videos and premiere them as part of a national event, on YouTube on Monday 29th March at 1.30pm.

Monday 29th March Online workshop and Premiere

Join the music hub on the afternoon of 29th March at 1.30pm over on the 10 Minute Sing & Sing YouTube channel to participate in a new Pop Medley Sign & Sing workshop and watch the live premiere of your performances!

Find out more about the event at https://www.southamptonmusichub.org/big10

Nia Collins, Music Hub Relationship Manager, says:
“We know many of our schools are using 10 Minute Sign & Sing as part of their in-school and home learning activities during the current lockdown and that we are all missing the opportunity to take part in events and performances. What better way to build community and connect with each other than to combine all our activities into one nationwide project – so excited to see the final performances!” 

Art Asia is delighted to offer online classes in Bollywood, Tabla, Singing, Harmoinum and Bharatnatyam. All classes are run by highly experienced tutors who are international performers in their respective field.

Today, Changing Tracks release their annual findings and review in to inclusion for music services.

Southampton Music Services, the lead partner for Southampton Music Hub, takes part in the Changing Tracks network, and earlier this year, took part in an Action Research Project with Looked After Families which has contributed to this review.

About Changing Tracks:

Changing Tracks is a programme of support and learning for and with music services wanting to improve equality, diversity and inclusion. It is run by Hertfordshire Music Service and funded by Youth Music. It was previously called MusicNet East. Changing Tracks members are helping each other to be more inclusive through a peer network facilitated by Music Mark, funding for action research, support and challenge, advice and resources.

About the Alliance for a Musically Inclusive England

The network is part of the Alliance for a Musically Inclusive England.

The Alliance is a growing network of organisations working together to:

• promote equity in music education

• support others to do the same through advocacy, CPD, resources, and strategic alliances.

What does being musically inclusive involve?

Musically inclusive practice involves making sure young people’s music is HEARD:

• Holistic: placing emphasis on personal, social and musical outcomes

• Equitable: people facing the biggest barriers receive the most support

• Authentic: developed with and informed by the people we do it for

• Representative: the people we work with as participants and colleagues reflect our diverse society

• Diverse: all musical genres, styles, practices are valued equally

Schools, children and families across Southampton and Isle of Wight have been enjoying joining in with last week’s “10 Minute Sign & Sing” videos:

I did 'Try Everything' with the whole school on Friday… They absolutely loved it!!

It was fantastic standing at the front and watching the concentration on their faces as they signed along with Kelly.. she was really great - so clear.

— Jill (teacher at Beechwood School)

Sandra, is a music teacher at Great Oaks, a secondary school for young people with a range of complex learning difficulties including autism and speech and language difficulties, and she says:

I really like this new song… thank you for your hard work in putting these songs and the signing together. I like the fact the signing is Makaton!

And for schools who are seeing disruption to their usual music making, the videos have helped to create new, exciting shared music experiences:

These are fab!  That's fantastic as we can't do our Christmas Nativity do want to do something different for parents…

— Laura, teacher at Newchurch & Nettlestone Primary schools

This week Southampton and Isle of Wight Music Hubs launch a new “10 Minute Sign & Sing” series — weekly videos to help children enjoy making music safely in class, and at home.

All the songs include step-by-step instructions to help everyone enjoy singing along, as well as signing along using fun and easy Makaton signs.

Whilst Covid-19 restrictions mean that, for some, whole-school singing assemblies may not currently be possible, these quick ten minute videos can keep music at the heart of daily school life in a new way — as part of class or year group “bubbles”. As an added bonus, videos can be sent home to children self-isolating, so that no one misses out on making music this year.

Makaton Foundation says:
”For those not familiar with Makaton, it is a unique language programme that combines signs, symbols and spoken word to aid with communication and understanding new ideas. Using Makaton with Singing is a fun and easy way to learn to use signs with singing for young children. Signing and singing have been shown to encourage the development of communication and language skills and are beneficial for vocalisation, confidence, social skills, emotional development, well-being and self-esteem.”

Each week the team will be creating video resources covering two songs: one for Early Years and Key Stage 1; and the other suitable for Key Stages 2–3. Children with Special Educational Needs can join in with whichever song they like best — all the songs come with Makaton signs and instructions, and can be enjoyed by everybody.

The music hub has partnered with Welsh National Opera as part of this project and their fantastic vocal practitioners — opera singers and workshop leaders Emily Rooke and Dalma Sinka — will be creating the videos for Early Years and Key Stage 1.

Nia Collins, Music Hub Relationship Manager, says:
“By keeping videos quick and accessible we hope to encourage regular, short singing, to take place on a daily basis in a well-ventilated classrooms and homes throughout the year. As government guidance outlines, singing a little and often is absolutely possible and we believe the health and wellbeing benefits that come with this are absolutely vital to children and young people.”

10 Minute Sign & Sing is part of the Everybody Sing Song Bank:

Art Asia are offering four creative ways to explore the Mayflower story:

“The Mayflower Story began with the epic voyage of the pilgrims, in search of the New World and finding their site of belonging. It is a story of persecution, hope and challenges they encounters as they negotiated a new regrouping of communities to call it home. The Mayflower story has a double edge — the pilgrim finding a new home but at the same time displacing the indigenous people and paving the way for colonialism. It is important to recognise this. At a time when we are living through some extraordinary times, not only because of the pandemic but because of inequalities and entrenched racism in society ‘Belonging’ attempts to bring the lives and stories of the new settlers in Southampton.

Art Asia are offering creative responses, including singing, storytelling and craft, and are inviting Southampton’s communities to respond.

As another school year comes to an end, Southampton Music Hub looks back on a year which has been unlike any other.

Mayflower 400

Symphony 400: The Voyage

The year, and our Mayflower 400 journey, began in four primary schools, where composer James Redwood collected musical ideas inspired by the Mayflower story. 

Over the next few months, those ideas inspired a momentous musical voyage for a new orchestra of 100 talented secondary musicians, alongside digital remixes and resources for others to play and create for themselves.

Big Sing: The Journey

Alongside Symphony 400, Southampton Music Hub partnered with Mayflower Theatre to take inspirational songs from their newly commissioned musicals to school children across the city. The songs inspired and motivated hundreds of hours of workshops and rehearsals for young singers.

Southampton: A Musical Odyssey 

In early March, over 1000 young musicians performed two nights of unforgettable music at the Mayflower Theatre, with a programme of music which included musical performances of all shapes and sizes, including the debuts of Symphony 400: The Voyage and Big Sing: The Journey.

“I was really nervous — I’ve  never done anything like this before — but being with my friends, I was able to get on stage and sing with everybody!” 

— year four pupil from Hollybrook Junior School

Responding to Covid-19

Just a few weeks after the unforgettable events at the Mayflower Theatre — a celebration of the passion, creativity and resilience of the city’s young musicians — the country went into lockdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and that same passion, creativity and resilience was shown once again, in the face of unprecedented circumstances. 

In the past few months...

• Southampton Music Services has moved over 600 music lessons online

• City ensembles have created a virtual concert programme

• Pizza boxes of music-making activities have been sent to shielded children

• A new Soundbites Digital programme has allowed First Access to continue in schools and at home

• ‘The Greatest Friend’ encouraged children to look after their own wellbeing and the wellbeing of others

• Weekly instrumental and curriculum newsletters have supported schools and home learners

• Resources from the Synthesis project have inspired independent electronic music-making

At every stage, young musicians and all those that support them — from their families to music teachers, to hub partners and beyond — have shown incredible resilience, creativity and passion for keeping music playing.

Looking Ahead

There are so many uncertainties ahead, and as Southampton Music Hub charts out a plan for returning in September, the challenges ahead feel huge. Not least of all because we know of the huge emotional burden that has been placed on the city’s young musicians over these past months, being separated from the friends and musical communities they love. 

Nights like Mayflower Theatre in March, and the incredible response of the past few months, serve as a reminder of what can be achieved when people come together and unlock the passion, creativity and resilience of the city’s young people and communities. 

Southampton Music Hub Find out more about our Hub Choirs at: Bella Voce - Senior Chamber Choir Soton Voce - All ages Community Choir https://www.southamptonm...

Southampton Music Hub choirs; senior youth choir Bella Voce and community choir Soton Voce, have worked together this term to contribute to a recording of a All Is Found from Frozen 2. Weekly virtual rehearsals have been running since lockdown started and this song has been learned entirely remotely by members in three part harmony!

Some music hub friends have sent in videos of them singing, dancing, signing and even playing along with ‘The Greatest Friend’ — enjoy watching them as they get moving, make some great sounds, and even get a little messy!

Coronavirus has has a huge impact on all our lives. For families up and down the country, the past half term has been unlike any other: learning at home, and keeping a social distance from others. With schools looking to start welcoming more pupils on site, starting with some of the youngest first, this is a challenging time for everybody.

For children, as this half term ends, and they look ahead to the big changes coming soon, there are lots of confusing thoughts and feelings to try and make sense of. That is why Southampton Music Hub has created a brand new song called, ‘The Greatest Friend’.

We Need You!

With some very silly lyrics, fun actions, and sign language translation too, the song is fun for all ages. So there really is no excuse not to sing, dance or sign along.

The song also has a very important message hidden inside: it’s ok to feel sad and confused sometimes; everybody feels that way, but, it’s not forever.

What better way to show that we’re all in this together, than a video of everybody joining in? That’s why we need YOU!

Send us your videos and video clips either through the music hub website, or on Twitter, and you could be part of a huge, exciting, community video version of the song.

Starting today, pizza boxes of music activities arrive on the doorsteps of shielded children across the city. Including support for songwriting, beatboxing, and even turning the box in to the drum, the resources are designed to support music-making at home, with no extra stuff needed.

The boxes have been put together by Southampton Music Hub and are inspired by the incredible work of Solent Showcase Gallery and Southampton City Council’s art box scheme. They are part of the Covid-19 response from Southampton’s Cultural Education Partnership (SCEP), looking to help make sure children can access cultural experiences from a distance.

Matt Brombley, Development Manager for Southampton Music Hub, says:
”We’re delighted to be part of the SCEP’s response to COVID-19: helping children and young people making music at home. We know that for shielded children — those who are extremely clinically vulnerable, or who live with someone who is — the very strict social distancing restrictions are really tough. We hope that being able to make music and write songs will help them to work through the difficult feelings that such a troubled time brings.”

Southampton Music Hub has new sets of resources to support music-making and learning at home and in schools this week.

Instrumental Newsletter

A weekly newsletter for instrumental musicians, to go alongside online music lessons, and instrument specific resources being sent directly by instrumental teachers.

Curriculum Newsletter

A weekly newsletter for those missing out on classroom music sessions.

Music Technology

Resources for making use of iPad and other digital apps, including video guides from expert musicians on how to write your own songs.

Soundbites Digital

This week, the first of ten weekly sessions for First Access musicians is heading out to schools and families that are missing out on their Soundbites and In2Music lessons. Learning music from across the world, over ten weeks, young music-makers will use their voices and any percussion they can get their hands on — or just their hands — to explore melody and rhythm.

Think your school or family should be taking part? Get in touch

Southampton Music Hub is creating regular resources to support the city’s children and young people learning at home and in school.

Music Curriculum

Instrumental Music

The instrumental teams have been busy making videos, worksheets and other resources to support young musicians playing at home, which they will add to over the coming weeks

Easter Break

Southampton Music Hub instrumental and vocal teachers have worked exceptionally hard this term — thanks to their resilience and creative problem solving we have had over 300 young musicians start online music lessons in less than two weeks. They deserve a break — and so do we all! Lessons and resources will be back after the Easter Holidays, from Monday 20 April onward.

Southampton Music Hub is launching the first of a series of regular activity newsletters designed to support pupils, teachers and parents with a musical learning framework in the coming months.

This initial resource has a variety of activities for Key Stages 1–2 which are appropriate to complete either in school or at home. After Easter the hub will aim to provide two weekly newsletters created by the hub’s specialist curriculum team.

Each newsletter will follow a similar structure and include signposts to cross-curricular links. Activities will include guided listening; practical tasks; a research topic; digital and creative music making ideas; and music staves and notation worksheets.

The team would welcome feedback including ideas for genres, topics or types of activities pupils, parents and teachers would like to see included — get in touch and the team will do their best to take on board your suggestions.

In September 2019, composer James Redwood visited four Southampton Primary Schools: collecting musical ideas from 100 school children, inspired by the Mayflower 400 story.

Now, those ideas have become a brand new piece of music: “Symphony 400: The Voyage” — debuted by 60 talented secondary and sixth form musicians at the Mayflower Theatre on Friday 6 March 2020

Watch the video of the story of “Symphony 400: The Voyage”.

Where Now? An Unexpected Twist

When the Symphony 400 journey began back in September, no one could have predicted the circumstances that would be to follow in March 2020. With social distancing and isolation set to be a part of life for the weeks, and possibly months, to come, there is a twist in the next stage of our journey.

One Start — Many Different Journeys

Southampton Music Hub is making all the music available — to anyone — for free — including…

• PDF scores

• Sibelius Files

• MIDI Files and more

You can use these to…

• Remix

• Reimagine

• Rearrange

• Transform

• Play

• Perform and more

This can be done…

• At home

• At school

• On video chat with friends or relatives

• Using apps on your smartphone or tablet

• Using apps on your PC or Mac

• With an instrument

• With your voice

• Any way you can imagine — the possibilities are endless

Why not try…

• Printing out the score, and chopping it up — move the pieces around and then stick them down again

• Adding the MIDI parts to GarageBand or Logic and changing the instruments — explore the world of digital sound

• Create loops — either by playing or recording — layer them up and remix the parts

If you have recordings, photos or scores you’d like to share, send us links on Twitter or via the contact page, and we’ll try to share some with everybody.

Where next? It’s up to you!

Where our journey goes next is in your hands. Symphony 400: The Voyage launched its journey in the classroom, and led us all the way to the Mayflower stage. Now, let many more journeys begin.