British composer, DJ and university lecturer, Jack McNeill, invites music leaders to free webinar

The virtual event aims to empower music leaders across the UK and break down common barriers to using music technology in the classroom.

Orchestras for All is delighted to announce that internationally-recognised composer, DJ and Associate Lecturer in Music and Sound Recording at the University of York, Jack McNeill, will be hosting the second webinar in the charity’s Music Leadership Training series.

Titled Achieving Equity and Empowerment Through Music Technology, the live session will take place via Zoom on Tuesday 24 May 2022 and aims to boost the skills and confidence of music teachers and hub leaders across the UK.

Jack said: “I’m really excited to be working with Orchestras for All to bring you a workshop on demystifying music technology in the classroom, offering some ideas on the potential it has for equitable music-making.

“The session is about empowering teachers and students to use music technology. Hopefully, by the end we’ll be able to remove some of the barriers that people face when using the DAW (or digital audio workstation) and perhaps, to understand how technology might help students and teachers to achieve their creative or professional goals.”

Read more: Tear-jerking performances and togetherness wrap up National Orchestra for All’s memorable spring season >

Pictured: Composer, DJ and university lecturer, Jack McNeill, with National Orchestra for All guitarist, Kit

He continued: “There will be room in the session for an open discussion, so please come with ideas, thoughts and concerns that you might have come across while using music technology in your classroom. I look forward to sharing some of my own experiences and perspectives as well as hearing yours.”

It will surely be a memorable evening for both attendees and the keen composer, who is also a guitar tutor for National Orchestra for All (NOFA) and recently penned the score for the ensemble’s captivating audiovisual track, ‘The Great Interstellar Orchestra’ (watch below) – created and performed by NOFA’s inspiring young members during the COVID-19 lockdown.

While Jack’s forthcoming webinar is free to attend, participants are invited to donate what they can to help the charity continue its life-changing work.

The event comes after leading saxophonist, author and music education consultant, Professor Nate Holder, launched OFA’s virtual series last November with a session exploring whiteness in music education, diversity versus decolonisation and how relationships form an integral part of a music educator’s practise.

Orchestras for All wins award for Outstanding Musical Initiative at the Music and Drama Education Awards 2022 >

With thousands of music educators across the UK still facing significant challenges as a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic, the need to provide support and improve access to music-making is growing.

That’s why to complement the webinars, 10 online modules have become available as part of the charity’s Music Leadership Training course – providing flexible, hands-on guidance through short videos filmed in real life contexts and in partnership with leading practitioners.

As well as covering traditional conducting techniques, the course invites music leaders to reflect on approaches to group composing, learning music by ear, teaching music without notation and arranging music for inclusive ensembles. 

Thank you to each of our loyal funders, individual donors and supporters as well as The Rachel Baker Memorial Charity – without you, our Music Leadership Training programme and webinar series would not be possible.

Achieving Equity and Empowerment Through Music Technology will be available to livestream via Zoom on Tuesday, 24 May 2022 at 19:00 GMT.

Sign up for Jack’s free webinar >

‘Embrace your individuality and put yourself out there’ – composer shares top tips with young people

From starting his musical journey and getting through the pandemic to the perks of playing music with others, National Orchestra for All composer Jack McNeill reveals all…

What’s your earliest musical memory?

Learning a piece called ‘Knickerbocker Glory’ for my Grade 1 violin exam! I remember really struggling with the piece and getting frustrated with this instrument that was so new to me.  But when I finally managed to learn the piece and got through the exam, I can also remember the feeling of satisfaction, pride and achievement. Years later, I’m still humming the tune!

Who, or what, inspired you to pursue a career in music?

Throughout my musical journey, I’ve had inspiring people around me who have pushed me to do what I’m doing now – from instrumental and classroom teachers when I was at school to university lecturers when I was a student. Friends and family also pushed me to take that next step in my career. I have a great network, both musical and non-musical, who are always eager to hear about what is coming next, sharing their own musical creations with me and supporting me through the successes (and inevitable failures) that I’ve had. 

In terms of what inspired me to pursue a career in music, it was obsessively listening to music and going to concerts or gigs and thinking ‘I could do that!’.  I always wanted to be the person standing on stage or in the studio and was keen to know how that world works.  While I rarely perform these days, I still get a buzz from hearing my work performed live or recorded!

Read more: Keyboard tutor Matt is running the London Marathon to raise money for Orchestras for All – and he needs your help >

Tell us about some of your career highlights so far.

Performing ‘Crossfade’ at Leeds Arena with National Orchestra for All (NOFA) a few years ago was definitely a highlight! The piece was written with the space in mind, so once the electronic parts, amazing light show and visuals came into the space with the orchestra, it was a truly awesome collective moment.

A few years ago, I also released a record and went on a little tour in some venues around the country. It was early on in my career and the shows were small, but I distinctly remember the excitement of standing up on stage, playing my own music and people appreciating it. That was pretty special!

Meet Orchestras for All’s young musicians >

What do you love the most about being a composer?

I love that every day I get the opportunity to create new work and access some level of creativity in myself. I am constantly able to experiment with new ideas and ways of making sound and music. I should say these ideas don’t work 80 per cent of the time, but I really enjoy the process of failing with ideas and building better ones from them – failure is such an important part of the creative process for me. 

I also spend a lot of my time teaching composition and this has allowed me to experience loads of other peoples’ work. It’s always inspiring to hear ideas and engage in creative discussions with other people who are doing similar things to me. No two days are the same in composing or teaching and I find that variety really rewarding.

Jack (bottom right) teams up with National Orchestra for All and its tutors to play online during the pandemic

‘The Great Interstellar Orchestra’ is an incredible piece of work – are there any standout moments for you?

It was all NOFA members’ work! When Bryony and I ran workshops with NOFA in April, we had no idea what material we would be sent to work with and had no outcomes in mind, so for me the standout moment was sitting down after the course and listening to all of the amazing sounds, fragments and compositions that members had created. They even came up with the name for us! 

About halfway through the piece, there’s this rich evolving chord sequence accompanied by some stunning visuals from Bryony. I made that part when I was at a bit of a dead end and didn’t know where to go next. I put one of the NOFA member’s recordings into a sampler, added some effects and started improvising around a pentatonic scale – literally playing random notes and experimenting with building the texture, which I then recorded and loved it. What you hear in the piece is an exact unchanged version of that improvisation!

Read more: Watch this mesmerising work created by 100 young musicians >

Do you have any tips for young people considering a career in music?

Share what you do! Something I have always struggled with is having the confidence to put myself out there. In fact, it is something that I still struggle with. But no-one is going to know about your talents unless you take the plunge and share your work. Getting feedback is a great way to build your confidence and even if something doesn’t work out at first, sometimes connections come back around in the future. 

I would also say that you should embrace your individuality! You are you and it’s never helpful to compare yourself to others. As you develop through your musical journey and eventual career, you’ll find a good space where you belong.

Why has wellbeing become so important for musicians during the coronavirus pandemic?

What we do is based on collaboration and the ability to play together, work together, listen together and perform together. This has become a serious challenge during the pandemic and many musicians – myself included – feel that these challenges have compromised a significant part of our identities. 

The NOFA online courses over the past year or so have been an incredible way to reconnect with group music-making and for many of us, this is central to wellbeing. However, being mindful and recognising our different moods has become important to not burn out! It’s okay to take days off where we don’t pick up our instrument or sit down to do some writing. I’ve learned to listen more carefully to my level of wellbeing, understand exactly when creativity or productivity might strike, and not beat myself up when I have musically (and generally) unproductive days!

What are your plans for 2021-22 – do you have any exciting projects in the pipeline?

I’m working on a really exciting project at the moment with Liverpool’s Resonate Hub, alongside a beatboxer and spoken word artist, Testament, and NOFA’s resident percussion master, Ollie Tunmer. It’s a culmination of workshops with the young people in Resonate’s ensembles that will combine electronic and acoustic music – hopefully it will be an exciting spectacle.

I’m also working on a new sound installation project with Orchestras for All’s Modulo programme in collaboration with Bryony Simcox (of ‘The Great Interstellar Orchestra’ fame!).  The project looks specifically at alternative ways to produce and experience sound, and might get quite experimental! Other than that, I’m hoping to focus a little more on creating my own music, with a few solo and collaborative projects on the go… 

Why is it important for us to break down barriers to music-making?

I have worked with Orchestras for All in various capacities for almost 10 years now. I have seen firsthand the impact that the charity has had on the young people it supports as well as seeing them develop in confidence – whether that’s their instrumental playing, creative music-making, or in themselves.

Orchestras for All offers an extraordinarily unique extracurricular opportunity for young musicians that historically, has only been accessible to a small number of musicians. Year upon year I have seen innovation, both in the way the charity carefully and genuinely supports its members as well as in the ambition and creativity in its artistic choices. I believe this can act as a model in innovative practice for any group, organisation or individual who feels passionately about breaking down barriers to music-making.

And finally, please complete the sentence. Orchestras for All is...

…a voice for innovative, creative and inclusive music-making for young people across the UK.

To fund a programme like NOFA and inspire young musicians in the UK, please donate today >

Watch this mesmerising digital work created by 100 young musicians

‘It will show others how we’re all going on a journey,’ says 16-year-old pianist, Troy.

Orchestras for All has shared a captivating new video in a bid to highlight the importance of youth voice and self-expression.

Titled ‘The Great Interstellar Orchestra’ and premiered today via YouTube, the six-minute clip (watch above) combines beautiful sounds and striking animations, created and performed by 100 young musicians.

The diverse musical group are members of National Orchestra for All (NOFA) – the UK’s only completely inclusive national youth orchestra – which has taken to Zoom for its rehearsals this season, amid the coronavirus pandemic. By harnessing the power of technology and exploring new ways of connecting, digital creativity became possible.

As part of NOFA’s four-day spring course, members were invited to a series of virtual workshops on remixing and collage led by British composer, Jack McNeill, and digital visual artist, Bryony Simcox. It was the unique stories and creations that emerged from young musicians during these sessions that formed the basis of the audiovisual composition.

Read more: 5 reasons why becoming an Orchestras for All trustee is the volunteer role you never knew you needed >

“‘The Great Interstellar Orchestra’ is all about giving young people a voice,” explains NOFA composer, Jack

After seeing the digital work – which was also named by NOFA members – for the first time, Troy, a young pianist with NOFA, said: “It had all the unique elements of people’s different ideas put together… I thought it was amazing!

“By the end I was so interested in it, I wanted to see more. I’m really happy that I was a part of it and that I was able to contribute to all of this. It will show [others] how we’re all going on a journey… where we are, what we want to do and what we want to achieve.”

NOFA percussionist, Abz, added: “It’s got the different noises and different instruments, and it represents us all as a whole. We’re not the same but we’re all linked in some way.”

Together: NOFA members share what performing means to them during the spring 2021 course

Ahead of the premiere, Orchestras for All caught up with UK-based composer, Jack, and digital visual artist, Bryony, to find out more about the creative process for the project (watch video below).

Speaking about the music, Jack explained: “The sounds that you will hear in ‘The Great Insterstellar Orchestra’ are all sounds that the members of the National Orchestra for All recorded themselves. After four days of workshops, members began to create their own works, exploring the sounds of their instruments, their creative potential, and sharing the sounds they had made with the NOFA creative team.

Discover more on National Orchestra for All’s young musicians >

“‘The Great Interstellar Orchestra’ is all about giving young people a voice and showcasing their creativity. And this is exactly what this piece does. The audio track is constructed (almost) exclusively of the NOFA members’ own recordings, processed, chopped up and warped to create this digital ensemble. Within the texture, every single sound that was sent has been included in some way and every member has an important role and voice within the team.” 

He continued: “The piece fully represents the diversity of NOFA members’ creative ideas, with some instrumental melodies peppered across the piece, interspersed with percussive interludes, rich ambient textures, and almost synthetic-sounding extended techniques. If you listen carefully, you will hear the voice of every single NOFA member in this work.

“I have hugely enjoyed working on this project. It is one of the largest and most ambitious I have worked on, with almost all of the creative decisions in the hands of the NOFA members, and over 100 pieces of audio to weave into the final piece.

“While ‘The Great Interstellar Orchestra’ is built up of individual voices, NOFA members demonstrated their creative capabilities as an ensemble. With many of the sounds that were sent in, there was clarity in each submission’s role in the piece and how they would support the work as a whole. Even remotely and in a digital medium, these young musicians so clearly understand and appreciate the inner workings of an ensemble, and it shows in their creative work.”

Read more: ‘We can be a part of something bigger together’, explains teenage trombonist and youth board member >

“Tunnels, car rides and cogs reflect the idea of coming together,” says digital visual artist, Bryony

Explaining her approach to the artwork, digital visual artist, Bryony, added: “When you watch the piece, look out for the abstracted images of instruments – each of these are photographs sourced by NOFA members who looked for patterns and shapes within the instruments they play. Also observe the use of colour – each of the colours included were chosen by NOFA members as a visual interpretation of the sound and timbre of their instruments.

“The idea of colour and sound working together is especially apparent in the middle section, where the adrenaline of tuning up and getting ready to perform as an orchestra is represented through a cycling rainbow of colours and flashing words. This reaches its climax as the ‘orchestra’ is in perfect harmony and the screen fills with the colour red.

“As well as pattern and colour, the overarching structure of the piece was curated by NOFA members, who used storyboarding in Zoom to imagine ways to tell the story of being part of the orchestra. First, the disparate pieces emerge, just as each NOFA member comes together from different backgrounds and corners of the country. As the video continues, we use tunnels, car rides, cogs and train journeys – all literal imagery suggested by the young people to reflect the idea of coming together.”

In perfect harmony: NOFA members and tutors get creative with colour using the screens of their devices

NOFA musicians explore the medium of collage on Miro and create their own artwork

She continued: “After the red climax of the piece, the video features animation which bring collages to life in time to the music. Here, it feels as though ‘The Great Interstellar Orchestra’ is performing together, and each and every instrument and musician has a role to play. Before the piece comes to a close, the finale features some of the artwork created by the young people at the end of the spring season workshops – 2D abstract collages made using software called ‘Miro’.”

But it wasn’t just young people that inspired NOFA’s digital piece. Artistic Director at Orchestras for All, Emma, says the team were also influenced by the orchestral world: “Our spring course for 2021 was the one-year anniversary of NOFA working together on Zoom, and we wanted to work with the visual medium to dig deeper into how we can be an orchestra online. Our starting points were themes found in Britten’s ‘The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra’ – the central work to our artistic season: unity within community, solo voices within an ensemble, the parts of a whole and being heard in a crowd. NOFA took these initial ideas and moved them on.

“‘The Great Interstellar Orchestra’ seems to me, now, to champion being part of something new: joining a community, making a contribution, taking action and valuing others. Maybe it will tell different stories to others. The making of ‘The Great Interstellar Orchestra’ was a complete joy. Using a wide range of musical and visual practices, NOFA members brought wonderful ideas and fun to the storytelling. This project has certainly transformed the possibilities of creative work for this orchestra for the future, and we are so grateful to Jack and Bryony for enabling the individual voices of NOFA to speak as one.”

While the arts sector may have been faced with unexpected challenges during the coronavirus pandemic, Orchestras for All won’t let that become another barrier to music-making. By fully embracing digital trends such as Zoom, we can continue to connect with our young people and create exciting new pieces of work.

A very special thanks to Arts Council England, Youth Music, our loyal funders and individual donors, ambassadors, volunteers, and pastoral and orchestral tutors for helping to make this digital project possible.

To fund a life-changing programme like National Orchestra for All, please donate today >