All the best bits from our barrier-smashing national ensembles…
Earlier this year, the Orchestras for All team travelled across the UK with the Modulo Programme to bring inclusive music-making activities to 500 students from 35 participating schools and community groups – with 252 young people joining us in the spring and 248 in the summer months.
We were delighted to be joined by 18 schools from Arts Council England’s Levelling Up for Culture Places, 15 returning schools and one home educated group. We were also thrilled to be able to widen the impact of Modulo even further by welcoming our first ensemble from a Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) school.
From Royal Birmingham Conservatoire to the University of York, Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester to the Royal Academy of Music in London (watch our concert video above), we held eight energising meets that were jam-packed with uplifting ensemble music-making.
A Modulo participant said: “Now I have found where I belong.”
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Modulo participants getting in the groove
Our inspiring participants had the opportunity to perform an eclectic programme of music together as one powerful large-scale orchestra, which included everything from video game soundtracks to 1970s funk classics.
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Arranged by Orchestras for All’s Associate Conductor, Rocco Brunori, Christopher Larkin’s ‘Hornet’, as featured in the video game Hollow Knight, quickly became a firm favourite for its driving rhythms and captivating melodies (watch video below).
Our participants also had the chance to perform the stunning ‘Allegro’ movement of Florence Price’s Symphony No. 1 (1932), arranged specially for our Modulo ensembles by award-winning composer, Emily Lim.
Plus, our inclusive ensembles even got stuck into ‘I Wish’, the 1976 funk classic written and produced by Grammy Award-winning American singer, Stevie Wonder, and arranged by our keyboard tutor, Matthew Poad. In this catchy tune, Wonder’s lyrics share how he wishes he could go back in time and relive his childhood – and you just can’t help but dance along!
As with all our work, wellbeing was at the forefront of every event this season. Alongside building on their musical skills, our diverse cohort of students were able to develop their social and communication skills, while having their emotional needs fully supported by our expert team of safeguarding staff.
A young participant told us: “I come to Modulo for the confidence-boosting side of it.”
Modulo Participants enjoying a break from rehearsals
On behalf of everyone at Orchestras for All, we would like to thank our Modulo funders, Arts Council England, Department for Education, Foyle Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation, Scops Arts Trust, 29th May 1961 Charitable Trust, Association British Orchestras Sirens Fund and Catherine Cookson Charitable Trust.
We would also like to thank our individual donors, orchestral and wellbeing tutors, freelance staff, ambassadors and audience members for making our Modulo 2024 season so memorable.
Keen to get involved? There’s still time to apply to join our next Modulo cohort in 2025 – but hurry, the deadline is 6pm on Monday 19th November 2024!
