Well, what a busy term it has been for the Instrumental Music Service here in the Western Isles. Here is a brief summary of some of the things our staff and pupils have been involved in.
Online Teaching
Through eSgoil, utilising the Vscene video conferencing platform and Microsoft Teams provided through Glow, our Instrumental Music Teachers (IMTs) have been able to provide online tuition and we are proud to say that CnES is one of only two local authorities in Scotland who have been able to provide online lessons for pupils from day one of the lockdown.
This has also enabled us to continue to deliver our Youth Music Initiative project work (YMI) which fulfils the Scottish Government targets for pupils to receive a year of instrumental lessons before the end of primary school. Staff worked hard to upskill and as a result have reported a high level of engagement with pupils. Our staff have been delighted to have been able to continue teaching throughout the lockdown and to have contributed in some small way to the health and wellbeing of our students by providing a focus, not only with online lessons but also project-based work, some of which is outlined below. Some teachers have even been able to carry on ensemble activities, this is a particularly difficult task online and those tutors involved are to be congratulated on their hard work.
The impact of the work undertaken is summed up in this comment from a recent survey which was sent out at the end of term to parents/carers and pupils:
“Music lessons were a lifeline for my child during lockdown. They were the first lessons to get up and running (soon after schools closed) which provided an anchor for those scary first few weeks.”
e-Cèilidh and e-Cèilidh nan Og
Conceived, administered and produced by Eilean Siar Instrumental Music Service and the Comhairle Multi-Media Unit staff, e-Cèilidh and the primary school version, e-Cèilidh nan Og have provided local professional, community and school musicians with a performance focus throughout the lockdown. They have also enabled some of our staff to flex their presentation and performance skills in front of the camera. With total views in excess of 79,0000 for the six e-Cèilidhs and two e-Cèilidh nan Og events they have certainly proved popular with performers and audiences. Several people commented on the e-ceilidh in our survey.
“If possible it would be great to retain the e-ceilidhs on a regular basis as it encourages kids to practice for a purpose and it’s lovely to hear all the other talented people on our islands.”
More information on e-Cèilidh and e-Cèilidh nan Òg can be found on the dedicated website www.eileansiareceilidh.com as well as in the e-Cèilidh section in this blog site.
Key Worker Tributes
Thursday night tributes took place weekly since lockdown began and have provided our string, wind, brass, piping students and others, with a weekly focus for practice and learning of new repertoire as well as to show our appreciation for the keyworkers during the pandemic. The performances became important to family, friends and neighbours with many looking forward to garden/street performances. Students were encouraged to record their performances on video many of which they have proudly displayed on social media. The large bank of heart-warming videos, which music service staff have been sent, attest to the amount of hard work and practice that has gone on by all of our students during lockdown.
“Having tunes to learn and playing on Thursday nights………has helped to maintain focus and concentration.”
Partnerships/Local and National Projects
Our staff and pupils took part in various local and national projects, some of which you can read about in our earlier blog posts. These include:
- Lewis and Harris Youth Concert Band & Eccleshall Band Collaboration Video
- Clap for Carers initiative
- Music Education Partnership Group (MEPG) -Somewhere over the Rainbow project
- VE Day 75th anniversary commemorations
In addition to these events some of our staff and pupils took part in the following:
Make Music Day – Several of our pupils and staff took part in the MEPG project Hey Jude Symphony of a Thousand, which ran over several weeks and with participants coming together to perform and record a special arrangement of Hey Jude, which was broadcast globally as part of Make Music Day, held annually on 21st June. Hundreds of musicians, teachers and pupils across Scotland sent in recordings of themselves and hundreds more contributed on the day. A video of the performance, conducted by renowned Scottish composer Sir James MacMillan, can be viewed below
The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music also produced a video for International Make Music Day featuring 700 musicians from across the world, including many of our own students.
Music Education Partnership Group webinars – Eilean Siar Instrumental Music Service was invited to provide a contributor to present at a high profile webinar organised by the Music Education Partnership Group (MEPG) which included on the panel, amongst other musicians and educators, the world-famous violinist Nicola Benedetti. Following our appearance on the webinar on online pedagogy, our Music Development Officer Rhona Johnstone was then invited to present at a subsequent MEPG webinar on the subject of online teaching platforms and spoke about our use of Vscene to deliver tuition during the lockdown.
Both these webinars can be viewed on the MEPG Facebook page
Poppy Scotland St Valery- Musicians from piping and brass took part in this national project to raise awareness of the St Valery commemoration, ‘The forgotten Dunkirk’. Music service staff helped organise events at The Nicolson Institute, Drill Hall, Lewis War Memorial and Harris War memorial.
Army Cadet Video -Pipers, string and wind players took part in a national army cadet video. Music staff helped prepare students by rehearsing their parts with them, these were then sent off and stitched into two videos.
St Valery Army cadet video can be viewed on the following link
St Valery Army Cadet Force video
Army cadet video still Eccleshall video still
Armed forces week – Two students, a piper and trumpeter, took part in two flag ceremonies in Perceval square as part of armed forces week.
Virtual Competitions – Several staff entered pupils in online competitions and pupils have gained much from these. Piping staff have been heavily involved in the setting up of the brand-new Lewis & Harris Piping Society virtual competition for youth pipers which was also mention in a previous blog post.
We thank all our staff, pupils and parents for encouraging our young musicians to keep themselves occupied with their music, not only entertaining themselves but also their family and friends during lockdown. Here are a couple of final comments from our recent survey.
“These lessons were a lifeline to my child. Some days it was the only reason they got up and dressed”
“It literally was the glue that held my child together. Music is very important to my child’s mental health, it is how they calm themself when anxious or stressed, a creative outlet to express their positive and negative emotions. I cannot thank the music staff enough for their professionalism, dedication and kindness “
