Category Archives: Music

Art, Art and Design, Creative Learning, Creative Partners, Creative practitioners, Creativity, Curriculum for Excellence, Dance, Drama, Events, Expressive Arts, Funding, Health and Wellbeing, Music, Opportunities

Funding to help groups celebrate the 2014 Commonwealth Games

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A new £4 million fund has opened which will help the people of Scotland celebrate their part in the Commonwealth before, during and after the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

‘Celebrate‘ is a joint scheme developed by the Scottish Lottery Distributor’s Forum which is made up of Big Lottery Fund Scotland, Creative Scotland, Heritage Lottery Fund and sportScotland.

Grants of between £500 to £10,000 are available to help communities across Scotland come together to hold arts, heritage, sports and local community celebrations of the 2014 Commonwealth Games. The fund will also support communities to celebrate the diversity of the Commonwealth and create a legacy of community and Commonwealth connections.

Celebrate is open to

  • voluntary and community organisations
  • community councils
  • statutory bodies (such as schools, local authorities or health boards)

Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis until 12 December 2014. For more information, and to apply, visit the Celebrate website.

Creative Learning, Creative Partners, Creative practitioners, Creativity, Curriculum for Excellence, Events, Learning, Music, Opportunities, Primary schools, Rothes Halls

The Big Strum!

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Fife Council Youth Music Initiative is currently running a pilot project using the ukulele to teach singing and musicianship skills to primary teachers and their pupils.

The project, involving over 60 teachers from 35 primary schools, is being led by Ann Rae, primary music specialist and ukulele enthusiast who has led twilights for participating staff throughout the session.

To celebrate all that has been achieved by children and their teachers during the year, all schools involved in the project are being invited to attend one of three “Big Strums” – held during the day on Monday 17th June, in the Rothes Halls, Glenrothes. Children will enjoy a packed hour of singing and playing, supported by their teachers.

Each of the three Big Strum sessions will accommodate just under 600 young ukulele players at a time – surely a first for Fife, if not Scotland! – with support by Fife Youth Music Initiative through transport subsidies for schools.

Adding to the excitement will be a multi-media presentation including use of cameras relaying live pictures to a large screen, in partnership with the Creative Industries Department from Adam Smith College.

Pictured, are young ukulele players from Denend Primary School who are all looking forward to the event!

For more information, please contact Sandra Taylor, Music Co-ordinator, Sandra.taylor@fife.gov.uk Education and Learning Directorate, Fife Council.

Art, Art and Design, Creative Learning, Creative Partners, Creative practitioners, Creativity, Curriculum for Excellence, Dance, Drama, Expressive Arts, Funding, Music, Opportunities

Enterprise Music Scotland – Traditional Arts Fund

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Deadlines: 5 July 2013, 27 September 2013 & 28 February 2014

Enterprise Music Scotland has an allocation of £120,000 available for the funding of small traditional arts projects.

This fund is devolved from Creative Scotland and is managed centrally by Enterprise Music Scotland. It will provide grants of between £250 and £3,000 to support traditional artists and organisations to create, platform, tour and showcase their work, as well as supporting professional development projects.

Individuals, groups and organisations can all apply to this fund. The applicant must be able to demonstrate a positive track record and professional commitment to one or more of the traditional art forms: Scottish Traditional Dance; Scottish Traditional Music and Scottish Traditional Storytelling.

For more information visit the Enterprise Music Scotland website.


Creative Partners, Creative practitioners, Creativity, Curriculum for Excellence, Glow TV, Music

Glow TV – Working in the Music Business, 5 June 2.00 pm

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World of Work Wednesdays is back again!  This event will give you a great insight into the real world of the music industry. The UK music business employs 150,000 people and is worth £3.5billion to the UK economy. We’ve brought together experts from all aspects of the industry including a manager, a singer, a record producer and a marketing manager.

To find out more information and to sign up to watch, click here.

Art, Art and Design, CPD, Creativity, Curriculum for Excellence, Dance, Drama, Education Scotland, Events, Expressive Arts, Literacy and English, Music, Opportunities, SLF13, Technologies

Scottish Learning Festival 2013

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Registration is now open for this year’s Scottish Learning Festival (SLF), which takes place on Wednesday 25 and Thursday 26 September in the SECC, Glasgow.

The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning will give the opening address to SLF.

In addition, there will be the keynotes from the following international renowned speakers:

  • Prof Andy Hargreaves, Thomas Moore Brennan Chair, Lynch School of Education, University of Boston;
  • Dr Avis Glaze, Edu-quest International Inc. and former Chief Student Achievement Officer of Ontario; and
  • Dr Pasi Sahlberg, Director General, Centre for International Mobility and Cooperation, Finland.

As well as round table discussions led by:

  • Prof Petra Wend; and
  • Dr Bill Maxwell and partners.

The full programme of keynotes and seminars along with details of the range of additional activities are available on the SLF website.

Seminars which may be of interest

The M Factor

Finding their Voice: Engaging teenagers with poetry and debate through rap and performance

3-18 Curriculum Impact Reviews: Creativity 3-18

Launch of Education Scotland’s Building Capacity for Continuous Improvement strategy

Global Citizenship – Bringing It All Together

Learning experiences through Glow – Partnership working

Moving image education: Screening Shorts

Expressive arts: What’s on the third horizon?

English language class arts exhibition project: East Kilbride

Short & sweet: Short films as a route to developing modern foreign languages

Art, Creative Partners, Creative practitioners, Creativity, Curriculum for Excellence, Dance, Drama, Events, Expressive Arts, glow, Glow TV, Literacy and English, Music, Science, Technologies

Look, Capture, Create

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Curious and creative learners from across Scotland have been exploring the importance and beauty of Scottish Biodiversity through Scottish designer/illustrator Johanna Basford’s exhibition ‘Wonderlands’ via Glow TV. This interdisciplinary learning experience has been developed in partnership with Dundee Contemporary Arts and is being supported by Sarah Derrick, Head of Education at DCA and Anna Rossvoll, Emerging Technologies Development Officer with Education Scotland.

Look Capture Create outline for educators

Johanna Basford is an ink evangelist who creates beautifully intricate hand drawn designs using black ink. ‘Wonderlands’ is her first solo exhibition and it is proving to be a magical context for creative learning through expressive arts, science, mathematics and languages.

Before the project went live learners were invited to join the Look, Capture, Create Glow group by submitting an InkyME! The response was astounding. Currently there are  InkyMEs exhibiting from Burravoe, Carron, Clackmannan, Hythehill, Lochgelly West, Lincluden, St Andrews and St Patricks primary schools.  The InkyMEs have even travelled to Dundee to attend the first live Glow TV event ‘Wondertales’ at Dundee Contemporary Arts on 13th May.

‘Wondertales’ encouraged learners to look at the intricacy of Johanna’s designs and to capture the detail in words to create a Wondertale!  Wendy Woolfson, an incredibly talented storyteller led the event, creating breath taking stories based on three of Johanna’s wallpaper designs. She then went on to create a collaborative tale as learners submitted their ideas live during the event. You can watch Wendy in action here.

This use of an exhibition as a form of text truly captured the imagination of learners and they have submitted incredible  Wondertales to the Glow wiki.  Learners are taking the  time to read each other’s work and leave comments. It would be lovely if you could do the same. (Glow username and password required)

Keep up to date with the Look, Capture, Create Glow blog and the next Look, Capture, Create Glow TV event will take place at Dundee Botanical Gardens at 10am on the 4th June.

Post taken from Education Scotland’s Learning blog written by A.Rossvoll

CPD, Creative practitioners, Creativity, Curriculum for Excellence, Dance, Drama, Expressive Arts, Music, Opportunities

Discover Dalcroze

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Discover Dalcroze is a two-day event taking place at University of St Andrews Music Centre 2-3 November 2013, providing a practical insight into the Dalcroze Method.  Workshops will be led by the UK’s leading experts and there will be specialist sessions on its application is a wide range of settings.
  • Movement and instrumental teaching – Flautist Lis Dooner and students from Royal Conservatoire of Scotland demonstrate how Dalcroze can be used to enhance practice and performance skills
  • Dalcroze and String Teaching – Monica Wilkinson will show how Dalcroze can be used to develop physical awareness and technique alongside musicianship
  • Music, Connectivity and the Plastic Brain – Eric Barnhill takes us on a tour of the musical brain
Other topics addressed in relation to Dalcroze include:
  • Dyslexia and dyspraxia
  • The elderly
  • Special needs
  • Relationship between Dalcroze and Music Therapy
  • Dalcroze for singers
Detailed information can be accessed by clicking on the logo below, where bookings can also be made.
Creative Partners, Creativity, Curriculum for Excellence, Drama, Expressive Arts, Music, Opportunities

YMT’s Skills Courses – Do something fun this summer holidays

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This summer holidays will soon be starting, can I hear a huge cheer?! So how are you planning on keeping yourself entertained? Youth Music Theatre UK, the national music theatre company for young people, are running six-day action-packed residential Skills Courses in musical theatre (for ages 11-21) in London, Surrey, Hertfordshire and Edinburgh.
Get the chance to develop your skills in acting, singing and dancing, gain a grade 6 Trinity Guildhall certificate, make lots of new friends, create a musical in six fun-filled days and perform it to family and friends. If you or someone you know would like to take part, find out more about each course theme below…
Summer Skills Course in Edinburgh
Monday 5 August – Saturday 10 August
Edinburgh’s Summer Skills Course is based around the themes ‘The Boy Who Fell Asleep’ and ‘Sleeping Beauty’. Jenna is different from most young girls her age. Jenna randomly falls asleep. What would happen if she didn’t wake, would she be completely forgotten, would any one care?

Find out more and book a place

CPD, Creative Learning, Creative Partners, Creative practitioners, Creativity, Curriculum for Excellence, Events, Expressive Arts, Music, Rights

YMFS: Monthly Live Streamed Discussion – Article 31

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Wednesday 29 May, 2013 from 6:00 PM—7:30 PM

Google+ Link: http://bit.ly/YMFSarticle31

Join us for the first in a series of monthly live streamed broadcasts, led by Youth Music Forum Scotland using Google+, exploring current topics in youth music from all across the country.

This first broadcast will feature guest Tam Baillie, Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People, joining us to discuss the recently released Article 31 (children’s right to culture, leisure and play) and the effect it will have on young people and those who work with young people throughout the UK.

Take part in the discussion live online where you can ask the Commissioner anything on Article 31 and find out all about what’s happening in youth music in Scotland this month.

The live stream discussion will run from 6.00—7.30pm on Wed 29 May.

To join in the debate, you’ll need a Google account, which takes just a few minutes to set up and will enable you to join in the discussion fully. We encourage you to pose questions to the Children’s Commissioner in advance of the event by emailing, hello@ymfs.org.uk or on Twitter using the hashtag, #Article31 or at Facebook.com/YMFScot or you can call the Inner Ear office and ask to speak with Benny or Anny, on 0141 226 8808. If you prefer you can join the Google+ hangout where you can talk directly on camera (using your computer’s in-built microphone and camera) and ask a question as if you were in the room. If you’re new to Google, we recommend you take a few minutes to familiarise yourself with Google+ from 6pm, where we’ll be on hand to help with any technical queries before the broadcast starts from 6:30pm.

If you’re able to join us live on Tuesday 29 May on Google+, please join the event or you can sign up via eventbrite.com.