Scottish schools will be provided with an additional £1 million to buy musical instruments for their pupils, the Scottish Government has announced. The move has been made by Minister for Learning Alasdair Allan who has also formed a new group to address the issue of how music tuition is delivered, including the question of charges for pupils sitting SQA music exams. Read more at the following link:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2012/12/moneyformusic16122012
Category Archives: Music
National Youth Jazz Orchestras of Scotland Auditions
The National Youth Orchestra of Scotland are still accepting applications for auditions taking place early in 2013 for the National Youth Jazz Orchestras of Scotland.
For further information please download the following document: NYOS mail
Auditions will take place as follows:
3 Jan – Perth (North Inch Campus)
4 Jan – Aberdeen (Northfield Academy)
5 Jan – Glasgow (Unitarian Church Hall, Berkely Street)
6 Jan – Edinburgh (Broughton High School)
If distance precludes applicants from attending an audition, applications by dvd (or cd/soundcloud/wetransfer) will be considered.
New Glow Community for Expressive Arts Practitioners
A new professional learning community for Expressive Arts has just been started on Glow. The community will allow practitioners to engage in professional dialogue and share exciting and dynamic practice.
Use your Glow login to start sharing: http://bit.ly/artshome
How to Subscribe to Creativity Portal News Feeds
Visit the Creativity Portal to subscribe to the Creativity newsfeeds
http://www.creativityportal.org.uk
Visit the Creativity Portal to subscribe to the Creativity newsfeeds and receive up to date news on free and subsidised opportunities, workshops, CPD and competitions from creative partners. The news arrives in your inbox and is easily skimmed for opportunities and inspiration that interests you.
You can also follow the Creativity Portal newsfeed on Twitter:http://twitter.com/CreativPortal or Facebook: http://bit.ly/facebookCP.
If you have a specialism you can even subscribe to newsfeeds for Creativity and Literacy, Sciences, ASL, Drama, Music, and Art and Design – you can find all of the Creativity newsfeeds on the new look Creativity Portal.
To subscribe to the NCLN newsfeed click here:
New Guidance for Expressive Arts Practitioners
Education Scotland has published new resources to support practitioners in planning learning and teaching in line with Scotland’s new National Qualifications . These include graphic design and contemporary sculpture (N4, N5 and Higher) plus contemporary and jazz dance technique and advice on the choreographic process (N5).
Resources now available:
Art and Design
Graphic Design (N4, N5, Higher)
Expressive with Critical (N4, N5, Higher)
Expressive with Critical: Contemporary Sculpture (N4, N5, Higher)
Dance
Dance Technique, Contemporary and Jazz (N5)
Drama
Music
Jazz Education Conference
Take part in the first ever Scottish conference on jazz education.
For everyone involved in jazz education in Scotland – teachers, instrumental instructors, bandleaders, jazz musicians or organisers – the Scottish Jazz Federation (SJF) is running two one-day events with group discussions, presentations of teaching materials and expert speakers from Scotland and Europe.
Delegate one day fee – £25 including lunch and refreshments
The conference takes place on Friday 31st August at Glasgow’s Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
The same programme is repeated on Saturday 1st September at The Ironworks in Inverness.
To book a place, click here
Short Courses – Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland has published its 2012-13 programme of short courses for artists at all ages and stages to develop their skills in the performing and production arts. The programme offers specialist creative learning and teaching in dance, drama, music, production and screen, in a variety of formats ranging from weekly classes to learning events and summer schools.
The Conservatoire’s website www.rcs.ac.uk/shortcourses gives further information on the content of their courses and how to apply. Alternatively, you can download the programme here: Short Courses – Portfolio 12-13
New community music project inspired by St Abb’s Head
Local communities across the Scottish Borders will join forces at Eyemouth Primary School on 14 November as part of a new community project celebrating nature, heritage and music in the area.
The St Abb’s Head Music Project is a collaboration between the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO), the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) and Scottish Borders Council Youth Music Initiative. Over the past five months, school pupils and local residents have been working with composer Howard Moody and SCO musicians to write music inspired by the land and seascape around the popular St Abb’s Head National Nature Reserve and St Abb’s Head Voluntary Marine Reserve.
45 pupils from Eyemouth and Coldingham Primary Schools and members of both the Eyemouth Fishermen’s Choir and Mission Crew have created songs based on the NTS site.
The project is part of a wider programme in which Howard Moody has been commissioned to write a new piece for the SCO that celebrates the significance of St Abb’s Head. His as-yet-untitled work will be informed by the creative work of both the children and the choirs from in and around Eyemouth.
The commission will be premiered as part of the SCO’s annual summer tour to the South of Scotland in May 2012, with performances in Duns (24 May) and Galashiels (25 May).
Work began in May with the pupils visiting the site to record sounds of the area: from these recordings they created ‘Sonic Postcards’, with contemporary music organisation Sound and Music. These postcards combine recorded sounds with words to create a ‘sound postcard’ of the area. Using the Sonic Postcards as a starting point, the pupils and Howard Moody have written songs together inspired by the site.
The Fishermen’s Choir and Mission Crew have also been hard at work rehearsing a new song written especially for them by Howard Moody. The song, Waimie Carr, is based on the rock of the same name in St Abb’s Bay and was created following a discussion Howard had with keen local historian Rennie Weatherhead about the area.
The new works will be performed at an informal gathering of parents and members of the community at Eyemouth Primary School on 14 November, accompanied by an ensemble of SCO musicians.
SCO Connect Project Officer Kirsten Hunter said: “Being part of the process of bringing together the two ends of the age spectrum in this intergenerational project has been an inspiration for SCO Connect. It has been wonderful project to be involved in, and the pupils and choirs have created some fantastic music. This is the first time we have worked with the National Trust for Scotland and it has been a real collaboration and sharing of ideas between the two national organisations. The support the project has received from Scottish Borders Arts Development Team has been tremendous and greatly appreciated.”
Sandra Morrison, Learning Manager NTS added, “Working together on the St Abbs project, it is clear that the SCO and NTS have developed a first-rate partnership. Add to that the support of a forward-thinking local authority, Scottish Borders Council, and the collaboration blossoms into something very special. For the NTS we have found a new and creative way to raise awareness of the uniqueness of St Abbs, with its coastal and marine nature reserves. Using music as a means to share our knowledge of this wonderful place and to encourage others to enjoy it and support our work has been invigorating. Watching the different generations coming together to share their experiences has been incredibly rewarding and I am really looking forward to hearing Howard Moody’s composition next year, when we again have another opportunity to talk about St Abbs and all it has to offer us as humans, as well as the birds and wildlife”.
Councillor Graham Garvie, Executive Member for Culture, Sport and Community Learning at Scottish Borders Council, said: “We are very grateful to Creative Scotland’s Youth Music Initiative for funding which has enabled local pupils to be involved in this unique project. It is very exciting that they are working with renowned composer Howard Moody and the SCO musicians to produce a piece of music that SCO will take on tour with them.”
