The Music Workshop Company Blog

Each month the Music Workshop Company publishes two blogs. One blog, written by the MWC team addresses a key issue in Music Education or gives information about a particular genre or period of music. The other blog is written by a guest writer, highlighting good practice or key events in Music Education. We hope you enjoy reading the blogs.

We embed multimedia content in many of our blog posts, if you have rejected cookies for this website, you may have white spaces where the multimedia content should be. This is due to a recent change of policy by YouTube, Spotify and other platforms. We are in the process of updating all our posts. If you come across white spaces in a blog post, you can open the link in another browser or private browser and approve cookies to access all the content. We are sorry for any inconvenience this causes.

To contribute as a guest writer please email Maria@music-workshop.co.uk

Posts tagged “MUSIC AND YOUNG PEOPLE”

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Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival

Posted on 31st May 2024 at 11:21

Each year, the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival takes place in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. The event features book seller and publisher stands as well as a range of activities and talks for children, families and parents spanning all types of culture, from music to animation. This year, the Music Workshop Company’s Artistic Director, Maria Thomas, was there delivering music workshops. In this post, she reflects on her experience of the festival.

Image: Maria prepares to deliver a workshop at the festival's School of Talents.

What teachers should know about young people’s vocal health

Posted on 30th June 2023 at 16:03

This month, singing specialist Olivia Sparkhall shares her top tips for helping young singers look after their voices. It’s a topic that Olivia has developed a wealth of expertise in as a choir trainer, an award-winning choral conductor and as a secondary school music teacher for over 20 years.

With her new book, A Young Person’s Guide To Vocal Health, available now, Olivia reveals some key advice – and dispels some myths – to help teachers support their students to stay healthy and get the best from their voices.

The London Music Fund: working to make music a right, not just a privilege

Posted on 31st May 2023 at 14:14

Back in 2016, the London Music Fund blogged for us about some of the opportunities the charity provides for young people in the capital to fulfil their musical potential. This month, we caught up with Georgina Skinner, the charity’s Programmes Manager, about their inspiring work helping young people access high quality music education, and the impact this work has had.

In Praise of Music Education in Primary Schools

Posted on 31st March 2023 at 14:53

This month, we hear from Nat Dye, music leader at Newham’s Nelson Primary School, which recently scooped a national award for its outstanding music provision. Nat, who alongside his role is also a youth ensemble leader, conductor and band leader, trombonist, composer and arranger, and performing jazz musician, argues the case for bringing music specialists into schools.

What is the point of music education, anyway?

Posted on 31st January 2023 at 10:40

Image credit: Siniz Kim, Unsplash

In the national debate about what the school curriculum should look like, music education can too often lose out when held up against ‘core’ subjects like Maths and English. You could even be forgiven for thinking that music education is a ‘nice to have’ – a ‘soft’ subject that only serves a real purpose for young people who hope to pursue a career in music.

But this couldn’t be further from the truth. This month, we explore why music education is important for everyone, and the benefits it can deliver beyond learning about music itself.

Books and music: how one art form can inspire another

Posted on 16th January 2023 at 15:12

Here at the Music Workshop Company, our work is driven by our love of music. But of course, music as an art form does not exist in a vacuum: throughout history, musicians and composers have been inspired by artists, writers and more – and vice versa. For younger audiences, this can provide multiple ways of accessing new stories and ideas, with new adaptations introducing children to works they may not otherwise have discovered.

This month, with World Book Day approaching, we take a look at some of our favourite stories where music takes a starring role, and some of the music that has been inspired by books.