Celebrating the End of ISME-Funded World Music Fridays at the Performance Hub

A nine-month project introducing local Walsall children to World Music at the Performance Hub, University of Wolverhampton has just come to an end.

Funded by the International Society for Musicians (ISME) and led by Anne-Marie Beaumont, Subject Leader for BA Music for Education and Community Practice and BMus Music, this successful project has used music as a communicative intervention with almost 90 children from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds.

Children from three schools in the vicinity of Walsall Campus came to the Performance Hub for a six week programme of World Music activities including: Samba, Javanese Gamelan, Steel Pans and Djembe Drumming. Several workshops were led by Artbeat’s Nikki Kemp, but the initiative also provided real world teaching and leadership experience for University of Wolverhampton students from BA Music for Education and Community Practice as well as BMus Music. “This project has showcased the value of using music as a direct intervention to support community cohesion and cross cultural barriers. It has provided current undergraduate music students the opportunity to develop essential skills in teaching and running group workshops and it has formed an important point of access to higher education for children and young people who might not otherwise have considered it as an option for their future” said Anne-Marie Beaumont, project leader.

The ISME grant has helped to create stronger links between the University of Wolverhampton’s School of Performing Arts and the communities that surround its Walsall Campus.  Cheryl Collis, Head of Palfrey Junior School, said: “It has been absolutely brilliant and the kids have got so much out of it…it was a joy to see everyone in action … and to see different sectors of education working hand in hand.”

The success of this pilot project has led to longer term planning with Stephanie Dufty, Music Education Partnership Specialist from Walsall Music Education Hub and Service.

“There are 5 World Music Days fully booked for the remainder of this academic year with another 4 planned for 2021, reaching over 800 students. This project has helped springboard to a wider working model across the schools of Walsall covering all the key stages. Using experience and resources from Walsall Music Education Hub and Service (WMEHS) and the University of Wolverhampton, we can now collaboratively offer World Music Days as a whole day experience to both primary and secondary schools, tailoring the workshops to the needs of the pupils and key stage.” 

For enquiries about booking a World Music Day for your school, please contact either: Stephanie Dufty Music Education Partnership Specialist at sdufty@walmused.org.uk or Anne-Marie Beaumont, Subject Leader for BA Music for Education and Community Practice/BMus Music at a.beaumont@wlv.ac.uk.