Making Music, the UK’s association for leisure-time music groups, is delighted to introduce our new inclusion-focus programme Making Music: INCLUDE, funded by Arts Council England.
The programme is born out of the vision that everyone should have the opportunity to be part of a music group in their community. Over the course of 18 months, we will guide and collaborate with four Making Music member groups, who operate in Levelling Up for Culture Places, to explore how leisure-time music groups can include more people from a wider demographic in their regular activities.
Working with groups at different stages of their journey of becoming more inclusive, with groups from different parts of England, selected to reflect the make-up of Making Music’s membership (two vocal groups, one instrumental group, and one promoter group). We’re thrilled to announce the fantastic groups selected for the programme.
Groups:
Great Bowden Recital Trust (North Northamptonshire, instrumental)
Great Bowden Recital Trust is a registered charity providing music-related activities for people of all ages living in South Leicestershire and North Northamptonshire. They believe in making access to music barrier-free by keeping the cost of tickets to a minimum, not holding auditions for any of their choirs and ensembles and taking a fully all-inclusive approach to all of their activities.
Luton Choral Society (Luton, vocal)
Founded in 1866, Luton Choral Society is a choir of mixed voices, performing classical choral music concerts in Luton and the surrounding area, providing the opportunity for people to sing in a classical choir and for audiences to hear live classical music in their own locality. Their aim is to contribute to the cultural diversity of the Luton area by maintaining the town's longstanding and proud choral tradition.
OutSingCancer Choir (Arun, vocal)
Cancer United’s OutSingCancer choir are a unique choir for people whose lives have been affected by cancer. They currently have over fifty members split into two choirs who come together to embrace the joy of singing. They rehearse several times a week in various locations in preparation for live performances throughout the year and welcome new members of all singing abilities.
Scunthorpe and North Lincolnshire Concert Society (North Lincolnshire, promoter)
Since 1949, Scunthorpe and North Lincolnshire Concert Society has promoted an annual series of classical chamber music concerts by professional artists of international renown. They perform around seven concerts per year based at Outwood Academy, Foxhills.
The groups will receive support from Making Music staff and Inclusion Focus Programme Manager Elizabeth Palmer, who will guide them to:
- plan, deliver and review actions to make their group or audience more diverse and inclusive
- produce two events in their local community, one with a focus on inclusion and one for Make Music Day on 21 June
- connect with the other three groups in the programme to share learning, challenges, and successes
- communicate their journey to other Making Music members and the sector through blog posts and social media.
Alison Reeves, Deputy CEO and Scotland Manager, said:
‘It’s exciting to have this opportunity to work closely with groups as they explore what inclusion looks like in practice for the music groups in our membership and in our sector. The groups in this programme operate in the heart of their communities, giving us a unique chance to test some of the guidance on inclusion we’ve been developing, and see if it really will result in the inclusion of a wider diversity of people. It is a collaborative piece of work with and for our members that we’ll be sharing widely as we go through.’
Barbara Eifler, Chief Executive, said:
‘We’re thrilled to be launching this programme to understand the challenges groups face in removing barriers for potential participants and audiences. The learning from INCLUDE will help us support and inspire more leisure-time music groups to achieve their ambitions to be more accessible to their communities.’
We will be sharing the learning from the group’s experiences in the form of blogs, case studies and social media to help other members learn from their experiences and embark on their own journeys towards inclusivity.
To keep up to date with the latest developments of the programme, make sure to visit the INCLUDE page on our website. If you have any questions about the programme, please get in touch with us via email.
INCLUDE is funded by Arts Council England (ACE) as part of its initiative to engage with and fund areas that have previously been low on investment — these places can be found in the Levelling Up for Culture Places list. Making Music has been awarded funding to create new activity that engages with groups that are based in one or more of the Levelling Up for Culture Places.
