SPECIAL CONCERT FOR HUNDREDS OF CHILDREN

Portsmouth University performed a very special concert for hundreds of local children at the New Theatre Royal on Wednesday 7 March.

The University students were there to rehearse and perform their production of Leonard Bernstein's world famous musical West Side Story, but the students decided to take some time out of their busy schedule to invite local primary schools along to experience an afternoon of live music. The University musicians performed music from Doctor Who, Harry Potter and the children's firm favourite the 'Lion King' medley.

Sue Beckett, Chief Executive of Portsmouth Music Hub, said: "There is something magical about leaving school for the afternoon and visiting one of the most beautiful theatres in the country, and we're very grateful to the University students for putting on such a great show. The children had a wonderful time, hearing familiar music and seeing a whole range of instruments on stage, and seeing all those young musicians perform together really does fire up the children's imagination. Portsmouth is a city rich with culture, and we're incredibly lucky to have such exciting opportunities for children and young people to enjoy."

The University of Portsmouth Dramatic and Musical Society performed West Side Story at the New Theatre Royal from 8 to 10 March 2018. To find out more about the Society visit Twitter @PompeyDMS.

Songs To Save Lives

Our Development Officer, James Pinney recently sat down  with Music Education UK to discuss the success and inspiration of Portsmouth Music Hub's songbook 'It's CPR!'. 

To find out how their conversation went please visit here.

City Figures Unite for National Charity

On Monday 5th February Portsmouth Music Hub, hundreds of local children and leading city figures, including the Lord and Lady Mayoress, took part in a special music video to support the national charity sign2sing. It was part of a week of national events to support the ongoing work of the charity, which helps fund projects that improve the lives of vulnerable deaf children and adults by helping them access support and advice. To see Portsmouth Music Hub's video click here. To read The Portsmouth News article about the event please click here..

CHOIRS, CAREERS AND ONE EXCITED CAT

On Friday 19 January Portsmouth Music Hub launched the latest addition to their award-winning series of songbooks.

'My Dream Job', written by Music Hub composers, is about the jobs and careers that we all imagined we would do when we grew up. There are songs about astronauts, firefighters, footballers and even a song about being a website designer. The songs are fun, engaging and are written to inspire a new generation of young singers and performers.

The Lord Mayor of Portsmouth and children from St. John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School took part in the official launch of 'My Dream Job' at the Guildhall in Portsmouth. The children performed one of the 19 songs which make up the songbook, and because one of the songs is about the life of a vet everyone was thrilled to meet Bombay the cat, who made a special appearance at the launch.

Sue Beckett, CEO of Portsmouth Music Hub said: "Our songbooks are original, contemporary and designed to support the educational curriculum. Most importantly the songbooks, which are a valuable resource available to schools in Portsmouth and around the country, are created with children in mind; using their imagination as a springboard to create inspirational songs that will, we hope, develop a life-long love of music and singing."

PORTSMOUTH MUSIC HUB ANNIVERSARY TOUR

Portsmouth Music Hub is celebrating its seventh anniversary this year, and to mark the occasion the music group Quintessential has been touring city schools, bringing live music and entertainment to hundreds of local children.

Quintessential is a group of professional musicians from all over the country who come together every year to give Portsmouth children the opportunity to experience the sights and sounds of musical instruments up close. This year the group were performing world folk music, which included a special clog dance, and the children were amazed by the songs performed and the variety of sounds that a musical instrument can make.

The whistle-stop tour around Portsmouth Schools was part of Live Music Portsmouth. This is a city wide campaign to bring the sounds of the orchestra to Portsmouth schools, and since its launch 18 months ago, thousands of children have had the chance to experience the classical sound of the orchestra in schools and venues across the city.

For the past seven years Portsmouth Music Hub has been bringing groups like Quintessential to Portsmouth as part of its ongoing mission to deliver musical and cultural opportunities for every child throughout the city. During this time thousands of children have experienced a range of concerts and events, from world-record breaking drumming to performances from the Royal Marines Band Service, from cultural carnivals to musicals about cats, and every day Portsmouth Music Hub delivers a range of opportunities to hundreds of aspiring young musicians to sing, play an instrument and perform.

Quintessential visited Portsdown Primary School, Springfield Secondary School, Langstone Junior Academy, Cliffdale Primary Academy, St. John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School and Westover Primary School.

Sue Beckett, CEO of Portsmouth Music Hub said: "It's been a fantastic few days of music-making, and it was inspiring to see the enthusiasm and excitement of the children as Quintessential performed. Portsmouth Music Hub, and its dedicated team of musicians, continues to go from strength to strength, developing new projects and events, and reaching out to new organisations to join us in delivering the very best musical and cultural opportunities for all the children and young people in Portsmouth."

SOLENT CULTURAL CONFERENCE 2017

Educational professionals and music teachers from all over the country came to the Portsmouth Guildhall on Thursday 2 November for the annual       Solent Cultural Conference.

Organised by Portsmouth Music Hub, the conference was attended by over 100 delegates, with representatives from ten different Music Hubs.  A team of twenty-five specialists from across the UK led a huge variety of workshops enabling delegates to explore new ways to deliver music and cultural education to children and young people. Topics included instrumental teaching, singing, drama, music technology, folk dancing, curriculum design and assessment, and there were workshops relevant to all age ranges, from Early Years to secondary.

Sue Beckett, CEO of Portsmouth Music Hub, said: "Portsmouth Music Hub believes that it is vital for professionals to continue to learn new ways to engage young people in cultural opportunities. This conference is an excellent opportunity for people to come together to share ideas and expertise, and provides inspiration for us all as we strive to transform the lives of children and young people through cultural engagement."

Twenty-one Portsmouth Schools join The Big Ceilidh

Over 550 children gathered at venues across Portsmouth this week for three days of live music and dancing. Called ‘The Big Ceilidh’, the events saw children from 21 Portsmouth schools come together to learn English folk dances under the expert guidance of Hampshire step dancer and teacher Jo Harmer.

Big Ceilidh Week is the culmination of six weeks’ dancing and music making in the schools. For the third consecutive year, the events have been run by FolkActive, a locally based company whose aim is support schools who want to raise awareness of our traditional culture in active and creative ways.

For the first time this year, teachers in six schools prepared young musicians to play alongside the professional folk musicians. 

Different music groups played at each of the six Big Ceilidhs, including:

• beginner ukuleles, Highbury Primary and Newbridge Junior schools
• recorder group, Northern Parade Junior School
• young violinists, Craneswater Junior School
• a 25-strong Primary School orchestra from St Swithuns
• and a music group from St Edmund's Secondary School.

Popular local band Jigfoot supported the musicians from the schools who played for their classmates to dance. The young musicians performed like true professionals, and the rest of the children had a great time dancing with children from other schools and getting to know their new partners.

So that the children could practise in advance, the schools were sent instructions for the dances; these were selected to be suitable for older KS1 and KS2 classes to learn within a limited time.

The Big Ceilidhs are generously funded by the Portsmouth Music Hub, and are free to participating schools. Some of the schools have also benefited from in-school workshops provided by the Hub’s ‘Live Music Portsmouth’ initiative, which are led by folk dancers and musicians.

World Song Festival

Priory School hosted the city's first World Song Festival on Thursday 12 October. The festival involved approximately 120 pupils from Cliffdale Primary Academy, College Park Infant, Cottage Grove Primary and St. John's Cathedral Catholic Primary joining together to celebrate cultural diversity.

Led by vocal specialist Emily Barden, the morning began with pupils learning an African welcome song before each school performed a song of their choice. Cliffdale sang 'Umbuntu', an African song about unity, accompanied by djembes. Cottage Grove pupils sang 'South Australia' and St. John's performed the gospel song 'Jericho', before College Park brought us home again by performing 'It's Portsmouth' by one of the Music Hub's award winning composers, Patrick Nicholls.

Emily then taught them two new songs celebrating the world and the part that we all play in shaping its future - 'Sunshine' and 'Be the Change', focusing on harmony and singing in parts. Elizabeth McAndrew from Cliffdale showed everybody how to accompany their singing with sign language, and some pupils dressed up in colourful costumes from around the world. 

Zach, a Year 1 pupil, said "It was brilliant singing with so many people and I really enjoyed learning the new songs".