It’s been an exceptionally busy year as we returned, consistently to our regular timetable, forged new partnerships, extended existing ones and provided more performance opportunities for our students, than ever before. 2022 was also a year of change, that saw us become The Song School CIC.
2022 was a year that build stronger relationships with our existing partners, forged new collaborations and saw our community of young musicians grow the fastest to date.
As a relatively new preferred partner for Southends music hub Music-on-sea; it was positive to see the partnership progress as we rolled out our singing, signing and songwriting workshops for Year 1, in a number of Schools. Then, in March we were invited to take part in their annual show; Southend Makes Music, at The Palace Theatre. This was an excellent opportunity for a group of young musicians and vocalists from our existing community, to perform on their largest platform since before the pandemic began.
We completed the first full academic year for our bursary programme. With our charity partner Ewans Music Trust we have supported 10 students to regularly attend classes each week at The Song School. Ewans Music also awarded the first Drum Scholarship to a student showing exceptional promise. We are now working on plans to extend the bursary programme in 2023 so we can support more young people and those who show promise can take part in additional activities.
We saw our community of young musicians develop and grow like no other year we’ve seen so far. The post-pandemic drive to get out into the community and take part meant we met more new students in 2022. We registered over 125 new students for both regular classes and workshops, with over 70 now regularly attending each week.
2022 also saw us develop a regular programme of holiday workshops; with some now becoming a regular feature in the timetable.
Emerging as the flagship initiative, our Music Video Project was launched during the Easter holidays, with support from Ewans Music Trust and Music on sea. Students wrote and recorded an original song, storyboarded, recorded and edited a music video: all within the space of four days. We then integrated a module on releasing and promoting the single into our regular songwriting class, to give the students who are writing regularly, an insight into the process.
During the summer holidays we worked on our first large scale collaborative arts project, with Elevator Arts; a not-for-profit who share our ethos of providing access to arts education for those who would not ordinarily be able to: and METAL Culture at Chalkwell Park. We brought together around 30 young people to creative a multi-arts piece around the theme ‘If I Ruled the World’. This project was made possible through funding from Arts Council England.
2022 saw us appoint our first student mentors. This programme is designed to offer insights into coaching for students who are interested in a career path working with young people and provide a forum for students to have their say on the direction of The Song School. Mentors are assigned to regular classes to support and work on projects, getting to know the younger students at the School, providing peer support and aspiration for our younger and new students. This programme is set to expand and evolve in 2023 as we consider the implications of further amplifying our students’ voices across The Song School.
Showcase events have helped to foster feelings of confidence and achievement, through positive audience and peer support
We began the year known as Essex Vocal Coaching: our name change was three years in the making, with original plans in place prior to the pandemic: we wanted a name that truly projects everything we offer: The Song School was born and has been received very positively, not only by our existing stakeholders, but also by staff who now feel truly comfortable to describe us an establishment for extracurricular ‘music’ education.
Improvements to our HQ on Alexandra Street (or ‘The Studios’) have continued. Our main focus has been around improving accessibility. Earlier this year we had a new front door fitted, wide enough for wheelchair access. The new door is up to current regulations and means anyone using any type of wheelchair can easily enter the building.
2022 saw the return of our regular showcases; a key feature in our normal timetable. Pre-pandemic, these events had proven to be a key part of student development, in particular for building confidence in the musical skills they are learning.
As is reflective of a recent NHS report on the mental health of the nations children, many of the young people in our community are suffering with their mental wellbeing in the wake of the pandemic.
The events have helped to foster feelings of confidence and achievement, through positive audience reaction and peer support.
Our delivery partner for these events is local arts venue Twenty-One, Southend. They are family friendly, accessible and extremely supportive of the local music scene - the perfect partner for this initiative. We have now developed a full programme of showcase events, ready to roll-out for 2023.
During the summer of 2022, we took the decision to transition from limited company to community interest company. The decision to change was taken after deciding we wanted to further develop our charitable aims and provide programmes that can appeal to children and young people from backgrounds who both have and do not have the means to get involved, in equal numbers.
We began researching the case for extracurricular activities and discovered music is one of the most elitist in terms of who is able to access it traditionally: our case for the change was made.
We set about appointing the board of directors and on 1st October, 2022 we officially switched all operations over to the CIC. We are now fully operational as a not-for-profit social enterprise.
There is a strong case to support children and young people from low-income backgrounds to access extracurricular music education, to help contribute to a more fair and understanding society
As we draw the year to a close and reflect where we were this time last year, we go into 2023 with more certainty around our operations. 2021 was a turbulent year; we were still faced with operational restrictions due to the pandemic, affecting activities for our students and our ability to plan for the future.
2023 will see us realise our charitable aims with a clear plan for success and the support in place to ensure success. The measure of this will include not only an increase in student numbers, but an increase in the percentage of students being supported through our bursary and scholarship programme.
Make a donation to The Song School will us to develop our programmes, spaces and ensure children & young people from marginalised backgrounds are given the same opportunities to join our community and learn music as everyone else.
