Project challenged students to compose or arrange musical piece inspired by the theme musical creativity

Gala concerts held at Fairfield Halls in Croydon and Albert Halls Bolton 

This month, students from over 50 United Learning schools joined together to perform in two live gala concerts as part of their involvement in MUSICfest.

MUSICfest (Music Unites Schools in Creativity Festival) is United Learning’s latest music and performance project designed to provide live performance opportunities to young people, facilitate partnership working across the Groupand help schools to deliver on the Government’s National Plan for Music Education. The project follows on from Green Love in 2021, Carmen in 2019 and Wassail!  in 2017.

Students were challenged to compose or arrange a musical piece, inspired by the theme musical creativity, and perform it in front of a live audience of their peers, teachers, family members and other guests.

Sir Jon Coles, Chief Executive of United Learning, said:

“I was very proud to see our children and young people come together to perform at MUSICFest this July. These were our first in-person music events for over four years, following a pause during the pandemic, and celebrated the creativity, determination and ambition of our staff and students in music over this period of time. It was an important first step where we reaffirmed our commitment to music as part of delivering an education with character – in all our schools.

“Thank you to everyone who has worked hard to make the events possible, notably our teachers working day in, day out in academies across the country, and our central team who support the provision of music and performing arts at United Learning.”

Throughout the Summer Term, participating primary and secondary schools worked hard to prepare for their performance. Many worked in partnership with schools in their local area or ‘cluster’, sharing their expertise in different genres of music including jazz, pop and carnival. Schools also benefited from centrally provided music lessons and online workshops. 

In the first week of July, it was time for students to take to the stage to showcase their hard work and musical talents. In the south, schools joined together at Fairfield Halls in Croydon for their final performance, whilst in the north they performed at Albert Halls Bolton. Both events were compèred by BBC TV and radio presenter YolanDa Brown OBE.

Whilst at the concerts, primary pupils also benefited from a body percussion workshop, devised and led by Ollie Tunmer from Beat Goes On. Secondary students likewise participated in a Careers Fair where they met with representatives from the Royal Corps of Army Music, The Ivors Academy and Ambassador Theatre Group. 

Speaking about taking part in the concert, Jude, a Year 10 student at Central Academy, said:

“The concert was a really good opportunity to get experience on a large-scale stage with lighting and special effects!”

Joe, a Year 8 student at Seahaven Academy, said:

“It was a really good experience playing in front of that many people and at such a big venue. I particularly enjoyed the rehearsals and tech run.”

Andrew Barker, Head of Music at The John Roan School, said:

“The MUSICfest gala concert was a wonderful opportunity for students from across United Learning schools to come together and share the musical performances they have worked so hard on. All of us at John Roan are so proud of the performance delivered by our Jazz Band, who showed so much determination and commitment over the past few months to put together such a creative and dynamic piece. Many congratulations to all our students who took part in the concert and impressed the entire audience with their confidence, innovation and musical talents.”

Catherine Barker, Head of Music and Performing Arts, said:

“I am thrilled that this year’s MUSICfest was such a great success. For weeks, our students, supported by dedicated teams of staff, have worked incredibly hard to compose, rehearse and perfect their pieces to perform live in front of an audience. All schools delivered wonderful performances and I was so impressed by their musical talents, originality, and confidence on stage. Congratulations to everyone involved and thank you to our students and staff for their hard work and enthusiasm during this project.”