New Notes: RCT Young Music-Creators Programme
MTW and Sinfonia Cymru are working together to offer an exciting creative opportunity for young people aged 14 to 18, living or attending school in RCT, to create their own original music and hear it performed live.
- Are you a course leader, music teacher or youth music provider?
- Are you looking for an exciting and creative music making opportunity for the young people you support?
- Can you collaborate with us to tailor a programme that nurtures and develops their music making skills and enthusiasm?
Then come along and join us for a taster workshop at Parc and Dare on Thursday 3 October. Bring your budding music-creators, get to know MTW and Sinfonia Cymru and hear all about what this programme can offer.
6 young music-creators will the given the opportunity to take part in a tailored development programme working with a mentor – Welsh composer Luke Lewis (Lecturer in Music at New College, University of Oxford) – to create an original short piece. Along the way, music-creators will workshop their ideas with musicians, explore orchestral instruments, meet industry professionals and build their networks and wider skills.
The culmination of the programme will be the performance of the new works by Sinfonia Cymru at Parc & Dare. We are providing 4 musicians; violin, viola, cello and clarinet/bass clarinet. Works should be for at least 3 of these instruments, lasting a maximum of 5 minutes.
The programme has been devised with syllabus requirements and coursework deadlines in mind and a high quality recording of each music-creator’s work will also be provided for submissions and portfolios. This opportunity isn’t just open to GSCE and A-Level music students though – we’re interested in working with any young person who demonstrates a real flair and passion for music making.
This is completely free opportunity and there is no cost for taking part in any step of this programme.
PROGRAMME SCHEDULE
Thursday 3 October 2024 – Taster Workshop - Stwdio 1, Parc & Dare Theatre
- Come along and meet with Luke Lewis, MTW and Sinfonia Cymru. We’ll talk through the programme and give a demonstration of the instruments the young music-creators will be writing for and what they can do. We’ll also take through what the music-creators will need to prepare if they want to apply to be part of the programme, and what we’ll need you (as their course leader / teachers / creative providers) to do to help us facilitate each unique programme pathway. This session will take place within school hours to encourage school groups to attend.
Friday 29 November 2024 – Submission deadline
- Anyone interested in applying for the programme will be asked to submit some very basic information about themselves and their music making experience to date, and a short proposal for the work they would like to create. Up to 6 music-creators will be chosen to take part in the programme.
December 2024 – April 2025
- Selected music-creators will be offered online and in-person sessions with Luke Lewis to support the development of their works. This will be in collaboration with course leaders / teachers / creative providers.
Thursday 8 May 2025 – Playthrough and recording - Stwdio 1, Parc & Dare Theatre
- The pieces that the music-creators have been working on with Luke are workshopped and rehearsed by Sinfonia Cymru. A recording of each work will also be made and these are given to the music-creators for this own use (including GCSE and A-Level submissions if required). This session will take place within school hours to encourage school groups to attend.
Thursday 11 September 2025 – Public performance – Main auditorium, Parc & Dare Theatre
- The music-creators works will be performed by Sinfonia Cymru as part of a larger MTW event.
WHO CAN APPLY FOR THE PROGRAMME
This opportunity is open to all young people interested in creating new music, regardless of their experience, as long as they meet the following criteria:
- Aged 14 to 18
- Living in, or attending school in, Rhondda Cynon Taf
Music notation skills are not essential and we’ll talk more about this at the taster session on 3 October 2024.
We want to support the most exciting musical imaginations in whatever style of music you want to create. We want to hear from anyone interested in creating new music and we encourage applicants from the broadest range of backgrounds, with different skills and experiences.
Next Steps
If you would like come along to the taster workshop on Thursday 3 October 2024 to learn more about MTW and Sinfonia Cymru’s New Notes: Young Music-Creators Programme, please contact Kathryn Joyce at MTW at kathryn@musictheatre.wales with the following info:
Your name
Your school / group
How many young people you hope to bring
(we will ask for confirmation of numbers closer to the time)
We’d love to hear whether you’re interested in bringing a group along by the end of the school summer term. Spaces will be allocated, and full information provided in September.
To discuss this programme in more detail, or to chat through any additional access or inclusion requirements, please contact Kathryn as above.
PROGRAMME PARTNERS
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MUSIC.
THEATRE. WALES. |
Music Theatre Wales (MTW) is re-imagining opera. We want to breathe new life into opera as storytelling in music and present it as a universally accessible and expressive activity. We nurture artists who will create the opera of the future and present opera in imaginative ways that will help change the preconceptions of what opera is and can be. We are asking: What is Opera? Who is making it? and Who is it for? |
| SINFONIA CYMRU |
Sinfonia Cymru. We’re not your average orchestra. We put young, exceptional, professional musicians on the stage that they deserve. Many of our players take the helm and lead our projects, dancing between classical and modern styles, exploring their creativity and challenging norms. The best bit? We bring this new generation of live music to you. Remarkable musical experiences, designed and delivered by the best young musicians, for audiences in Wales and beyond. Luke Lewis is a Welsh composer, arranger and conductor and Lecturer in Music at New College, University of Oxford. Mainly instrumental, sometimes electronic, and occasionally both, his music has been performed and commissioned internationally by ensembles such as the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, London Sinfonietta, Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen, Esbjerg Ensemble and Orkest de Ereprijs. As an arranger and orchestrator in the pop world he's worked with artists such as Gaz Coombes, Katie Melua, and Clean Bandit in collaboration with everything from bespoke chamber ensembles to the BBC Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestras. |
For a downloadable PDF with full details of this opportunity, please click here