Salford Music & Performing Arts Service (MAPAS)Quarter 2July - September 2014

salfordcommunityleisure.co.uk/culture

Introduction

The MAPAS Arts Centre

The service has continued to deliver across schools in Salford and through the weekly Arts

Centre held at Moorside High School on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings. The

service is a strategic partner in the Greater Manchester Music Hub and as such is responsible

for delivering the National Plan for Music Education. The core roles in the plan are:

First Access

Singing

Ensembles and other activities beyond the classroom

Pupil progression and continued professional development

This report outlines the development in these core areas as well as other activities that are

made available for communities.

Quarter 2 (July - September) has been a very successful quarter, some key highlights include:

Tour to Lake Garda, Italy

MAPAS summer school

New wider opportunities projects

Music for youth national festival

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First Access

Wider Opportunities

The Wider Opportunities projects are

continuing to grow with new projects and the

expansion of existing projects in Salford

schools this September. September is a busy

time for all new Wider Opportunities pupils as

they begin their musical journey. This year

MAPAS will see approximately 1,700 children

in Salford learning an instrument for the first

time through Wider Opportunities Projects. It

is hoped they enjoy this first experience of

playing an instrument and look forward to

seeing them at one of the Arts Centre

ensembles soon.

The Greater Manchester Music Hub -

Wider Opportunities Forum

The Wider Opportunities Forum met on

Thursday 25th September. The team

discussed implementing the BBC 10 pieces,

which is an exciting new initiative for primary

schools, led by BBC Learning and the BBC

Performing Groups focusing on classical

music and creativity. Salford plan to include

some of the BBC 10 pieces in the Wider

Opportunities concerts at The Lowry next

year.

The team also discussed Come and Play with

the Halle which is a series of concerts

specially designed to offer thousands of

children who take part in the Wider

Opportunities scheme the opportunity to play

and sing with the Halle Symphony Orchestra

at The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester. The

theme for the concerts will be Space and the

Halle will be incorporating the BBC 10 pieces

into the concerts.

Singing

The recently formed Salford Singing Squad

continues to steadily grow in number. There

will be 40 children from this group heading off

to London’s Royal Albert Hall in November to

perform a newly commissioned piece of

music written to mark the centenary year of

World War 1. This performance, which will

feature over 500 children from the Greater

Manchester Hub, promises to be a highlight

of the year for all involved.

The GM Hub Vocal Vision group continues to

work closely with it’s partners and has

devised a number of training events, entitled

‘Successful School Singing’, to meet the

needs of tutors and teachers within the

schools of Salford and the wider hub. A

number of Salford schools and MAPAS tutors

took advantage of the training programme

last year and it is envisaged that numbers will

increase for this years’ programme of events.

The community choir and youth choir now

have a new musical director with lots of

experience and enthusiasm. Both groups are

enjoying their new direction and are keen to

grow in number. With the Singing Squad

strong in number the progression routes for

singing within Salford are clear and this

should mean numbers for all of these groups

will steadily grow.

Ensembles and other activities

beyond the classroom

Junior Steel Pans at the Music for Youth

National Festival 2014

Once again the steel pans have wowed

audiences at the MfY national festival in

Birmingham. This year it was the youngest of

the groups, the Junior Pans who played in the

festival tent and then on stage at Symphony

Hall to very appreciative audiences.

The music mentors were thrilled at the groups

technique and style considering they were all

of primary school age. Thanks to all who

made the journey down to Birmingham to

support the group.

The MAPAS summer school 2014

The MAPAS summer school in its 2nd year

ran over 3 days offering everything from the

rhythms of Brazil to the classical sounds of

the violin and cello at Willow Tree Primary

School.

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At this year's MAPAS summer school 17

children attended with a diverse musical

background. The aim of the 3 days was to

inspire the children and encourage those who

didn’t play an instrument to take one up. As a

result 3 children attending the summer school

have either started on an instrument, taken

up a second or started at the MAPAS Arts

Centre to develop their instrumental skills.

Bamboo Tamboo

Bamboo Tamboo is a Caribbean percussion

instrument created in the Caribbean and is a

notable precursor to the creation of steel

pans. It is still played by carnival-goers in

Trinidad today, although it was the dominant

instrument at carnival at the turn of the

twentieth century. Bamboo Tamboo is a great

instrument to develop an understanding of

rhythm and pulse. One of SCL’s percussion

tutors, Patrick Noone, lead the sessions on

Bamboo Tamboo. It proved a great success

with the pupils and teachers and as such

became the grand opening of the concert on

the final day.

Steel pans

Over the last couple of years the steel pans

have become a very popular instrument with

schools in Salford. Also the MAPAS steel pan

ensembles has grown in numbers and are

regularly performing at various venues across

Salford. Steel pans always prove to be a hit

with pupils and teachers. In the concert on

the last day they performed a Patrick Noone

arrangement of Rock around the Clock.

String Ensemble

The MAPAS summer school string ensemble

was taken by Sarah Jones, formerly Sarah

Davies. The string ensemble consisted of

pupils that had never played a string

instrument before to those who had taken

their grade 3. This was the main ensemble for

the 3 days so they had more rehearsal time

and managed to put together a 20 minute

programme for the concert on the final day. It

was great to see the older pupils helping the

younger ones and those who had never

played a string instrument before.

CBeebies Radio

Before the summer school started MAPAS

was contacted by the BBC and CBeebies

Radio producer to ask if they could come and

visit the MAPAS summer school and record

some of the summer school pupils for the

BBC Children’s Prom. Listen to the recording

via this link

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/prom/radio

/cbeebies-prom-extra.

Duets

A few of the summer school pupils were more

advanced on their instruments and expressed

a wish to perform at the concert on the final

day. During the CBeebies visit they worked

with support from Sarah Jones and Thomas

Hylgaard on duets. Charlotte Sweeney and

Megan Hindle worked on Mazaz Paties Duo

No.1, the first movement and Toby Johnson

and Ben Robinson performed a duet for

Trombone and Cornet by Jacob de Haan

Garageband

Today music is more than the traditional

instruments. Apple and Appleton have been

the marked leaders in the world of electronic

music production for decades and since the

introduction of the iPad, Apples more

consumer orientated Garageband become

favourite with many. At the summer school

the iPad and Garageband were used and

each pupil was asked if they could create a

piece of music using traditional instruments,

their voice and the electronics of

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Garageband. A selection of the pieces were

performed at the summer school.

Samba

To stay with the theme from the warmer parts

of the world MAPAS wanted to have a samba

workshop. Across the city of Salford MAPAS

run several percussion First Access projects

and the samba is an integrated part of that.

The samba is a very popular style of music

that brings the individuals together in a

special musical way fuelled by rhythm and

dance. It was a great way to finish the 3 day

course.

Pupil progression and continued

professional development

Exams

Another Associated Board examination

session was held in July. Almost 40 children

took their exams on a wide range of

instruments, from flute to cornet, tenor horn to

viola. There was a good spread of results

with 6% achieving a distinction (the highest

level possible) and 44% a merit (the second

highest level). Dates for the next set of exams

are now being set and these will take place

during December.

High school open evenings

The Irlam Satellite Band (consisting of pupils

from Irlam and Cadishead College and the

feeder primary schools) gave a successful

performance at the college’s open evening.

Many of the members of the band spoke to

parents and prospective pupils about musical

life at the college and at the MAPAS Arts

Centre. MAPAS is looking forward to

supporting more open evenings in the next

month.

Salford Imagination Library Event

The MAPAS Saxophone Quartet was invited

to play at the Imagination Library event that

took place on 18th September at Ordsall Hall.

The quartet provided background music while

visitors to the event looked around the

displays. They also performed just before the

main speeches took place. It was a very

successful collaboration and the quartet look

forward to similar opportunities in the future.

Sponsorship and Fundraising

MAPAS were successful in their bid to Booth

Charities for the sum of £1,000 to subsidise

MAPAS’s music examination programme.

The money will help MAPAS pupils to access

a high quality piano accompanist for their

examination and will also subsidise extra

aural training classes leading up to exams.

Warwick Music Group came to Salford to

introduce their new ‘pTrumpet’, a trumpet

made entirely of plastic, with the help of

internationally renowned trumpet player

Alison Balsom. They have kick-started a new

Wider Opportunities class at Moorside

Primary by kindly donating a class set of

pTrumpets and MAPAS tutors will be running

the sessions for the rest of this academic

year.

MAPAS are now members of the Normans

rebate scheme, allowing the team to claim

money back from purchases made with the

company. These funds are then available to

kickstart other fundraising schemes such as

the Carol Marathon being organised for

December.

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Inclusive Activities

Salford Community Leisure’s services and activities are influenced by the demographic profile

of local communities. SCL strive to provide inclusive services and activities to enable everyone

to be active in their chosen leisure pursuit.

All MAPAS activities are inclusive and can be adapted to suit those with special or additional

needs.

Case Study

MAPAS on tour Lake Garda, Italy

After two years of planning, several weekends of fundraising in December and monthly

rehearsals in the build up, 31 pupils, 3 adults and 2 tutors and 4 staff finally all met on the

morning of 16th July to hand over passports and EHIC’s to Tricia the party leader, money to

the bank manager for the tour, Tina, luggage to the coach packer Tom then it was all hands to

the deck to load steel pans with guidance from Alison Mancini and Richard Milton onto the

trailer and head off to Dover.

We met the main drivers at Dover, and managed to get an earlier ferry than anticipated, much

to the relief of all concerned and then it was the long haul down to Italy with stopovers in

Luxemburg to fill the coach with cheap diesel and a stop in Switzerland to freshen up and have

breakfast. The drive took us through stunning scenery and we kept amused with various films

and an awesome quiz all organised by Patrick, the entertainments manager for the trip.

Italy was hot! There was a pool at the hotel and after unpacking everyone had a refreshing dip

to cool down. After our first meal at the hotel, we had a rehearsal then a much needed early

night.

Friday morning dawned warm after a spectacular thunderstorm during the night and after

breakfast we headed up the coastal road to Riva. Our tour guide was extremely

knowledgeable about the towns and villages we passed along the way and the scenery was

stunning. We didn’t have much time in Riva before getting the ferry to. Malcesine, but there is

always time for ice cream and it was superb.

The boat ride offered a different and spectacular perspective of the mountains and towns along

the lake and the walk through the town of Malcesine was enchanting. For those who wanted,

there was a cable car ride to the top of Monte Baldo and for the few of us who opted out, more

ice creams and lemon soda.

We agreed to meet the coach at an allotted time and bumped into the grandparents of two of

the children on tour which just goes to show what a small world we live in. Back to the hotel for

our meal and getting changed for our first concert at Pastrengo; a small village with a large and

appreciative audience. The atmosphere was excellent and the playing and dancing fantastic, a

great end to our first full day.

“What a reception. I don't think the locals could have made us more welcome if they had tried.

The setting was great; a perfect start to our shows.”

Saturday was our scheduled trip to Gardaland, a theme park not far from Lazise. As expected

it was packed and the children and adults had a great day finished off with a dip in the pool

before getting ready for our next concert in the village of Lazise. There was a festival that night

in the town so we started earlier than anticipated and participated in the procession by

accompanying the musicians who came through the town.

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A different, but still appreciative audience heard us play and there was the opportunity for us

all to spend some time looking at all the other acts on display after we had packed up from our

performance.

“A good location and a great atmosphere. I really felt that we were part of the festival - the

appearance of the parade just after the start of our show just added something extra. I also

enjoyed the chance to explore the town after our performance - a great place.”

Sunday was scheduled as a trip to Verona, a busy city with a large amphitheatre used for open

air concerts and operas. There was a shopping opportunity for people to get presents to take

home then the chance to look round the amphitheatre. At this point, the party leader changed

from Tricia to Richard as Tricia’s son was graduating from Sheffield University, a momentous

occasion not to be missed. It was with a heavy heart that she left the group and headed off to

the train station to get the bus to the airport to head home.

The final concert of the tour was at Brezone a challenging venue for a group with steel pans to

move from the coach to the plaza, but by then the group were a well oiled machine prepared to

move anything anywhere.

It was hard to believe the end of the tour came so quickly, but Monday dawned amidst rain and

storms – not the best as we were hoping for a dip in the pool before the long journey home, but

Patrick came up trumps and everyone worked on and presented a silent play of their favourite

movie, pure genius. The long journey home ended with ice creams and happy parents seeing

their loved ones again.

“This trip was one of the best, funniest, most enjoyable weeks I've ever had. I would love to go

on another tour. I made new friends and saw so much I never thought I would. Thank you for a

wonderful week and making it happen.”

A huge thanks goes to the pupils, parents, staff and tutors for making the trip possible and

worthwhile. And next……Germany 2016!

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Forthcoming Events / Activities in Quarter 3 2014-15

Music for Youth prom at The Royal Albert Hall, London on 11th November

MAPAS carol marathon on 6th December

MAPAS Christmas concerts throughout December

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