Summary of Responses

In March and April 2007 Youth Music ran an online consultation with organisations from the music and education sectors in England.
We consulted on our planned aims and objectives for youth music-making linked to the Cultural Olympiad and asked organisations how they would like to be involved.

Overall themes

Our sector believes that the Cultural Olympiad should provide a unique opportunity to showcase and celebrate the very best of young people’s music making in the UK. They would like to see music of traditional UK cultures (traditional English, Scottish Irish and Welsh) presented alongside the wealth of music from other cultures represented in the UK today. We should encourage and embrace a ‘sport ethos’ of dedication, commitment and team work into young people’s music making and take the opportunity to use the Cultural Olympiad to convey valuable life lessons for young people – friendship and respect to name two.

Participatory, cross-generational music-music making in communities came through as a very strong theme.

Plans so far and funding

• 99% of those organisations who responded wish to be involved in musical activities for children and young people as part of the cultural programme for the Games or events during the Cultural Olympiad from 2008 – 2012.
• 48% indicated that their organisations would need additional funding in order to be involved, 52% indicated they would need some additional funding in order to supplement their own financial contribution to activities linked to the Games/Olympiad.
• Organisations’ plans are still at early stages, if begun at all. About a third have begun planning, two thirds have not.
• Of those who have begun planning, there is a strong desire to form lasting links with other organisations on a national and international level, to celebrate diversity and integrate different communities and cultures through the musical activity and to link the arts with sporting activity.

Relationships with local diverse communities and with international communities

About two thirds of the organisations already have a direct relationship with local minority/diverse communities. Just over half have existing relationships with international communities through twinning or exchange programmes.  92% of respondents indicated that they would like to develop their work with diverse communities and/or international contacts between 2008 – 2012 as part of their commitment to the Olympics.

Inspiring and involving young people

Organisations would like to:

• Inspire and involve young people by developing meaningful partnerships in culture and leisure that are delivered through schools and youth services.
• Develop celebratory events at grass roots level with villages and voluntary groups.
• Give marginalised young people an opportunity to engage with the music industry and work with professional musicians.
• Nurture musically gifted young people.
• Explore collaborations between music and dance and introduce more children to a broad range of musical genres including western classical and music from other cultures.
• Involve young people at the heart of planning for the Cultural Olympiad.

Youth Music’s role

We asked the sector how they would like to see Youth Music developing its work with children and young people and what kind of legacy they would like Youth Music to be advocating for beyond 2012.

Respondents indicated they would like to see Youth Music:

• Provide lower value grants to small, local level activities in remote, isolated areas, to invest in the development of existing good work, not just new initiatives. 
• Provide an overview of what is available locally to enable schools and organisations to work more closely together and help provide progression routes for young musicians.
• Support a singing programme in primary schools
• Support a mentoring and career opportunities for young musicians, grow the Young Ambassadors programme, and providing high quality, long term opportunities for young people to progress and develop their musical skills.
• Do more work in school hours, to sustain activities for those who have benefited from Wider Opportunities and want to continue their music making afterwards.
• Look at providing music courses for school holidays and extend our Action Zone network.
• Build identifiable progression routes but still allow for the immense power of the one-off, life-enhancing experience.

In our advocacy role, the sector would like Youth Music to:

• Advocate for a sustained and lasting focus on music education in the curriculum and for sustainable partnerships created for 2012 but lasting beyond the Games between organisations, business, the music industry and youth groups.
• Advocate for lasting change in attitudes within local governments who currently attach less importance to provision for the arts and culture for young people.
• Advocate for an annual national festival of singing.
• Work towards helping create a more positive image for young people.

Ideas and suggestions

• Young people’s musical compositions being performed during opening/closing ceremonies
• Create programmes which show how large numbers from people from around the world have been inspired and connected through music over the history of mankind.
• Create spaces at the Olympics where people can be entertained by a variety of youth music making during rest periods.
• Community music and arts festivals
• Collaborations between musical groups from different styles – SAMYO and the National Youth Orchestra, a rock band and a gamelan group.
• Encourage every primary school to create choirs.
• Working with children to create songs about their environment, then share their song with children from another country.