What is Harmonise?

Harmonise is Music Action International’s award-winning national schools programme proven to increase the well-being of children and build understanding towards refugees, safety seekers and Roma people with children and communities of all backgrounds. Professional musicians of refugee and international heritage share their stories and create amazing, original music in many languages together with children in the classroom towards performances. 

Jeremie Diatapakola, a facilitator from DR Congo shares his song ‘Ngunda Azali Mutu’ ('A Refugee is a Human Being') with Years 4 and 5 pupils in Eccles, Salford. Together with Iranian, Palestinian and Irish co-facilitators, the class discuss why people need to seek safety as refugees here. These discussions and music games then lead to songwriting.! 

This year, the classes have also been loving ‘Shum / Шум’, beautifully taught by Dina, our Ukrainian singer-songwriter and facilitator based in Brighton. A modernised interpretation of an ancient Ukrainian folksong welcoming the spring, Dina’s version is spruced-up and upbeat.

Sally measured the impact of Harmonise using the Arts Observational Scale, developed specifically to measure health and well-being in the arts. Find out more and read the full report here. 

This Refugee Week, with the theme Community as a Superpower, Harmonise performances will bring communities together from schools to The Bridgewater Hall and Barbican Centre, in Manchester and London respectively.

Even without participating in Harmonise, you can still have access to wonderful music, warm-up exercises and guidance on discussing refugees, developed with love over the past 10 years of Harmonise by Music Action’s team of  professional refugee-heritage musicians (in Farsi, Arabic, Lingala, Bosnian, Swahili, Zulu, Urdu and more!). You will find backing tracks, chords, lyrics sheets, music scores, games, activities and bespoke teaching guidance.

Looking to the Future

Music Action International are creating more free music resources with songs and games from Sudan, Syria, Eritrea, Afghanistan, Iran, Palestine, Pakistan and more.. If there is a language you would like included in the resource, let them know!

There will also be Teachers' CPD events, with trauma-informed games, activities and ways to discuss the topic of refugees, curated by facilitators with lived experience. To get involved, email hello@musicaction.org, visit www.musicaction.org or  join the mailing list.

Further Refugee Week Resources 

Home - Schools of Sanctuary 

Resources – Refugee Week

Activity Pack - The Walk (Little Amal)