Northamptonshire Music and Performing Arts Trust is a music and performing arts service in

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, which provides instrumental music lessons in local schools. Its services are available to around 13,000 school children. In July 2009 the music service was given an Outstanding level through MSEP evaluation. The service supports fifteen Saturday morning music centres and many music and drama groups, all within Northamptonshire. Membership of the county level groups is determined by an annual audition process each July. For most groups there are three levels: Junior, Training and Youth which are usually abbreviated by staff and students, e.g. County Junior Wind Orchestra (CJWO), County Training Strings (CTS) and County Youth Orchestra (CYO). There are groups covering

ensemble Ensemble may refer to: Art * Architectural ensemble * Ensemble (album), ''Ensemble'' (album), Kendji Girac 2015 album * Ensemble (band), a project of Olivier Alary * Ensemble cast (drama, comedy) * Ensemble (musical theatre), also known as the ...

orchestral An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ...

, brass band,

wind band A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion famil ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

voice The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound producti ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

, dance and early years music. In April 2012 the service became an independent, charitable trust and in May 2012 it was designated as the government's music and education hub for the area.

Location

The music service headquarters is in Northampton in a Victorian school building on the corner of Clare Street and the Kettering Road that used to be known as John Clare School.

Performances and events

Groups from the music service perform at the

Derngate Royal & Derngate is a theatre complex in the Cultural Quarter, Northampton, Cultural Quarter of Northampton, England, consisting of the Royal Theatre and Derngate Theatre. The Royal was built by theatre architect Charles J. Phipps and opened i ...

, Spinney Hill Theatre, Cripps Hall, the Lighthouse Theatre and other venues throughout the year. Each year, there are residential courses at Grendon Hall for students in Junior and Training Groups. Students in CYO, the County Youth Concert Band (CYCB) and the County Youth Brass Band (CYBB) go on tours to a foreign country in alternate years. From 2016, the County Youth Choir (CYCh) have also toured. The CYO and CYCh tour jointly one year, and the CYBB and CYCB the following year. For example in July 2014, the CYO went to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and in July 2015, the CYCB and CYBB went to the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

and

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

, including a performance at Kroměříž Castle. The music groups and groups from the Saturday morning centres take part in the National Festival of Music for Youth and the service is often represented at the Schools Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in November. In 2012 both the County Youth Concert Band and the County Youth Orchestra featured at the Schools Proms. In 2017, the Trust was invited to the Music for Youth Proms, to form part of a massed ensemble in conjunction with Rutland Music and the Peterborough Music Hub at the Royal Albert Hall. The piece, titled ''Nene'', was composed by

Benjamin Till Benjamin Till (born 8 August 1974) is a multi-award-winning English composer, director and film maker. Early years Till was born in Oswestry, Shropshire, and spent much of his childhood in the Northamptonshire town of Higham Ferrers. He atten ...

, an alumnus of the Trust. The piece charts the course of the

River Nene The River Nene ( or : see below) is a river in the east of England that rises from three sources in Northamptonshire.OS Explorer Map sheet 223, Northampton & Market Harborough, Brixworth & Pitsford Water. The river is about long, about of w ...

as it flows from

Badby Badby is a village and a rural parish of about in West Northamptonshire, England.- OS Explorer Map 207: Newport Pagnell & Northampton South (1:25 000) Location Badby is about 2 miles (3 km) south of Daventry, on the A361 Daventry to Ban ...

to the

sea The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...

, and featured the CYO, CYCh, and CYBB, along with several primary schools in the region, and an interactive water feature. A longer version of the piece was performed at

Peterborough Cathedral Peterborough Cathedral, properly the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew – also known as Saint Peter's Cathedral in the United Kingdom – is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Peterborough, dedicated to Saint Peter, Saint Pau ...

and the

. The county is also regularly represented at the National Concert Band Festival and the National Youth Brass Band Championships, with the CYCB regularly attaining the Platinum level award.

Trust status

In April 2012 the service completed procedures to become an independent, charitable trust in a move encouraged and supported by the local council. In May 2012 the trust was announced as the lead partner in the Northamptonshire Music Education Hub as part of the government's National Plan for Music Education.

Saturday Morning Music and Performing Arts Centres

These are located in the following areas: *

Brackley Brackley is a market town and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England, bordering Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, from Oxford and from Northampton. Historically a market town based on the wool and lace trade, it was built on the inter ...

* Cheney *

Corby Corby is a town in North Northamptonshire, England, located north-east of Northampton. From 1974 to 2021, the town served as the administrative headquarters of the Borough of Corby. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census, the built-up ...

Daventry Daventry ( , historically ) is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority in Northamptonshire, England, close to the border with Warwickshire. At the 2021 Census Daventry had a population of 28,123, making ...

Duston Duston is a suburb of Northampton and a civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. History Archaeological remains found in the area suggest that Duston has roots in Prehistoric and Roman settlements. However, development in the area h ...

* Favell * Ferrers *

Guilsborough Guilsborough is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire in England. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 882 people, reducing to 692 at the 2011 Census. It is at the centre of an area of rural villages betwe ...

Kettering Kettering is a market and industrial town in North Northamptonshire, England. It is located north of London and north-east of Northampton, west of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene. The name means "the place (or territory) of ...

Oundle Oundle () is a market town on the left bank of the River Nene in North Northamptonshire, England, which had a population of 5,735 at the time of the 2011 census. It is north of London and south-west of Peterborough. The town is home to Ound ...

Roade Roade is a village in Northamptonshire, England. Currently in West Northamptonshire, before local government changes in 2021 it was represented by South Northamptonshire District Council, falling within the two-member Blisworth and Roade ward. ...

Towcester Towcester ( ) is an affluent market town in Northamptonshire, England. It currently lies in West Northamptonshire but was the former administrative headquarters of the South Northamptonshire district council. Towcester is one of the olde ...

* Spinney Hill *

Wellingborough Wellingborough ( ) is a large market and commuter town in the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, 65 miles from London and from Northampton on the north side of the River Nen ...

Alumni

* James Fountain - Principal Trumpet of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra * Sarah Hanson - Associate Principal Viola for Dundee Symphony Orchestra *

- Composer, director and film maker Benjamin Till - Wikipedia

References

External links

Northamptonshire Music and Performing Arts Trust

Music for Youth
{{coord, 52.2442, -0.8841, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Charities based in Northamptonshire Schools in Northamptonshire