Events

Bollo Brook Youth Centre in Ealing serves some of the most vulnerable young people in London, and has been credited with saving young people from rising knife crime violence. At the heart of Bollo Brook are the Bollo Studios which is a safe space for young people to work with professional studio engineers and producers, to experiment and express themselves through music.

Sound Connections is working with Bollo Brook to explore how can the music education and youth sectors learn, share and collaborate to effectively support some of the most vulnerable young people through music?

This series of events will confront issues facing these young people, through provocation from experts and with the young people themselves. There will be space for exploration and discussion, and to hear some of the music emerging from the Studios. It will also be an opportunity to establish a community of practice for those working with young people in challenging circumstances.

These online courses are free to attend but if you would like to make a donation please support Bollo Brook’s Congo in the Picture crowdfunder campaign to support a grassroots youth group in the Democratic Republic of Congo who works with young people to promote peace and tolerance through music, film and debate.

Who is this for?

• Practitioners working with young people through music
• Secondary school teachers and leaders
• Music Education Hub leaders and tutors
• Youth workers
• Grassroots/community music organisations
• Libraries, arts and cultural organisations

THE SESSIONS

SESSION 3: Are you listening? Youth voice today

Thursday 13^th May

2pm-5.30pm

Young people are increasingly feeling like their voices aren’t being heard, and are becoming disenfranchised with their communities, formal education and politics. Yet young people should be at the heart of shaping policy and practice, especially when it comes to an area of particular passion for them – music.

In this session we will consider how organisations working with some of the most vulnerable young people are not only listening to, but acting on youth voice.

BOOK YOUR PLACE AT SESSION 3 HERE>

 

Past sessions:

Session 1: Broadening Horizons

For many young people, being around difference is a way of helping them to heal from trauma.

In this session, we aim to unpick what are the motivations for ‘broadening horizons’. How do you do this in a way that makes young people feel not only engaged, but comfortable? And how do we create a model of valuing young peoples’ musical interests and broadening horizons simultaneously.

SESSION 2: Censorship in the 21^st century

 

Music is a fully inclusive art form that all young people can and do engage with at some level. We know the value and benefit of young people being able to express themselves through music. However, educators will often argue that certain types of music are inappropriate for use in formal settings, usually due to the lyrical content.

In this session we will explore a perspective on censorship, with particular relation to contemporary music. How can we encourage young peoples’ creativity and self expression through music, while imposing restrictions? What are the limits and the boundaries, and where should educators ‘draw the line’, if at all? How has censorship and lyrical content manifested in recent years, particularly with the emergence of drill music in the UK?

 

These online courses are free to attend but if you would like to make a donation please support Bollo Brook’s Congo in the Picture crowdfunder campaign to support a grassroots youth group in the Democratic Republic of Congo who works with young people to promote peace and tolerance through music, film and debate.