An update on our Consultancy work

It’s been a busy start to the year for our consultancy strand here at Sound Connections – and we wanted to take a minute to highlight all the brilliant partners and projects we have the privilege of supporting.

Musical Hospitals

Liz and Philip visited Neath-Port-Talbot hospital to kick-off the evaluation of Musical Hospitals, a partnership project led by Swansea Bay University Health Board with BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Welsh National Opera Music in Hospital and Care, Live Music Now and Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. We had a great morning with partners and then spent the afternoon listening and watching some wonderful performances in the neuro-rehabilitation unit. We’re working with them until 2025, and look forward to visiting again later in the year! Read more about the project here.

Earthsong

📸 by Giulia Spadafora | Soul Media

This year is the fifth and final year of our evaluation project with Bristol Beacon, tracking and evidencing the impact of Earthsong, a five-year music education programme that supports primary school aged children in schools facing various challenges.

Shakira, Yasmine and Liz went on tour of four primary schools in Bristol to speak with the pupils and school staff about their experiences, which was great fun and very insightful.

Liz and Philip then visited a tiny village just outside the Mendip Hills to spend a day with the Earthsong team to hear about their experiences of the programme, and the impact they’ve seen. It was definitely not one of your average meetings as we were in an idyllic setting, outside in the sunshine with some of the day spent in a yurt!

We’ll be back to Bristol in June for Earthsong celebration performance days, and the report will be available later in the year. In the meantime, you can read more about the project here.

Wiltshire Music Centre

To round off our South West visits and many hours spend on Great Western Railways, Philip, Yasmine, Shakira and Nell Farrally have been meeting with all sorts of stakeholders in Bradford-on-Avon, to help inform a cultural needs analysis that we’re undertaking for the lovely folk at Wiltshire Music Centre. You can read more about the Centre here.

Faber Music

We’ve recently completed a piece of research with composer and researcher Joe Bates, for Faber Music into how the needs of vocal and instrumental teachers, and the music education sector more generally, have changed in recent years. We were delighted to present our findings at Music Mark’s Spring Summit and a version of the report is due to be published in the coming months.

Coming up…

We’re really excited to be starting some new work with Paraorchestra & Friends, Sing Up, Royal National Institute of the Blind and continuing work with Wigmore Hall and Tower Hamlets Arts & Music Education Service.

Want to work with us?

We’re always open to new project and partners, so if you need some support with evaluation, impact, strategy, youth voice and participation or organisational development – get in touch with Liz for an informal chat. liz@sound-connections.org.uk .