BBC Radio 3 Music Matters shines a light on The National Open Youth Orchestra and Sound Connections evaluation report!

On Saturday 22 April 2023, BBC Radio 3 Music Matters shone a light on the National Open Youth Orchestra’s (NOYO) four-year evaluation report in collaboration with Sound Connections, about what has been learnt through NOYO’s pioneering approach to working with young disabled people.

NOYO’s Doug Bott, plus two musicians from the ensemble – Oliver Cross and Holli Pandit – spoke to Music Matters presenter Tom Service about their ethos and objectives, diversity and inclusion in music, and everything learned in the first four years of NOYO. This is detailed in a new report, in partnership with Sound Connections, in this episode titled ‘Javier Perianes, Music and artificial intelligence’.

Listen to the full episode here.

Discussion surrounding the NOYO report from [35:30].

More about The National Open Youth Orchestra (NOYO) and Sound Connections report:

The National Open Youth Orchestra (NOYO) and Sound Connections recently launched an in-depth report about the first four years of the orchestra, and what has been learnt through NOYO’s pioneering approach to working with young disabled people.

From 2018 to 2022, Sound Connections acted as independent evaluators, evidencing progress against three desired outcomes for NOYO:

1. The exclusion of young disabled people from orchestras is reduced
2. Young disabled people have developed their skills
3. The music sector has increased its support for young disabled people

The report shares insights based on four years of work with the NOYO, presents the emerging NOYO model, a summary of findings from Sound Connections’ evaluation, plus key messages and calls to action from NOYO musicians.

This is a must read for everyone in music education and anyone wanting to develop inclusive practice.

Co-produced by Abigail D’Amore and Jennifer Raven on behalf of Sound Connections, and the team at Open Up Music – the charity behind NOYO.

Find out more here.

Download the full report here.