We’re really excited to share our new name: Southampton and IOW Music!
There is now one easy place to access all the inspiring and vibrant music that you know and love.
Find it all at www.siowmusic.org
It’s still coming from the same team at Southampton Music Hub, Southampton Music Services and IOW Music Hub, we just hope that now it’s a little easier to find!
There’s so much to see at our new website: www.siowmusic.org
For young people and their families — find music tuition, music groups and more
For schools and education settings — find performances, workshops, training and more
For music leaders — find support, resources and more
The new programme, starting in September, is huge and exciting, with so many more opportunities to make, learn and enjoy music wherever you are! We can’t wait for you to join us!
A consortium known as the South Coast Music Partnership has been appointed by Arts Council England to lead the new expanded Music Hub covering Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP), Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton from September 2024 as part of a national programme to provide high-quality music education for all children and young people. The consortium, led by Southampton City Council includes; Southampton & Isle of Wight Music (on behalf of Southampton City Council and Isle of Wight Council), SoundStorm (on behalf of the current BCP Music Hub) and Portsmouth Music Service (on behalf of Portsmouth City Council).
Hub Lead Organisation), Portsmouth Music Service (on behalf of Portsmouth City Council) and SoundStorm (on behalf of the current BCP Music Hub).
South Coast Music Partnership will receive £1.6m investment from the Department for Education. This includes £1.2m to coordinate music education activities, as well as £400,000 to invest in new musical instruments, equipment and technology to meet the needs and ambitions of children and young people in the region, including those with special educational needs and disabilities.
South Coast Music Partnership will deliver high quality music education accessible to all children and young people in the region through diverse partnerships between educational, creative and community organisations. The investment will help to deliver the National Plan for Music Education, and give all children and young people the opportunity to develop their musical interests as far as they wish, including helping them to begin careers in the music industry.
The new Hub will build on the strong track records of Portsmouth Music Hub, SoundStorm, and Southampton/IOW Music Hub as individual organisations and collaborative partners. They will continue to lead coordination of the local offer in their local authority areas, building on their own strong networks of local partnerships. They will also work strategically together, and with partners across the region.
Kath Page, Southampton and Isle of Wight Music Manager
“This is a huge achievement for the consortium and for the team in Southampton. We are thrilled to be working in partnership with the other local authority regions. This provides us with a unique opportunity to further the fantastic work already done by the existing music hubs, providing the everyday and the exceptional experiences for children and young people across the south coast region. We have a strong track record of working together and are delighted to continue this legacy, maximizing opportunity and financial support for music education in the region.”
Derek Wiles, Divisional Head of Education and Learning
"This announcement is great news for the children and young people of Southampton who will continue to benefit from the life-changing power of music! Having a Music Hub which works so closely with schools, partners, and families to provide high-quality, inspirational and inclusive music opportunities is a great demonstration of the council's commitment to giving all young people a good start in life, helping them to be happy and healthy, and to achieve and learn."
Cllr Alex Winning
“I am thrilled that Southampton City Council's Music Hub has been awarded a significant bid worth £1.2m to lead as a regional music hub, encompassing Southampton, Portsmouth, Isle of Wight, and Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole. This milestone achievement underscores our commitment to providing exceptional music education opportunities for children and young people across the region, and we look forward to inspiring the next generation of musicians!"
Darren Henley, Chief Executive of Arts Council England, said: "Music education is enormously powerful – it can enrich young people's lives, help them connect with the people around them, and start them on the pathway to fruitful and fulfilling careers. We are excited to announce this investment in a new generation of Music Hubs, which will support the brilliant work of our dedicated music teachers across the country, and help bring high-quality musi”
Darren Henley, Chief Executive of Arts Council England, said: "Music education is enormously powerful – it can enrich young people's lives, help them connect with the people around them, and start them on the pathway to fruitful and fulfilling careers. We are excited to announce this investment in a new generation of Music Hubs, which will support the brilliant work of our dedicated music teachers across the country, and help bring high-quality music education to even more children and young people in every part of England."
Phil Gibby, South West Area Director, Arts Council England, adds: “We’re thrilled to award over £9.4 million from the Department for Education to seven new Music Hubs across the South West. Each Hub Lead Organisation is set to enable high-quality musical activities to thousands of children and young people in the region, so that everyone everywhere can pick up an instrument and express themselves. A further £3 million will boost access to industry-spec technology and equipment, helping to raise ambitions and remove barriers to the artform. We can’t wait to see a new generation of talent sing, compose and play their way to a more inclusive future. Thanks to public funding and the work of talented teachers and practitioners, that vision is possible.”
Young Southampton are looking for a project coordinator to support our UK Shared Prosperity project in engaging with children and young people on locality bases through youth led, co-created social action projects.
Young Southampton is happy to confirm that both individuals and organisations can apply for this role, if you are an organisation applying for the role, please do confirm who will be responsible for project coordination
If you have questions about the project or the role, please contact info@youngsouthampton.org.uk.
Southampton Music Hub is partnering with The Stage Door and J Fashole-Luke from Golden Groove Productions to bring a series of open mic nights to the city for young musicians to participate in!
Each night will feature a house band of local musicians with a wide variety of styles, genres and instruments who will host and support young people to participate and encourage playing together. Young musicians of all abilities, genres, styles and instruments (including digital artists and producers) are all welcome to use this regular event as a platform to share their music and to start to make links with the local music industry scene.
The South West Music Hubs have been working together to produce an online programme of content around the theme of “Embedding the Inclusive Mindset”.
On Monday 8 January 2024, the conference launches with two videos from the Youth Voice Network, which also include downloadable audio podcast versions.
Matt Brombley, Chair of the EDI Working Group, shares:
“We want to provide a place where music leaders, teachers and young people can share their experiences of embedding inclusive practice with others, so that across the south west region, we can all learn from each other, and young people themselves, as we work towards making music education more inclusive.
We want the videos shared to be the start of a conversation, and each area in the region will be sharing content with their music education workforce in ways which work for them, encouraging them to learn from others, and share their response back in Spring/Summer 2024.”
The aims for this programme are:
To improve the workforces’ skills, knowledge, understanding, and confidence in engaging, and responding to, the voices of young people
To improve equality, diversity and inclusion practices in participating Music Education Hubs
This work is being enabled by funding from Youth Music, awarded to the South West Coastal Hub Alliance.
As we approach the festive season it is always a very busy time for the Southampton Music Services ensembles. Almost all of the ensembles have performed over the last few weeks — some more than once. With many young musicians in more than one ensemble the players have been incredibly busy, as have their parents and carers ensuring they get to the right venue at the right time.
"The standard of playing from our ensembles over the last couple of weeks has been simply incredible. Many of our youngest players have bravely fought off immense levels of nervousness to give their very first performance outside of their school whilst our more advanced players have given performances professionals would have been proud of. Each and everyone should be congratulated on their achievements. What has come through the most is the enjoyment and enthusiasm for their music making" — Zoe Hunting, Ensemble Manager
On Tuesday 28 November 2023, four young people from Southampton took to the main stage in the ballroom at the Ageas Bowl to share music and a presentation at the national Music Mark Conference for music educators.
Lorenza opened the conference with a performance of an original song she wrote and produced, and was followed by rapper Tommy T.
To explore the theme of “Who’s music education is it anyway?” Lorenza was joined by Carla and Sukhi in a panel discussion with Matt Brombley (Development and Inclusion Manager for Southampton and IOW Music Hub) and Sarah Mcwyatt (NYMAZ). The presentation also included a special video appearance from Ben (a young music journalist from NYMAZ) who answered questions from Carla.
The panel got to explore a range of themes, including:
the importance of giving young people more choice
making music education more relevant, reflective and representative
empowering young people with a wide range of skills and experiences
The session was part of our Youth Voice Network project, kindly funded by Youth Music.
Later on in the day, Nia Collins (Southampton and IOW Music Hub) and rap artist Rob Bradley also go to share the impact of the Rap and Literacy project, kindly funded by Paul Hamlyn Foundation. Alongside a panel of other innovative rap and hip hop initiatives such as Spit Game, Future Music Makers and Kenny Baraka a discussion about the importance of relevency and authenticity in the music curriculum and as a progression pathway for young people is so important.
Photo taken at Turner Sims Southampton by Nosa Malcolm
Inclusion Lead for Southampton and IOW Music Hub, Matt Brombley, has been awarded funding by Arts Council England to take part in and research experimental musical collaborations over the next nine months.
Matt will learn from Peter Weigold (the Musical Director of The Third Orchestra and a pioneer of orchestral improvisation) and then bring his own electronic music together with musicians from different musical backgrounds: creating, improvising, live-streaming and recording two new pieces of music together.
The music will explore ideas of belonging: to ourselves, to each other, and to the natural world which sustains us. The project also aims to more deeply understand how musicians can come together from different backgrounds and traditions.
Matt says: “I’m delighted that Arts Council England have invested in my work at this exciting moment. Having worked with The Third Orchestra (thanks to Turner Sims and Orchestras Live) in March this year, I am excited to develop my ability to lead musical collaborations across genre, culture and form. I cannot wait to share the music we create together as live-streams and recordings, as well as sharing what I learn along the way as published action research.”
Turner Sims have launched The Vibe Collective — an opportunity for 18-25s to join a new group which will work with industry professionals to plan and present gigs and events for young people at Turner Sims, the music venue at University of Southampton.
OperaUpClose in partnership with Chickenshed Theatre and Southampton and Isle of Wight Music Hubs present Peace At Last, an opera for 3 – 5 year olds based on the picture book by Jill Murphy.
Girls Make Music is back again this month with another session to explore music production, recording, songwriting and live events!
Starting on Saturday 4 November 2023, FLOW sessions are back at MAST Music Studio.
Young rappers (or aspiring rappers) ages 11-16 can get support to tighten up their rhymes and improve their flow!
Young musicians: you can get the support you need to succeed this September and beyond thanks to Southampton Music Hub.
We have four, free, open-access offers this year:
Music Production Collective
Monthly sessions for beat-makers, producers and songwriters to collaborate. Ages 11–18.Girls Make Music
Monthly sessions for girls to explore music production, songwriting and live events. Ages 11–18.FLOW
Saturday rap group sessions to tighten your rhythms, sharpen your rhymes, and improve your flow. Ages 11–16.Mix’zine
A connected community for music, events and support: created by young people for young people. Ages 13–25.
There’s also:
All part of Southampton Music Hub’s exciting Digital Native Artists programme!
If there has been one theme across the past year of music at Southampton and IOW Music Hubs, it’s been Children and Young People taking the lead. Over the past year, we’ve seen young people using their musical talents to give back to their communities as well as shaping and leading the music-making opportunities available to them.
From Girls Make Music, to Concerts, to festivals, to Rap, to showcases, to new funding for young people, to a youth-led music zine and more, this year has been all about young people taking the lead.
As the team take a break over the summer holiday, we recommend checking out some news stories from this year and looking at some of the groups and support opportunities picking back up in September,
Over the past year, nearly 400 young musicians have taken part in 35 ensemble performances — that's almost one concert each week.
Performances have included two world premiers of pieces written by two budding Southampton composers, performances by the youngest players some of whom have been playing less than a year through to blockbuster performances at prestigious venues like MAST Studios and Southampton Guildhall. The programmes have included popular classics, hits from stage and screen, traditional pieces through to modern pieces like Venables, Dutch Courage where players are given the shape of the music and they decide how to interpret this through to the rarely performed Tolga Kashif's Queen Symphony calling for a large orchestra and choir. Performances throughout the year have been exemplary.
"That was epic" - performer
"I was so scared, but I did it and now I'm proud of myself" - performer
"Throughout the year there has been awesome work from all of Southampton's young musicians and the ensemble staff and volunteers. The quality of performing from our groups is simply staggering, at times it is hard to believe those taking part are still at school or college. We are so proud of each and everyone of our performers" Zoe Hunting, Ensemble Manager
On Saturday 1 July, the FolkActive Youth Ensemble set off for London's Cecil Sharp House to take part in the Youth Folk Takeover: an eagerly anticipated celebration of youth folk music, hosted by the English Folk Dance and Song Society. Alongside the London Youth Folk Ensemble and other talented friends, these young musicians showcased their passion and skill, and made themselves, FolkActive, and Southampton Music Hub proud.
Ensemble members Hannah and Cate had this to say about the day:
The Takeover was amazing. We performed a concert set during the break of the ceilidh, allowing the dancers to get their breath back, which was so great. The other ensembles were really supportive and fun, it was such a great atmosphere. Cecil Sharp House is a centre for all folk throughout England, as the EFDSS are based there and so there was lots of folk-music-based artwork, as well as the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library, a massive library of folk songs and tunes. The highlight of our day was the massed ensemble piece at the end of the concert. Camilo Menjura, a tutor from the London Youth Folk Ensemble led it and did a fantastic job of bringing all the different groups together. We created a beautiful soundscape including some improvised solos, which were incredible and truly showcased the amount of young talent we were working with. We loved it!
The Solent Shanty Sing project continued last week with performances taking place at Weston Shore on Wednesday 14th June and two performances on Friday 16th June
Singing groups from Weston Park Junior School and St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School joined us at Weston Shore on Wednesday 14th with lots of parents and family as we sang the Southampton Sea shanties and songs that were composed with ideas from the children out to the sea.
On Friday 16th at West Quay we set up in front of the walls and ran two workshop performances in the sometimes punishing heat! The afternoon session saw Mount Pleasant Junior School, Freemantle Primary, Highfield Infants and St John’s Primary take part with a large audience sitting in the steps enjoying the performances of shanties from the songbook.
After school we hosting another performance which featured three primary schools from the Hamwic Trust – Wordsworth, Hollybrook and Shirley Infant and Primary schools. The music leads in these schools have been using the whole songbook as a resource for their singing assemblies throughout the year so they had selected some songs from the other regions involved in the commission (Isle of Wight, Hampshire and Portsmouth).
All the groups were all entertained prior to the event by the fantastic Southampton Salty Sea Dogs lead by Pauline McWilliams.
Miranda Boakes-Clark Teacher and Music Lead Shirley & Hollybrook Infants
“The children absolutely LOVED doing it. I think it was really special being down at the city walls and something they’ll always remember ...it’s so lovely to collaborate and make special things happen for our children.”
Friday 23rd June saw the final event of the Solent Shanty Sing Project which has run throughout this academic year in celebration of Year of the Coast 2023 and in partnership between Southampton, Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Portsmouth Music Hubs. This event was particularly special as it was the first time that children from all of the participating music hub areas had come together to sing!
The event took place at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard which was the ideal setting, with it’s rich maritime history and incredible wealth of heritage sites and attractions to visit. 200 children from each hub area (800 in total) were treated to an entire day of visiting the attractions such as HMS Warrior, the Mary Rose Museum and Portsmouth Hub’s specially created treasure trail, before being treated to an incredible display from the Royal Marines Marching Band and a massed sing of the Shanty Songbook.
Musicians from Folk Active, Southampton Salty Sea Dogs, Hampshire Music Hub and the English Folk Dance and Song Society were also present throughout the day providing live music for the children to listen to and enjoy as well as providing live music for them to sing with during their performance.
The children sang all the pieces from the songbook the 4 music hubs jointly commissioned for this project from composer and sound artist Emily Peasgood plus two extra arranged by Chris Ricketts. Each hub area choir had two songs to sing on their own which were shanties originally collected in their regions or newly composed songs based on ideas from workshops the children took part in the Autumn term. All 800 voices joined together for the three joint songs during the programme to a large audience in the square outside the Mary Rose Museum to an audience of parents, families, VIPs and spectators.
Mel Thomas (Teacher St Patrick’s Primary School Southampton)
“….the best event our school choir has had the opportunity to take part in! Thank you for inviting us to be part of such a wonderful event. It has given the children great memories that will stay with them and it has really encouraged their love for singing, music and performing in a choir. The impact the day has had on them was great.”
On Pupil from St Patrick’s said:
“I just don’t know how I’m going to describe to my parents everything I’ve seen and done today!”
On Friday 9 June 2023, 850 children from 14 schools across the island gathered together for the culmination of the Isle of Wight Solent Shanty Sing Project to perform together en masse and kick start a brand new walking festival celebrating the Heritage Coastline and Year of the Coast 2023! A mixture of children from Year 1 right up to Year 11 participated along with students from SEND settings.
Children arrived in staggered groups from 11am onwards and were treated to fantastic performances by local shanty groups the SHEshells and The Brighstone Barnacles while the sheer volume of pupils got into position. The New Carnival Company provided some beautiful flags and decoration for the space in the already stunning setting of Ventnor Botanic Gardens in full summer bloom.
The children sang a mixture of songs from a songbook commissioned by the music hub, composed a curated by Emily Peasgood and featured some original sea shanties collected on the Isle of Wight plus songs written with input from children taking part in the project. The event finished with a song written especially by Jo Downs about the Heritage Coastline on the island and everyone gave a loud countdown to start the first group of walkers taking part in the walking festival. The walking event was organised by Creative Ways Outdoors, New Carnival Company and the IOW Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty trust who provided certificates to all the young people who took part in the project to take home with them.
This huge scale partnership project continues over the next few weeks with further performances taking place in Weston Shore, West Quay and Portsmouth Historic Dockyard where 4 music hubs; Southampton, Isle of Wight, Hampshire and Portsmouth will all come together!
Photo credit Tracy Curtis and New Carnival Company
Nia Collins Event Organiser, says:
“What has been so fantastic about this project has been the level of collaboration and partnership that has brought this project together between cultural organisations (such as New Carnival Company and Creative Ways Outdoors) and local organisations (IOW AONB and Ventnor Botanic Gardens) right down to the children taking part writing their own parts of the songs we sang today. The Classic Boat Museum in Cowes even created a lesson plan resource especially for the project which has been shared with all the music hubs taking part in the wider regional project.
I have learned lots of things about the island’s unique geography and rich maritime history through this project and I’m certain that the young people participating have as well, all while we have been supporting schools and teachers to keep the magic of singing alive for children and young people!”
Southampton Music Hub is bringing a free Open Studio, Instrument Petting Zoo and Bamboo Tamboo workshop to the programme of the exciting new festival What’s Next Southampton?
What’s Next Southampton?
Free summer festival for children, young people and families
Saturday 24 June 12 – 6pm | Guildhall Square and Cultural Quarter Venues, SO14 7DU
What’s Next Southampton? is a free arts, fashion and music festival for children, young people and families. Enjoy indie, rap and R&B on the main stage. Join in with African Drumming, Bollywood Dancing, creative writing, theatre and music across the cultural quarter. Take part in a collaborative mural and join us for a fashion show finale!
Booking is now open for What’s Next Southampton?
Free summer festival for children, young people and families
Saturday 24 June 12 – 6pm
Guildhall Square and Cultural Quarter Venues, SO14 7DU
What’s Next Southampton? is a free arts, fashion and music festival for children, young people and families. Free activities and performances will spread across the square and Cultural Quarter venues.
The line-up is brought to you by six Cultural Connectors, aged 17-26 years. They’ve explored what young people want in the city and created a colourful festival.
Enjoy indie music from Belle Dame Band as well as rap and R&B from Amy Da Silva, Leah Tolksdorf Music, and LawZzy.
Have a go at African Drumming or Bollywood Dancing. Step inside an inflatable ‘brain dome’. Join in with creative writing, theatre and music workshops. Build your contacts with creative careers talks and networking. Or test your balance with a skateboarding drop-in.
With vintage clothing to browse and a collaborative mural to colour, the square will be alive with creativity!
You’ll gain access to advance programme notifications and entry into a prize draw
The event is part of Connecting Culture, a ground-breaking project led by the University of Southampton and supported by Arts Council England.