Music provision for young people in in Orkney

A Report by Gemma McGregor commissioned by Orkney Youth Music Forum. December 2011

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Table of Contents Introduction ......................................................................................................4

Gemma McGregor ...........................................................................................4

Executive Summary .........................................................................................4

Terminology .....................................................................................................5

1. Strategic Background...................................................................................6

Youth Music Initiative ...................................................................................6

2. Local Background ........................................................................................7

3. Aims of the Orkney Youth Music Forum ......................................................7

4. Aims of the report.........................................................................................8

5. Curricular Music Provision ...........................................................................8

Orkney Schools..........................................................................................10

Peripatetic Instrumental Instructors ............................................................11

Case Study – Tuition by Video Conferencing.............................................12

School Ensembles......................................................................................12

Case Study – Collaborative Musical Performance via Internet...................13

Music for Children with Additional Support Needs......................................14

6. ABRSM Music Exams................................................................................15

7. Community Music Provision.......................................................................15

Orkney Traditional Music Project, courtesy of Orkney Media Group..........16

Private Instructors ......................................................................................16

Case Study of Private Instructor – Rosemary Smyth .................................16

Music for the Under Fives ..........................................................................17

Orkney Traditional Music Project................................................................17

OTMP is managed by a committee consisting of: ......................................17

Case Study – Good Practice regarding Child Protection Procedure ..........18

Youth Café .................................................................................................18

The Wrigley Sisters’ School of Music .........................................................18

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Community Music Groups ..........................................................................19

Pipe Bands.................................................................................................20

Community Classical Music Groups...........................................................20

Community Singing Groups........................................................................21

Music Festivals...........................................................................................21

Case Study: Young Orkney Fiddler ............................................................23

8. Gaps in Provision.......................................................................................24

Popular Music.............................................................................................24

Jazz and blues ...........................................................................................24

Contemporary music and improvisation .....................................................24

Music for children and young people with additional support needs...........25

Music in Further Education.........................................................................25

Vocal and large ensemble opportunities ....................................................26

9. Challenges.................................................................................................26

10. Case Study: Music on a Small Island.......................................................27

11. Suggestions .............................................................................................28

12. Conclusion ...............................................................................................29

13. References...............................................................................................30

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Introduction The Orkney Youth Music Forum, (OYMF), established in 2009, received Development Funding from Creative Scotland in 2010 to provide a report on current musical provision for under 25s in Orkney, and to produce a research document for consultation with all key providers and funders in Orkney. Potentially this report could assist with the distribution of future funding to the groups or activities that would be most beneficial to all young people and thereby support new initiatives and inclusive practice.

Gemma McGregor Gemma McGregor works as freelance Coordinator for Orkney Youth Music Forum, one of the 18 music forums that form a network funded by Creative Scotland. Gemma also works as a freelance composer and musician and is the representative for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music in Orkney. Gemma is a member of several of Orkney’s music groups including Orkney Camerata, Orkney Strathspey and Reel Society and is on the Orkney Folk Festival Committee.

Executive Summary This report lists the opportunities for music making and learning for under 25s in Orkney in all genres and identifies gaps in current provision.

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Terminology Formal or Statutory Sector: music making or learning activities, happening within mainstream education times and settings related to the curriculum, provided by Orkney Islands Council Education Service. These are funded through OIC core funding.

Instrumental Instructor/Peripatetic teacher: teacher of one or a group of instruments employed by OIC to teach an instrument individually or in a small group, outside of class.

Itinerant class music teachers: music teachers who deliver a weekly music class that may include theory, history, group singing or playing, and who, in Orkney, usually have a timetable of different schools to visit.

Community Music: music making or learning that takes place outside of school or local authority provision within groups that, in Orkney, are almost entirely self-funded and non-profit making. Occasionally groups receive one-off grants from funding bodies or businesses, such as Lottery Funding, Awards for All or Talisman Energy.

Youth Music Initiative: a funding stream from Creative Scotland for the purpose of supporting music making programmes particularly for young people that would not normally engage in music activities.

YMI Formula Fund: Fund for supervised music-making activities that happen mostly within school time, as a complement and addition to core music provision provided by the local authority. Some of these activities have been funded on an annual basis.

YMI Informal Sector, large and small grants: Fund for supervised music-making activities that happen mostly outside mainstream education times and settings. Local groups and organisations and local authorities, with the exception of schools, instrumental music services or YMI formula fund budget holders are eligible to be the lead applicant in applications. Strong active partnerships with informal sector organisations must be demonstrated in order to be considered for investment.

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1. Strategic Background The National Youth Music Strategy published by the Scottish Arts Council, (now Creative Scotland), in November 2006 stated that all children and young people in Scotland should:

experience music making have their musical preferences respected and supported have access to high quality musical resources, both physical and human continue to develop their music making to whatever level they aspire to.

SAC suggested that this would be achieved through the following strategic aims –

widening participation sustaining participation organising participation promoting participation.1

Our inheritance, five years on from that directive, is that music making is more readily available for young people in Orkney.

Youth Music Initiative Following an Audit of Youth Music Provision in February 2003, the Scottish Arts Council worked with local authorities and music organisations to develop a strategy called the Youth Music Initiative 2 (YMI). The aims of YMI were to -

improve the availability of musical instruments; widen the spread of instruments and musical styles for children; maximise the role of the voluntary and informal education sector.

These goals were to be delivered locally through two funding streams –

Formula funding and Informal funding.

The Youth Music Initiative is currently funded at £10 million per annum, with £8 million being routed through Creative Scotland to local authorities into schools to meet the P6 target, which is to ensure that all children receive the opportunity of one year’s music tuition by the time that they reach primary six.

On 19th October, 2011, the Scottish Government’s culture secretary, Fiona Hyslop, formally announced the funding allocation for 2012-13. A further £8 million is being invested in the Scottish Government’s Youth Music Initiative.

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The YMI will continue to support more than 300 projects, nationally, covering all musical genres, age groups and teaching methods from 2012 – 2013.

2. Local Background In June 2009, Orkney Islands Council received funding from Creative Scotland to set up the Orkney Youth Music Forum, which was managed by OIC and coordinated by Gemma McGregor.

Creative Scotland planned, “to create music forums and begin the process of having a unified approach to music provision which reflects local needs and demand.” 3

The Orkney Youth Music Forum is a group of musicians, music teachers, group leaders and young people who are involved with music for under 25s in Orkney. It is run by a committee, chaired by Glenys Hughes, and holds four public meetings annually. It has a website,4which describes the music scene in Orkney, has a Service Directory listing all local music groups and festivals and posts news bulletins regarding funding, local awards, etc.

The support and development of youth music forums is a crucial part of Creative Scotland’s strategy to ‘encourage and create a strengthened and unified infrastructure of music providers on a local, regional and national level’.5

OYMF coordinator, Gemma McGregor, is based in Orkney’s main town, Kirkwall. Orkney is situated about twenty miles off the north coast of Scotland. There are seventy Orkney Islands, seventeen of them inhabited. Eighty percent of the population live on mainland Orkney and twenty percent on the outlying islands. Orkney has a population of approximately 20,000 people.

3. Aims of the Orkney Youth Music Forum The aims of OYMF are to improve awareness of and to coordinate youth music activities in the statutory sector (provided by local authority), and informal sector (supervised music-making activities that happen outside mainstream education times and settings). The OYMF aims to facilitate collaboration, to identify gaps in provision, to improve access to music, and to assist joint learning and the introduction of new ideas for training and music making.

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4. Aims of the report This report proposes to list current musical provision for under 25s in Orkney and identify gaps in provision. It is hoped that the report will encourage local music providers to adopt a unified approach to music provision that is responsive to local need.

The report is based on the supposition that raising awareness of musical provision, funding and collaborative opportunities can increase access to music making for under 25s in Orkney.

The rationale for this hypothesis is that there are many examples of good practice within music groups in Orkney communities, and, if this information were to be shared through a coordinating agency, a wide range of groups could learn and provision could increase. Gaps in provision could be identified and access to provision could grow in response to wider awareness of opportunities.

5. Curricular Music Provision Orkney Islands Council Education Service delivers music education through schools under the directives of the Curriculum for Excellence, the age 3-18 curriculum in Scotland, published by the Scottish Government, overseen by Education Scotland, and introduced in 2010. Ultimately, the aim of the Curriculum for Excellence is to make Scotland’s education system fit for the modern world and improve young people’s achievements, attainment and life chances through enabling them to become successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors.

Orkney has a school population of approximately 3,000. The local authority has an Instrumental Music Service that is managed by the Principal Teacher of Expressive Arts from the OIC Education Services, who is a member of HITS (Heads of Instrumental Teaching Scotland). There are nine full and part-time instrumental instructors who teach in twenty-two schools. Instruments can be borrowed for one year (larger instruments for longer) by school pupils who take instrumental lessons. Students miss a different subject class each week in order to attend a 25 minute lesson with their instrumental teacher which is generally given as part of a small group. The Instrumental Service has a stock of instruments worth £120,000.

Towards the end of P3, P4 or P5, depending on the availability of spaces and type of instrument, parents will receive a letter asking if their child is interested in learning an instrument. Pupils who are keen will be tested on their musical potential and the instructor will discuss them with their class teacher, music

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teacher and head teacher. Pupils will then be offered a place, if one is available, on a trial basis. Generally, pupils can begin fiddle tuition at P4 and brass and woodwind at P6, though wind instructors do sometimes start them off earlier. If places are available, pupils can begin tuition later in their school career.

Instructors are given in-service training relevant to their work – for example, the instructors have worked alongside conductor, James Lowe, to improve their conducting skills. Full-time instructors have been provided with laptop computers and Sibelius music notation software. The number of disciplines taught in any school is relative to the size of the school roll. The instrumental service provides tuition to around 500 students and this represents approximately 24% of the eligible school population.

The Instrumental Service supports ensembles in both secondary schools and five of the junior highs and primaries. The service provides two annual instrumental courses and young musicians are invited to participate – those who learn at school and those who learn in the community. There are courses for strings, brass, percussion and woodwind - seniors meet for four days in November (about 100 students) and juniors for four days in May (nearly 200 students). The courses are delivered by seven of the music staff and conclude with public concerts at the mainland secondary schools in November and the county leisure centre in May. At present there are no charges for lessons or instrument hire and the service costs £235,000 to run annually. A public consultation regarding proposed charges took place in September, the results of which were collated by Orkney Islands Council in November 2011. Full council did not ratify the recommendation of the Education and Leisure Committee to introduce charges and the matter has been deferred until February 2012.

Three Orkney Junior High Schools, located on the islands of Westray, Sanday and Stronsay, provide education from nursery up to secondary school fourth year and the North Walls Junior High, located on the island of Hoy, provides education from nursery up to primary seven. There are 17 Primary Schools and a Halls of Residence, located in Kirkwall, to permit island pupils to attend Kirkwall Grammar School. The Council encourages wide community use of the school estate and recognizes school buildings as a valuable community asset. Of the Council’s 17 Primary schools, 15 are designated as community schools and there is some community use of all schools. There are 22 schools in Orkney (and one mothballed at present) and they all receive class music tuition from one of the team of visiting itinerant music teachers who have complicated timetables and travel arrangements in order to reach them all. The itinerant class music teachers give a broad background to musical training, history and appreciation and do include some group playing of

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instruments such as keyboards, tin whistles, recorders and percussion in their programme. Itinerant music teachers also provide opportunities for creative work by providing ensemble opportunities in line with the creating and designing requirement of the Curriculum for Excellence. However, some isles schools only receive a visit from an instrumental instructor 8 times per academic year.

Orkney Schools On mainland Orkney there are two senior secondary schools -

Kirkwall Grammar School (853 students) Stromness Academy (407 students)

There are Junior High Schools on four of the islands –

Westray Junior High School (up to Senior 4) (59 students) Sanday Junior High School (up to Senior 4) (56 students) Stronsay Junior High School (up to Senior 4) (53 students) North Walls Junior High (up to Primary 7) (19 students)

There are eleven mainland primary schools –

Burray (11 students) Dounby (167 students) Evie (54 students) Firth (80 students) Glaitness (204 students) Saint Margaret’s Hope (76 students) Orphir (48 students) Papdale (461 students) St Andrews (179 students) Stenness (33 students) Stromness (173 students)

There are six isles primary schools receiving the following tuition -

Shapinsay Primary School (25 students) - 2 hour visit weekly - woodwind Rousay Primary School (22 students) 16 half day visits annually - violin (YMI) Eday Primary School (8 students - 8 visits annually – violin (YMI) 4 visits annually - woodwind (YMI) Papa Westray Primary School (9 students) - 8 visits annually - violin 4 visits annually - woodwind (YMI) North Ronaldsay Primary School (5 students) - 8 visits annually - violin (YMI)

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Flotta Primary School (No students at present)

Peripatetic Instrumental Instructors 1. Brass teacher: 5 days Papdale Primary 1.5 days, Kirkwall Grammar School 1.5 days, Dounby Primary 0.5 days, Stromness Primary 0.5 days, Stromness Academy 1 day 2. Woodwind teacher : 5 days Papdale Primary 1 day, Kirkwall Grammar School 1.5 days, Glaitness Primary 0.5 days, Dounby Primary 0.33 days, Stromness Primary 0.66 days, Stromness Academy 1 day 3. Violin & Viola teacher: 5 days Kirkwall Grammar School 3 days, Orphir Primary 0.5 days, St Andrews Primary 0.5 days, Burray Primary 0.33 days, St Margaret’s Hope Primary 0.66 days 4. Violin & Viola teacher: 4 days Stromness Academy 2 days + 2hours, North Walls Junior High 0.5 days, Stromness Primary 0.66 days, Dounby Primary 0.33 days, Sanday Junior High 28 days per year 5. Violin & Viola teacher : 2.5 days and YMI 24 days per year Kirkwall Grammar School 1.5 days, Glaitness Primary 0.5 days, YMI funded: Westray Junior High 26 days per year, Eday Primary 8 days per year, Papay Primary 8 days per year, North Ronaldsay Primary 8 days per year 6. Cello teacher: 2 days and YMI 8 days per year Papdale Primary 0.33 days, Stromness Primary 0.5 days, Stromness Academy 1 hour, St Margaret’s Hope Primary 1 hour, Kirkwall Grammar School 0.66 days, YMI funded: Sanday 4 days per year , Stronsay 4 days per year 7. Cello & fiddle teacher– 2.45 hours per week– Stronsay Junior High 8. Violin teacher: 2.5 days YMI 8 days/year Papdale Primary 1.5 days, Firth Primary 0.5 days YMI funded: Stenness Primary 0.5 days, Rousay Primary 16 x 0.5 days per year 9. Woodwind teacher: 1 day and YMI 8 days per year Kirkwall Grammar School 1 day, YMI funded: Papay Primary 8 days per year, /Eday Primary 8 days per year 10. Woodwind teacher: 1.33 day St Andrews Primary 1 day, Shapinsay Primary 2 hours weekly

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11. Accordion teacher - 1 hour per week YMI funded Westray Junior High 12. Guitar teacher: 30 days annually YMI funded Kirkwall Grammar School, Stromness Academy, Firth Primary and Evie Primary.

The costs for the instrumental tuition listed above are met by Youth Music Initiative formula funding where indicated.

Case Study – Tuition by Video Conferencing The local authority peripatetic brass teacher taught a young tenor horn player from the island of Hoy for the years of S1 – S2. He is the only OIC brass teacher in the Orkney instrumental service and does not visit Hoy as a part of his timetable. He endeavoured to teach the student through using video conferencing supported by occasional lessons on mainland. The teacher did try working with the different video conferencing equipment available in Orkney, but was unable to get a good enough connection with quality sound and no breaks in order to make the lessons worthwhile. He reported that if the internet connection was improved and the equipment was of better quality, then it is possible that supporting isles students between monthly lessons by means of video conferencing would be both beneficial to the students and cost effective.

Five years ago, two of Orkney’s music teachers received specialist percussion training in order to address the need for students to learn percussion as there had been no regular training previously. As a follow-up to a training session with percussion expert, Pamela Dow, the two teachers and their students received some ongoing advice via video conferencing. This kind of follow-up was found to be beneficial for both staff and students and a good option when the cost of travel makes another visit by the trainer to Orkney out of the question.

School Ensembles 1. Stromness Academy String Group 2. Stromness Academy Choir 3. Stromness Academy Samba Group 4. Kirkwall Grammar School Orchestra 5. Kirkwall Grammar School Senior Choir 6. Kirkwall Grammar School Junior Girls Choir 7. Kirkwall Grammar School Wind Band 8. Kirkwall Grammar School Big Band 9. Kirkwall Grammar School Junior Traditional Fiddle Group 10. Kirkwall Grammar School, Hadhirgaan (Traditional Music Group)

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11. St Andrews Fiddle Club 12. St Andrews School Band 13. St Andrews Guitar Club 14. St Andrews Choir 15. St Andrews P6 Music Group 16. St Andrews P7 Music Group 17. St Andrews P5 Chimes Group 18. St Andrews P5 Whistle Group 19. Papdale Orchestra 20. Papdale Steel Bands 21. Papdale Brass Band 22. Papdale Senior Choir 23. Papdale Junior Choir 24. Papdale Percussion Group/Samba Band 25. Glaitness Choir 26. Glaitness Whistle Group 27. Stromness Primary Choir 28. Sanday Fiddle Club

Case Study – Collaborative Musical Performance via Internet The local authority instrumental instructor worked with Shapinsay Community School to help them to collaborate with a school in Norway via the Internet. The itinerant music teacher taught children from the whole school their songs and script and helped with the performance.

Shapinsay Community School made pioneering use of technology to webcast a joint performance of their 2006 Christmas production with Grinder school in Norway. The two schools worked together on a script for the play, splitting the number of scenes to be performed between them. The idea was to mix the live scenes at each school alternating with a projected webcast, using Marratech video conferencing technology. Work on the play began a year prior to the final performance, and regular video conferencing software such as iChat and AIM was used extensively in discussing and planning the event.

Marratech videoconferencing software was part of the technology used by the Scottish GLOW schools education network, and provided the high quality necessary for music and video to be streamed live over the internet. The small island of Shapinsay had recently been enabled for broadband, and a request was put out for local residents to refrain from using it for the duration of the morning performance. BT upgraded the Internet connection for the project. Technical support was provided by OIC’s IT department, and they set up all the microphones, cameras and projection equipment. Assistance was received from Learning and Teaching Scotland, who helped with the custom settings required to tweak Marratech for glitch-free music broadcast.

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For the performance, each school had a stage set up, together with a projector and sound and lighting rig. Shapinsay and Grinder took it in turns to perform their allocated scenes live, with the alternate webcast performances projected on the stage backdrop. The performances were a triumph, with outstanding audio and video quality, due in part to the professional equipment used. There was a real sense of achievement and satisfaction at the project’s success, and it proved how cultural collaboration can thrive, regardless of distance. The project acted as a test bed for Marratech software, and the results were fed back to Learning and Teaching Scotland 5 to improve the GLOW network.6

Music for Children with Additional Support Needs All pupils, including those with additional support needs, receive class music lessons for at least fifty minutes per week. Pupils with additional support needs have class lessons with a music teacher and some have sessions on the Skoog, which is being piloted in Orkney using YMI Formula Funding. A group using the Skoog (a touch sensitive cube that can trigger programmed recorded music or sound) performed as part of the Glaitness primary school concert this year, together with a choir and a group on tin whistles. Some secondary level students attend Kirkwall Grammar School and receive class lessons, which involve guided listening, group singing and playing guitars and percussion. An inclusive project called “Include Me’’, funded by YMI, is currently under way at Stromness Academy.

Music teachers and instructors work, when appropriate, with specialised music technology including touch-sensitive switches, ultrasonic movement detectors and computer software. The music service has for the past year been working with Drake Music Scotland to introduce the Figure Notes system of music notation, initially at Glaitness School, with the intention of extending this to other Orkney schools.

The drama specialist (also the Principal Teacher of Expressive Arts) has worked collaboratively with music teachers and learning support assistants to deliver several creative projects and pupils with additional support needs have been involved in several music projects for previous St Magnus Festivals. Drake Music Scotland are going to work with music teachers and instrumental instructors in order to include a group of pupils with additional support needs in the May 2012 schools instrumental concert. There are singing projects planned for summer of 2012 which will involve inclusive groups of sixty isles students and two hundred and eighty mainland students.

All staff recognise the importance of the role of music in the emotional and social development of all pupils, and that participation in musical activities can be especially valuable to those with additional support needs.

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6. ABRSM Music Exams The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music have been sending one of their examiners to Orkney to examine instrumentalists and singers since the 1950s and Stromness Town Hall was established as an examination centre in 1976.There are three visits per year to a mainland centre where candidates are assessed on the playing of three pieces, scales, sight-reading and aural tests. There is an unmarked (comments only) preparatory test and eight grades that are marked out of 150 with a pass mark of 100. The ABRSM will send examiners for special visits to schools or islands if three hours worth of exams are required. Between 30 and 60 candidates present for exams at the Orkney centre each session. The ABRSM also provide written theory exams Grades 1-8 three times a year. The ABRSM qualifications are respected worldwide and are necessary for auditions for further education institutions and national orchestras and choirs. Teachers from both the statutory and the private sector enter their students for the ABRSM exams and candidates can be entered by their school, teacher, or even by themselves. 7

7. Community Music Provision

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Orkney Traditional Music Project, courtesy of Orkney Media Group.

Private Instructors There is a large variety of private music teachers available in Orkney ranging from the very casual or inexperienced to those with third level music education and professional backgrounds. Fees for lessons range from £5 to £18 per half hour lesson. At the present time there is no regulation of private music teaching. This means that anyone can offer music lessons at any price. There is no stipulation for a private music teacher to have gone through child protection checks and it is the responsibility of parents to ensure that a teacher is suitable. The law on private teaching is going to change and it is probable that a Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) certificate will become necessary for those wishing to teach under 18s on a private basis.

In Orkney there are the following practising private music teachers:

Thirteen piano teachers Six violin teachers One all woodwind teacher Three flute teachers Four accordion teachers Two cello teachers One organ teacher Two trumpet teachers Two guitar and mandolin teachers One bass guitar teacher One drumming teacher Four voice teachers

Case Study of Private Instructor – Rosemary Smyth Rosemary Smyth had a career of class music teaching and has taught music at her home in Kirkwall for twenty years. She teaches piano, music theory and musicianship as necessary. Rosemary enters students for the music exams run by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music in Orkney and also helps out with playing the accompaniments for other teachers’ students. Not all of her students sit music exams and depending on suitability, Rosemary will teach a more general musicianship course as appropriate. Rosemary holds end of year concerts for her students to perform to one another. Rosemary embraces many musical activities in the community including playing the St Magnus Cathedral organ and has been assistant organist at the Cathedral for the last ten years.

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Music for the Under Fives The Orkney library supervises “Bookbug” weekly meetings for toddlers and parents at Stromness and Dounby, and twice-weekly meetings at Orkney Library and Lambaness community centre. The purpose of the meetings is primarily to promote reading but group leaders do teach rhymes and songs at every session. Bookbug Coordinator is Patsy Smith who works at the Orkney library and archive.

Orkney Traditional Music Project The Orkney Traditional Music Project in its present form was started in 1998 to provide tuition in accordions. Shortly thereafter, fiddle classes were added and OTMP currently provides five fiddle classes and four accordion classes on Saturday mornings in Kirkwall Town Hall. OTMP is presently teaching 135 pupils who are charged £2 for each hour-long lesson. There are three terms of ten weeks of classes per year. OTMP resident tutors are Elizabeth Duncan (Musical Director), Diane Kelday, and Susan Webb (fiddles) and Nicky Palmer and Ellen Grieve (accordions). Visiting tutors are brought in on a regular basis to augment normal tuition.

Concerts are held during the year and groups of pupils play at many local functions; Tall Ships, Royal Visits, St Magnus Festival, Orkney Folk Festival and County Show. Lunchtime concerts are held in the Cathedral every Saturday during May and June.

Weekly classes are held at Kirkwall Community Centre. In August each year there is a four-day Summer School, which is held at Orkney College, East Road, Kirkwall. Visiting tutors in 2011 were Ian Lowthian and Ishbel Borland (accordion) and Eunice Henderson and Kristan Harvey (fiddle).

OTMP was voted Community Project of the Year in the BBC Alba Scottish Traditional Music Award 2010. OTMP is generally self-funded but does appreciate occasional support from sponsors including, the Scottish Fiddle Orchestra, Talisman Energy, Flotta Oil Terminal and Northlink Ferries.

OTMP is managed by a committee consisting of: Chairperson - Freda Burgher Vice Chairperson - John Rendall Treasurer - Dave Gunn Musical Director - Elizabeth Duncan Ordinary members - Isabel Alexander, Winkie Eunson, Jim Marwick

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Case Study – Good Practice regarding Child Protection Procedure When young people wish to join Orkney Traditional Music Project, two forms are required. One is a class enrolment form with basic details of contact information and the class to be attended. This form is held by the Treasurer and Lead Signatory under lock and key. The Treasurer uses information from the forms, such as e-mail addresses, and sends out newsletters and notices under blind copy.

The second form, for all children under sixteen years of age, asks for details of contact information to be used in emergencies, information about health risks such as allergies, permission to be included in group photographs and requires a signature giving consent for the child to be under the care of the OTMP tutors while at a class. These Parental Consent forms are held by the Musical Director during class times. When a child discontinues classes, all information relating to that child is destroyed.

Each tutor has an enhanced disclosure certificate issued by the Central Registration Body for Scotland confirming that the person named has been checked and has no criminal record or allegations of past misconduct.

Youth Café The Youth Café is situated in Kirkwall Community Centre. It has a café and a gymnasium and offers rehearsal space for young bands during opening hours. One of the youth workers is planning to hold drumming workshops and clinics in the near future. The Youth Café promotes performance by young bands in the gymnasium from time to time and assists with promotion, sound and supervision. The Youth Café hosts the Tuesday Club once a week, which provides an afternoon of activities for young people with Additional Support Needs. The Tuesday club members have enjoyed karaoke sessions at the Youth Café and live music sessions are planned for next year.

The Wrigley Sisters’ School of Music The Wrigley Sisters’ School of Music is situated at The Reel, 6, Broad Street, Kirkwall and was established in 2004. Private freelance instructors rent rooms to teach individual private lessons. The school also offers weekly group classes for fiddle (adult beginners and adult improvers) and guitar with classes of approximately 8 students attending. The school has eleven freelance tutors that offer lessons in voice, piano, violin, guitar, mandolin, banjo, woodwind, drumming, theory, and coaching sessions. Rehearsal space is available for rental by community groups. The Strathspey & Reel Society and the Accordion & Fiddle Club use the Reel for practices. The Reel is also used as a live music venue and has a thriving café-bar. Saturday night music

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sessions are open to over eighteens and are led by local traditional group, Hullion.

Community Music Groups Community music groups do not provide lessons as such, but do support learning through weekly meetings when musicians play with the group, learn new tunes, and prepare to perform at civic events, festivals, harvest homes, parish dances, etc. The groups marked with * have only members who are under twenty-five years of age.

(Two members of the Stronsay Silver Darlings)

1. Orkney Strathspey and Reel Society (formed 1948), 20 – 30 members, Seniors Leader – Ian Kirkness, Juniors Leader – Eric Linklater

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2. West Mainland Strathspey and Reel Society, 30-40 members, Seniors Leader – Gina Dickinson, Juniors Leader – Jean Leonard

3. Harray Traditional Music Group, approx. 8 members, Leader – Donny Grieve

4. Accordion & Fiddle Club (formed 1977), approx. 12 members, Secretary – Bert Baikie

5. Lyrie, 7 members *, Leader – Fiona Driver 6. Shoramere,10 members * Leader – Diane Kelday 7. Stronsay Silver Darlings, 18 members * Leaders – Gaynor Smith,

Michael Smith & Janice Maxwell 8. Rousay Music Group, Leader – Itha Flaws 9. The Rousay Dinxwhackie Boom Music Club, Leader – Christine

Courtney 10. Shapinsay Music Group (formed in 1950s), approx. 6 members,

Leaders- Ian Eunson and Paul Hollinrake 11. Westray Music Group, Leader – Betty Hume 12. Sanday Music Group, Leader – Kate Howe

Pipe Bands 1. Kirkwall City Pipe Band (formed 1919), Pipe Major - Raymond Peace,

approx. 40 members 2. Stromness Pipe Band, (formed 1980), Pipe Major – Mark Wemyss,

approx. 20 members 3. Rendall Pipe Band, Pipe Major – Kenny Peace approx. 15 members

There are fifty or so learners of pipes and drums in Orkney who are under eighteen years of age. Piping and drumming exams are not held regularly in Orkney, but the bands do have an association with the National Piping Centre and they run occasional weekend workshops that include exams. This tends to be every few years and is dependent on funding being available to bring the workshop leaders to Orkney.

Community Classical Music Groups 1. Orkney Orchestra (formed 1985), approx. 40 members, Secretary –

Sandy Dennison, Leader – Iain Tait 2. Orkney Camerata (formed 1995), approx 15 members, Leader –

Elizabeth Sullivan, Chair – Glenys Hughes 3. Kirkwall Town Band (originally in the 19th century but reformed in

1973), 24 members (14 are under 18), Leader – Elaine Geddes 4. The Salvation Army Brass Band (formed 1861), approx. 10 members,

Leader - Geoff Thompson

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Community Singing Groups 1. Mayfield Singers, (formed 1988) 22 members, Leaders – Denise Stout

& Neil Price 2. Kirkwall Cathedral Choir (30 members), Leader – Iain Campbell 3. Saint Magnus Festival Chorus, (formed 1980) 100+ members, Leader

– Glenys Hughes 4. Saint Olaf Choir (approx. 12 members), Leader – Ben Whitworth 5. The Holm Choir (approx.15 members), Leader – Ruth Harvey 6. Orkney Singers (formed 2005) approx. 20 members), Leaders - Emily

Turton, Sarah Jane Gibbon & Lynn Campbell 7. The Linties (approx 10 members), Leader – Kath Hague 8. The Stromabank Pub Choir – (approx 15 members), Leader – Fran

Gray 9. The N Boys, (5 members), Leader – George Rendall 10. The Men of Orkney (formed 1961), 10 members (2 under 18s), Leader

– Geoff Thomson 11. The Bea Choir, Leader – Bill Crichton 12. Saint Margaret’s Hope Singing Group, Leader – Denise Denvir 13. The Pop Tarts – (approx. 14 members), Leader – Jenny Keldie 14. Kirkwall Amateur Operatic Society – (approx. 25 members), Leader –

Lesley Howard 15. Salvation Army Songsters (formed 1861 approx. 10 members), Leader

– Andrew Stanger 16. Westray Singing Group, Leader – Liz Drever 17. Singing Group for People with Memory Problems, Leader – Rachel

Palmer

Music Festivals 1. St Magnus International Festival was founded in 1977 by Orkney’s distinguished resident composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, and is governed by a board of directors. The Festival employs a part-time Artistic Director, a full-time Festival Manager, a part-time Festival Administrator and two part-time, temporary, seasonal Box Office & Administration Assistants. The week long Festival always takes place during the time of the summer solstice towards the end of June, and while focusing mainly on classical music encompasses performances of all genres of music and other arts. It encourages schools’ groups to benefit through projects purposely designed for their active participation as well as visits to schools and workshops by visiting professional orchestras, ensembles and performers. For example, the Side by Side project in 2010 was a six month project that enabled young orchestral musicians to perform alongside a professional orchestra and to share desks at the Festival performance. The Festival always includes

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projects in music and/or drama and other arts to encourage the maximum degree of community participation by adults and young people resident in Orkney. Many children’s opera and music theatre pieces by Maxwell Davies have been given their world premieres at the Festival by local children.

2.Orkney Folk Festival was established in 1982 and is run by a voluntary committee of a dozen members led by Artistic Director, Bob Gibbon and Chair, Elaine Grieve. The annual festival takes place for four days at the end of May and includes an educational project in partnership with schools and a youth concert involving young performers. Visiting artists deliver workshops on their instruments at schools and sometimes on the Saturday of the festival. For example, visiting group, The New Rope String Band, gave workshops at schools and performed a children’s concert on the Saturday afternoon of the festival in 2009. For the last two years, the youth concert and associated workshops have been led by the Orkney Heritage Fiddle Project, which aims to research and raise awareness of Orkney traditional music. Local fiddler, Douglas Montgomery, has led workshops on fiddle music by Orcadians at schools and research on Orkney music has been shared with community groups and local teachers.

The Orkney Folk Festival received the award for Event of the Year at the 2011 BBC Alba Scottish Traditional Music Awards.

3.Orkney Blues Weekend was established in 2006 and is held in September annually over three days, and is run by a committee of volunteers. Whilst not having an educational programme as such, it does encourage young bands to perform and assists with their networking with experienced artists.

4.Orkney Science Festival was established in 1991 and is held annually during the first week of September. It includes educational musical events and promotes traditional Orcadian ceilidhs with live Orcadian traditional music. It also includes a concert by organist, George McPhee, a concert by local choir, The Mayfield Singers, and sometimes a lecture on a music related theme.

5.Orkney Arts Society is a charitable organisation dedicated to promoting the arts in Orkney. OAS hosts an eclectic programme of events every season that include drama, music, literature and visual arts. The annual program usually includes three concerts of chamber music or jazz by visiting artists and a performance by Scottish Opera. For many years, the Arts Society has supported members, Jean Leonard and Catherine Parkinson, to organise the Orkney Young Musicians Festival. The festival did not run in 2011, but OAS approached Orkney Islands Council to propose that the local authority Instrumental Service take responsibility for it in future and external funding has been obtained for a four-day showcase event to be held in Spring 2012.

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Case Study: Young Orkney Fiddler Orkney fiddle player, Kristan Harvey, age twenty-two, grew up on a farm in Birsay and attended secondary school in Stromness. She learned violin at school with instructor, Rhona Casey, but also attended the Orkney Traditional Music Project on Saturdays and went to fiddle classes that were taught by local teacher, Jean Leonard. Being a member of the Orkney Traditional Music Project meant that Kristan learned traditional music as a part of a large group, attended Summer schools and had regular performing opportunities. She played classical music at school and during the annual instrumental courses run by OIC and was invited to join Orkney Camerata to play classical chamber music when she was sixteen. Kristan sat Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music exams during her school years and obtained the highest level, Grade 8, before leaving school.

In her late teens, Kristan had lessons from local fiddler, Douglas Montgomery, whose playing on recordings by The Chair and Saltfishforty, had influenced her for some time. At the age of seventeen, Kristan was faced with the dilemma of whether to pursue further study in classical or traditional violin playing. After a round of auditions, Kristan accepted a place at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama to study for a Bachelor of Music degree with classical violin as her principal study. While in Glasgow, studying at RSAMD for four years, Kristan continued to play traditional fiddle with her friends and to attend music sessions. She entered the BBC Radio Scotland Young Scottish Traditional Music Competition in 2011 and was crowned Young Scottish Traditional Musician of the Year.

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8. Gaps in provision

Popular Music Most music making in Orkney is of the Scottish traditional or classical music genres. However, many young people are more interested in playing and listening to contemporary styles of music – rock, pop, rap, techno, Indie, garage, funk, etc. There is very limited availability of lessons, coaching, rehearsal space or performance opportunities for these young musicians in Orkney. Local rock bands almost always perform in bars that exclude under 18s. The Kirkwall Youth Café does host occasional rock music evenings that give bands a chance to perform but this venue usually appeals only to younger players and audiences. Stromness Academy offer studio space to student bands for rehearsal, and both mainland secondary schools hold an annual band competition which means that young rock bands who have been coached by the music department staff have a chance to perform in front of a live audience at school.

Although many young rock musicians do not want a weekly instrumental lesson, rock music weekends and workshops would be welcome.

Music Technology is a fairly new subject to Orkney but Stromness Academy is offering a Higher course this year and Kirkwall Grammar School has two sixth year students who are taking Music Technology Higher.

Jazz and blues Jazz and Blues learning opportunities in Orkney are limited. There is a Big Band at Kirkwall Grammar School and two of the local authority instructors (brass and woodwind) support instrumentalists who want to play jazz. The ABRSM jazz syllabus and grade exams have not been offered as an option by instructors in Orkney as yet. There used to be a jazz summer school for three days every August that was led by local jazz singer, Maureen Cursiter, but this has not run for the last three summers.

Contemporary music and improvisation There are many opportunities for young players of orchestral instruments to play classical music both through the Education Department and in community groups. However, there is almost no opportunity for young players to experience playing or performing contemporary classical music, experimental music or improvisation. This is partly because these kinds of music do not attract a significant audience in Orkney. Venues can be expensive to hire and promoters need to be sure of significant ticket sales that will cover costs. The Orkney Youth Music Forum hosted the Sound Inventors course for young composers in Kirkwall Grammar School in 2010, ending with

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a private performance. In 2011, the St Magnus Festival worked with the same group, helping them to write music to accompany some local amateur short films. The second course with the collaborative side to it seemed to be a good way to attract interest and increase audience numbers.

Music for children and young people with additional support needs It would be desirable for individual instrumental tuition to be available for larger numbers of pupils, including those with additional support needs. Inclusion of such pupils in mainstream music projects has, in the past, been limited, although several schools currently include pupils with additional support needs in their choirs. Pupils with additional support needs have not so far been included in the bi-annual instrumental courses. However, plans have been made to enable participation in the orchestral course which will run in May 2012 and in the concert that will end the course. It is recognized that such involvement necessitates additional support staff.

Young people ages 18 to 25 who have additional support needs attend Orkney College, the Keelylang Centre or the Saint Colms Day Centre. These centres provide services for people aged 18 to 65 who have mild to moderate learning difficulties. Whilst music is not a permanent part of the programme, local musicians and school groups are brought in to perform occasionally. Group singing is fairly accessible and comparatively low cost as there is no equipment necessary and a singing project can usually be started with a choir leader assisted by existing staff.

Music in Further Education Further education in music is not available in Orkney, even though a high proportion of school students study Higher and Advanced Higher music. (Kirkwall Grammar School has 30 Higher and 12-15 Advanced Higher students this year.) Orkney College offers a degree in Cultural Studies as part of the University of the Highlands and Islands, but no music courses. Visiting students have indicated that they would like to learn more about Scottish music and Orcadian music at Orkney College. A number of school leavers from Orkney go on to study music annually but have given mixed reports about the quality of the courses that they attend. These range from performing courses at conservatoires, to music degrees at universities, to music technology courses at colleges. A number of students report dissatisfaction with the courses or leave without completing them. It would appear that more information about the courses and the institutions that offer them would benefit potential students.

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Vocal and large ensemble opportunities There is no county choir or annual course similar to the instrumental course for singers. There are school choirs, and many primary choirs meet weekly, but others only practise for Christmas concerts and are not a year round activity. The main opportunity for singing in a large choir in Orkney is the Festival Chorus that meets to learn a large work, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio for example, twice a year – once for the St Magnus Festival in June and once for the winter concert in December. The chorus (of about 120) has only ever had a handful of young people join. This may be because the average age of the chorus is forty plus, or it may be that the music is perceived as too difficult. Two young singers from Orkney have auditioned and gained places in the National Youth Choir of Scotland during the last five years. NYCS arranged for an Orkney candidate to record a DVD of herself singing audition pieces to send to them rather than travelling to Edinburgh to sing live.

The costs associated with joining the national choir can be prohibitive, as they include fees for the courses and a trip to Scotland two or three times (possibly once for audition and attendance at two courses annually) with associated travel and accommodation costs for the applicant and accompanying family.

It is a similar situation for young people who would like to audition for National Children’s Orchestra of Scotland, (NCOS), and National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, (NYOS), except that these organisations do conduct auditions in Orkney every November so young musicians do not have to travel south for those but, if successful, have to pay large fees and travel costs for two courses or tours annually. In the past, grants have been available from the local authority, but these have been very small and would only have met a very small percentage of costs for these musicians.

9. Challenges What are the challenges that musicians, music teachers and planners face in this location?

1. Travel difficulties including time and costs. A return flight from Kirkwall to Edinburgh can cost between £200 and £300.

2. Rural isolation. Some islands have only one flight by a 7 seater plane a day. Most islands have a daily ferry service but ferries can be cancelled during winter months.

3. Adverse weather. Leading to travel difficulties, poor attendance or cancellations in winter. Causeways connecting the south isles on the mainland are closed during stormy and snowy weather.

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4. Accessibility. It can be problematic for community groups and music projects for those living in the country, on isles or with special needs to access events. Bus services are not frequent to outlying areas and ferry timetables do not always fit in with attending events, especially in the evening.

5. Few players. The small numbers of players of some instruments leads to certain players being overburdened with rehearsals and performances of groups, musicals, shows, etc.

6. Isles lessons. Visits to isles by instructors for instrumental tuition are not frequent enough. Most isles only receive eight visits per year from their instrumental instructor. This amounts to a lesson every six weeks spread throughout the school year. Many teachers feel that it is impossible to teach a musical instrument this way, and that infrequent contact results in less practice by the students and interest wanes between visits.

7. Overnight accommodation. It can be difficult and costly to source accommodation for isles students to stay overnight in order to attend mainland projects.

8. Specialist instruments. In a small community it is inevitable that instrumental instructors have to teach multiple instruments and that for some more unusual instruments, tuition is not available in either the statutory or private sector.

9. Short-term cover. Small numbers of music staff mean that there is little availability for obtaining cover for sickness or long term leave. It can be difficult to find enough staff to help run large events.

10. Case Study: Music on a Small Island Papa Westray (known locally as Papay), is an island of six square miles with approximately seventy inhabitants. It has a primary school with nursery, current roll of eight ranging from pre-school to P7 and a Head Teacher, support staff including relief teacher, early years assistant, classroom support and clerical support. The school receives monthly visits (and currently more frequent) from an itinerant music teacher, who provides between 3 and 4.5 hours of music related activities, depending on plane times. Four of the students currently receive individual violin lessons from a visiting instrumental instructor, who visits 4 and sometimes more times a year, with continuity maintained by both the music teacher and Kate Evans, Head Teacher, in order to create as near weekly provision as can be managed. Visits by the violin instructor are funded by YMI to visit Papay, along with the woodwind

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instructor, who visits similarly between 4-8 times per year, to offer recorder lessons to six of the students and guitar to two of the students as well as ensemble work (often singing). For the past year the two students playing guitar have also had practices with a local player although due to staffing changes they are currently hoping to find a new volunteer to support their playing. Two years ago, the school children took their musical instruments to North Ronaldsay to join with the children there for a Burns celebration.

The Papay Community Association is the main organiser of events on the isle, and organises dances and music workshops. Traditional dances are enjoyed by the whole age range of residents, creating a way for children to identify with local dance and music from an early age. Children practise dancing in school and have even sent instructions and a short video to a school in the USA to teach the children there a traditional dance. Dances are often accompanied by the Westray Band or the Papay band. The Papay Band consists of Margaret Rendall on accordion and Paul Griffith on guitar and banjo accompanied by young people on drums and guitars. Paul is presently teaching a group of young ukelele players tunes for upcoming events.

Also living on Papay are visual artists, Ivanov and Chan, who promote events that feature local and visiting artists of all disciplines with a particular emphasis on creating new works that include the community. For example, the piece for accordion, fiddle and sound titled Papay People by composer, James Heseltine.

A small community like Papay values all of its visitors and makes the maximum use of their skills during their visits to the island. If Papay invites a band over for a dance the Community Association will take the opportunity to organise music and dance workshops for their young people during the musicians’ stay on the island. Events such as the St Boniface Carol Service, the Muckle Supper and Burns Night provide further opportunities for local residents, including all ages, and visitors to join together – in fact whenever there is a gap in the social round, the Papay Community Association springs into action to bring people together to enjoy playing traditional music and dancing. Papay folk are good at spotting any opportunity to harness the talents of visitors and to include visitors in their celebration of island culture.

11. Suggestions These suggestions represent a summary of comments that have been made by instructors, private music teachers, youth workers and young musicians. A young people’s focus group met with Gemma McGregor at Kirkwall Grammar School to discuss music provision in Orkney and their comments are represented below.

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An annually reviewed and monitored online registration form for private Orkney music teachers.

Early vocational advice for those interested in careers in music. Young musicians with thoughts of pursuing a career and/or further music education to be given the opportunity to talk with professional musicians with experience of their field. An opportunity for young musicians who have left Orkney to study could be made for them to come back and speak about their experience to careers staff and other students.

An annual talent show for all young musicians of all genres.

Good quality video conferencing for isles schools and peripatetic teachers.

Private venues to be encouraged to host youth events and possibly delay closing times for weekend events.

OIC could offer ongoing in-service training to private teachers, maybe for a small fee. This would encourage networking possibilities for both sectors and lower training costs for OIC.

Continuing Professional Development for music teachers to learn how to operate and maintain PA, recording equipment, etc.

OIC to create a bank of sound equipment for young musicians to borrow and receive training on. If this bank were publicised, people could donate equipment that they no longer need as they upgrade.

Music for disengaged youth – an alcohol-free music club on Friday and Saturday nights.

Small isles could be helped by OIC and/or Voluntary Action Orkney to access funding to help organise and fund travel to mainland events that they would otherwise be excluded from.

A comparison with music provision in Western Isles and Shetland in both formal and informal sectors could be beneficial to all island groups in order to note what works for them in an island setting.

Collaborations between music groups, between art forms and between festivals could be encouraged with a view to sharing skills and resources and building self-sustaining projects that are not reliant on external funding.

12. Conclusion This report shows that there is much to celebrate with regard to the music provision for young people in Orkney. Learning, listening and performing opportunities are very diverse and this small community holds music education for youth in high regard. However, there are issues around

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provision and accessibility that could be looked at by planners in both educational and entertainment settings. The strongest response from young people regarding provision was that they would like more opportunities for learning, performing and listening to popular music. It would seem that music provision could widen in Orkney through raising awareness of:

the opportunities already available;

funding streams appropriate for local young musicians and groups;

resources that could be shared.

13. References

1 National Youth Music Strategy (Scottish Arts Council, 2006) http://www.scottisharts.org.uk/1/information

2 Youth Music Initiative – The Beginning ( Scottish Arts Council, 2007) http://www.scottisharts.org.uk/1/artsinscotland/music/youthmusicinitiative/thebeginning.aspx

3 www.ymf.org.uk/ABOUT

YMFS.ORG.UK

4www.orkneycommunities.co.uk/YOUTHMUSICFORUM

5Learning and Teaching Scotland has now been incorporated into Education Scotland (since July 2011), which is ‘the Scottish Government’s national development and improvement agency for education’. www.ltscotland.org.uk/aboutlts/index.asp

6 ‘GLOW is the world’s first national online community for education. It’s basically an education intranet.’ www.ltscotland.org.uk/usingglowandict/index.asp / ABOUTCURRENTLY VIEWING YMFS.ORG.UK / ABOUT

7 More information about ABRSM is available at www.abrsm.org

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