PUPILS from two Primary Schools in Thurrock will be travelling up to Nottingham at the end of the month to participate in Project Perform. This showcase event organised by musicians from Trinity Guildhall College promotes the work of the Wider Opportunities Music Programme which is happening in schools up and down the country.
The Programme is a revolutionary approach to teaching music in Primary Schools where whole classes are taught to learn music through playing instruments. Pupils benefit from a year of free instrumental lessons and some schools have chosen to extend this to two years. Over the last six years, Thurrock Music Services has been pioneering the development of the programme in the area with the majority of Primary Schools now benefiting from the provision.
Music Services up and down the country were asked to nominate schools to take part in Project Perform. From the hundreds nominated only 18 were selected to take part in the event being held at Nottingham’s Trent FM Arena. Head of Thurrock Music Services, Richard Brittain, stated that “It is a testament to the hard work of Thurrock Music Services and school staff that not one but two schools from the Thurrock area were chosen and we are justifiably proud to be a part of this exciting event.”
The two schools involved in Project Perform are Arthur Bugler Junior School and St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Primary School. Pupils at Arthur Bugler School have been learning a variety of brass instruments and only joined the Programme in September 2009. The St. Joseph’s clarinet programme has been running for several years. The Thurrock students will be joining around 500 others at the Nottingham Arena and will have the opportunity to work with some of the leading musicians in the country and perform to an audience of thousands.
