Education and Outreach
The most exciting part of the festival, and why it is unique, is the willingness to take classical music to a new audience. There is a tangible belief amongst the performers that music is for everyone. In 2024 we reached reached around 1500 people visiting schools, hospices and care-homes around the county.
2025 will our most expansive outreach programme to date which will address four areas:
We are delighted to welcome the award-winning MishMash productions to present Toot!, a 40 minute, interactive chamber music concert for children 5-10. The children are taken on a journey with movement, comedy and diverse repertoire. This show has had huge success both nationally and internationally and we are so excited to invite them to perform for audiences in Reading. These concerts will take place in easy to access, local venues such as libraries and will be completely free of charge. These concerts will not only be a wonderful resource for children and their families but also increase links with local amenities.
Our schools project will involve two professional musicians going into primary schools and helping them write their own original compositions. They will then be able to hear their own World Première. We are aware that music provision in schools is now much more limited and believe that this ongoing collaboration with schools is vital to address this deficit. The impact of music on learning and productivity is well documented; as this project grows we are excited to see the impact that this provision will have on the children.
Our hospice, care-home and hospital concerts have become a staple of the festival. We have a long-standing relationship with the Sue Ryder hospice where we recently organised the music for a wedding hosted there; this year the hope is to expand on the amount of music be are able to provide for them. We regularly play for the out-patients but are hoping to be able to organise musicians playing on the ward too.
We also have several links with care-homes in the area and try to go to at least six residential homes each year. Many of the residents have dementia or Alzheimer's; music is well known to have a hugely positive impact on individuals with dementia and we have seen this first hand from the hugely positive response from both the facilities and their residents.
This year we are also introducing work in schools for children with special educational needs after a successful collaboration with Prior's Court School last year. We will take an ensemble into these schools and work with the children; our visit will culminate with a performance and give the students the opportunity to hear and respond to classical music however they need, without judgement or the constrains of traditional concert halls.
Over the course of each festival we reach thousands of people and are proud to enrich many lives. Our plans go further than just 2025 and are putting in place provision to ensure these programmes can continue for years to come; we are looking for ongoing sponsorship to sustain our work in the coming years. If you feel that you, or an organisation you are affiliated with, would be able to help us with this please call 07753120341 for an informal conversation.
Our partners include:
Cold Ash Primary School
Fir Tree Primary School
Thatcham Park Primary School
Courthouse Junior School
Compton Primary School
St Nicholas School, Hurst
Lambourn Primary School
Winkfield Primary School
Berkshire Community Hospital
Maitland House
Sue Ryder Charity
Duchess of Kent Hospice
Lakeside Care Home
Falkland Grange
Riverview Carehome
Prior's Court School
Please do get in touch if you would like further information about future visits and events.