The Music Workshop Company Blog

Each month the Music Workshop Company publishes two blogs. One blog, written by the MWC team addresses a key issue in Music Education or gives information about a particular genre or period of music. The other blog is written by a guest writer, highlighting good practice or key events in Music Education. We hope you enjoy reading the blogs.

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To contribute as a guest writer please email Maria@music-workshop.co.uk

Bridging the Musical Gap

Posted on 29th October 2015 at 14:30

Across the UK there are outstanding young musicians whose financial circumstances are a real barrier to achieving their full musical potential. According to the Institute of Fiscal Studies, more than 2.5 million UK children currently live in poverty, and of these, 350,000 are not able to pursue a leisure activity or hobby such as learning a musical instrument due to a lack of available finances. It is estimated that, as a result of deprivation, between 600 and 1000 children with exceptional musical abilities are lost to our society every year.

Scottish Dance: A Rich Mix of Cultural Influence

Posted on 15th October 2015 at 16:00

Scotland is internationally renowned for its traditional music and dance, in particular the unmistakable sound of the highland bagpipes. But the pipes are only one aspect of Scottish music: They are often used to accompany solo and competition dancing, but music for social dancing is more likely to be performed on instruments including the accordion, fiddle and flute.

Take Your Music Further

Posted on 29th September 2015 at 16:00

Here at the Music Workshop Company, we are passionate about creating opportunities for young people to explore music. We make sure that each of our workshops involves a performance element so participants can enjoy the experience of playing to an audience.

Leading educational travel company, NST, specialises in running concert tours, primarily for school children but also catering for adults. NST knows that the buzz musicians get from performing is unlike any other feeling, and the chance to perform in exciting international venues is even more of a thrill.

The Extraordinary History of the Blues

Posted on 15th September 2015 at 16:00

The Blues developed towards the end of the 19th Century. It was first heard among the African-American communities who farmed the plantations of the Delta, a flat plain between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, an area so characteristic of the Deep South that it has been called The Most Southern Place on Earth.

In the mid 1800s the area had been one of the richest for cotton growing in the United States, attracting many speculative farmers who were dependent for labour on black slaves.

The Music Industry Management Degree and the Industry of Today

Posted on 30th August 2015 at 16:00

Music, with all of the business, technical, managerial, legal, marketing and organisational elements that go on behind the scenes, has always offered a huge range of career opportunities. It has nonetheless been frequently overlooked as a career path as students are steered more towards traditional white-collar jobs.

Many of today’s leading music industry top brass talk of moving up through the ranks, starting in the mailroom of a record label and gradually developing the expertise, knowledge and contacts to make it to the top.

“That’s a Funny Oboe” The Bassoon Fights Back

Posted on 15th August 2015 at 15:00

One of the least assuming instruments of the orchestra has been forefront in the press recently, as virtuoso Dutch bassoonist Bram van Sambeek is featured promoting a dramatic campaign to save the bassoon.

The initiative began in January 2015, when the Artistic Director of the Holland Festival, Ruth Mackenzie announced a new scheme to bring attention to instruments under threat.