Cambridgeshire Music has been at the heart of music services in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough schools for decades. As the county music service our objective is simple - to provide a wide variety of quality vocal and instrumental music opportunities and lessons to students of all ages.
Around the World with CYWO
For a chance to see our county players performing please come to their next concert at West Road Concert Hall in Cambridge. Please go on to our Events pages for more information about this exciting evening.
We offer music lessons to young people individually and in groups on more than 30 instruments. We also provide music centres throughout Cambridgeshire and Peterborough where there are opportunities to take part in bands and ensembles. At these centres individual lessons are also offered ensuring that children and young people in the county can access musical lessons from experienced and vetted music teachers in or out of school.
Cambridgeshire Music also runs several 'county' ensembles - the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Youth Choir (CPYC), Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Youth Orchestra (CPYO) and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Youth Woodwind Orchestra (CYWO). These give further chances for experienced young musicians to perform on concert hall stages with like-minded talented young musicians as well as - for example - take part in concert tours abroad.
The website links have information about all these activities and more. Should you require any further information please use the email form to contact us.
Recent Successes
Talented Year 3 Group gain Distinction at the Peterborough Music Festival
On March 19th 2009 I took 14 Year 3 children from Glebelands School to perform at the Peterborough Music Festival.
I had entered them for the ‘Age 12 and under Class Music-Making ‘
They performed ‘Arriba’ from Eddie Harvey’s ‘Jazz in the Classroom’ on descant recorders. This included question and answer improvised solos in the middle section. The ‘questions’ were improvised by one child who has been having violin lessons since September 2008 and the ‘answers’ improvised on recorder by a number of other children in the group.
Their second piece was the African ‘echo’ song ‘Kye Kye Kule'. We had solos in this piece in a call and response style. All the children kept the pulse on claves while they sang the song. As an introduction and a coda to this piece we added the rhythm game ‘Bubble gum, bubble gum chew and blow’ antiphonally on claves, with added xylophone parts to give us the pitch for the African song.
I have taught these children since Year 1 in their class music lessons. Recorder was the main instrument focus for their Wider Opportunities class lessons in Years 1 and 2 and in Year 3 they are now all learning keyboard. All but one of these children were at the school in their Foundation Year when they had a different CM teacher, Sharon McMahon, who taught them using Colourstrings Kindergarten techniques.
In Year 3, three of the children took up lessons on other instruments with CM teachers, one on violin and two on guitar. Three of them sing in the school choir, led by Hilary Bailey. Two of them have been along to the Fenland Music Centre on Saturday mornings.
Apart from the violin and guitar lessons, none of the children’s parents has been asked to pay for music tuition. In addition to the class Year 3 lessons this year, I have been able to see this group for 30 minutes a week . Headteacher, Lisa Sharratt, has found the funding for this. I had picked out these children as showing exceptional potential on the basis of their work for me in Years 1 and 2.
All this has been possible through the vision and collaboration of Lisa Sharratt and Matthew Gunn. Every child at Glebelands School has one hour of ‘Wider Opportunities/Classroom Music with me. Every child is provided with a descant recorder from Year 1. All instruments have been purchased either by the school or by Cambridgeshire Music.
Helen Reece