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The Value of Partnerships

Warwickshire Music Hub is leading two exciting singing projects this year.  The first is a partnership with Ex-Cathedra, supported by funding from Arts Council England.  This partnership involves 11 primary schools and around 2,000 children and adults; culminating in a singing day at the University of Warwick Arts Centre on March 11th.

 

The second project is a partnership between Warwickshire Music Hub, Coventry Music Hub and 4 secondary schools, supported by funding from Youth Music. This project is creating a choir of 100 young people, ideally who are not used to singing in choirs, with the focus of two major performances in 2016.

 

By definition projects such as these, supported by external funding, are created with very definite start and finish dates and clearly quantifiable objectives i.e. how many children are involved and what rehearsals/events are due to take place.  This is all very worthy and very exciting for those involved.

 

But the big question has to be - what happens next?  All too often these excellent projects simply stop once the money runs out because they are time limited.  Our challenge is how to create a more lasting legacy and the reality is that money is needed, whether through further funding or sponsorship or simply creating new groups that require membership fees.

 

Getting the balance between time limited funded projects and creating something that lasts is a challenge - but one that is really worth exploring.  The planning has to consider the future and what structures - in this case choral - are already in place.

 

The primary school project 'Singing Playgrounds' should embed singing within the participating schools but that cannot be taken for granted and so discussions need to take place with the participating schools to see what support they might need to continue the positive outcomes of the project.

 

The secondary school project is called the 'Joint Choir Creation Project'. Wouldn't it be great if the legacy was to actually create a brand new choir that met regularly after the project itself comes to an end? At the very least the young people involved deserve the option of continuing to sing; whether as part of a school based group or within a singing strategy created by the respective Music Hubs.

 

This is where working in partnership with schools and other Hubs is potentially so powerful. The reality of creating lasting legacies is that all too often they are reliant on external funding.  Our challenge is to create internal structures that are self reliant; and this starts with partnerships.

Tags: Partnerships, funding, singing playgrounds, Joint Choir Creation Project, Singing

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