Proms at St Jude’s and Education
Our aims and philosophy
A key aspect of the charitable purposes of Proms at St Jude’s is to ‘to advance public education in, and appreciation of music and the arts’.
Proms at St Jude’s offers a wide range of concerts and experiences for children from toddlers to teens and their families. Our annual Festival includes events aimed at increasing young people’s awareness and appreciation of the world of music and their involvement in it.
Our range of age-appropriate activities for children and young people include:
● Introduction to music as an audience member
● Learning and participation
● Performance opportunities for schools and individuals
● Other opportunities that encourage the deepening of music learning and appreciation
The various elements of our programming such as our Schools’ Prom, events for children and families and our Fanfare Competition are expanded on the following pages. We aim to increase arts education opportunities for children and young people primarily in and around Hampstead Garden Suburb and the Borough of Barnet. We also seek to develop and maintain relationships in areas with historic links to Hampstead Garden Suburb, especially around Toynbee Hall in Whitechapel.
The target audience for our education work is children and young people of school age. We are particularly keen to reach young people who have fewer opportunities for music-making and contact with professional musicians. There is a particular need to offset the widely documented reductions in curriculum time, funding and support for music and arts education in schools. Above and beyond this, we believe that music and the arts enrich lives and that participation, both directly and as an audience member, is positive for the well-being of all age groups.
To this end, we try to build strong relationships with local schools, organisations and individuals, supporting a network of providers who offer a range of top-quality music activities for young people.
We work in partnership with the DaCapo Music Foundation (www.dacapo.co.uk), a music charity which is based locally, sharing the responsibility for education and outreach work. Together we plan workshops, performance projects and outreach work within and beyond the Festival week. Specially commissioned pieces are an important part of this work, with content that has been planned and written for young voices and has an educational element over and above singing, learning words and simple vocal techniques.
We are committed to encouraging younger members of our audience to attend our evening concerts and subsidised tickets for under-25s are available for our evening concerts. More than 3000 young people have attended Proms concerts since 2011. Hundreds have joined in the thrill of participating in Proms as performers, or as crew and work experience volunteers –
Please contact us if you are interested in volunteering with our Education Team or more generally at Proms at volunteering@promsatstjudes.org.uk