A four year project to bring to bring music to local communities across the UK has been launched by City of London Sinfonia (CLS) in partnership with March & McLennan Companies (MMC), which is to provide £1m for work in the community, as well as London and regional concerts. A further £50,000 has been committed to the first year for the project by Arts & Business, the maximum award possible under its ?New Partners? funding scheme.
The largest ever project of its type in the UK, the Music in the Community Programme aims to bring a new approach to music education in schools and local communities, by using music as a medium for developing innovation and creativity. Much of the community work will focus on failing schools, or those in deprived or inner-city areas. CLS will be using techniques successfully pioneered in other community-based projects in the South East, including one at Great Ormond Street Hospital and another in High Wycombe. The orchestra will run creative music workshops in more than 10 cities, with the first events taking place in Leeds, and further activity taking place in Belfast, Glasgow, London and Birmingham.
MMC is a global professional services firm with annual revenues in excess of $10 billion. The company employs some 58,000 staff across the world, including 9,000 UK staff at more than 30 office locations. It has a policy of encouraging its offices to play an active role in their local communities, and employees offer their time and skills in a range of activities, with the company providing financial support to fund-raising efforts by staff and appeals from charities in which staff are actively involved as volunteers. The programme is concentrated in locations where MMC operating companies have local offices and are involved in ongoing community work. It will involve an element of staff training and development, through participation in school workshops and in staff/family music days run by orchestra trainers. In addition to involvement with CLS?s community programme, staff will attend the orchestra?s management training school, Drum Street, as part of the sponsorship arrangement. Founded in 1999, the school offers a programme that introduces new methods of management training and development through music. Core modules include innovation and creativity, team building and communication skills. Richard Morgans, Communications Director at MMC, said ?We?re delighted to support CLS on this national programme, not only financially, but through the efforts of our staff. It?s important to see this as an integrated project within our business which touches as many people as possible.?