This month’s Spotlight is from the Youth Music Initiative-funded Live Music Now Scotland (LMNS) who aim to make music more accessible because they believe that everyone should be able to enjoy the power of music, wherever they are.
Image courtesy of Live Music Now Scotland 2022.
It is important that all children and young people have access to high quality musical experiences. Not only is it an enjoyable experience, but taking part in regular music-making has been proven to make a major contribution to children’s learning as well as social and personal development.
Although we probably shouldn’t be so surprised after almost 40 years of working with music and ASN children, we continue to be taken aback every time about just how powerful music and musicians can be in changing lives. One of the most frequent responses from The Yard project is around how children gain confidence, not just in joining in music-making – which gives a joy like nothing else – but in communicating with others, in positive interaction with peers, staff and families, and in being themselves.
"One young person struggles with sensory overwhelm, and often doesn't participate in loud activities. They really enjoyed the session, and returned to the hall again whilst we were packing down. The staff said this was a really exciting moment for them, and were quite emotional" - LMNS musician
We hear a lot about the importance of the authentic voice and personal identity these days, but this is it in action, the reality of music helping children and young people with a huge range of different needs to find themselves and who they are. It’s such an important stepping-stone for their future.
Image courtesy of The Yard 2023
We couldn’t do this with music alone and need the exceptional skills of Live Music Now Scotland artists in engaging the children and their communities in constructive music-making that’s pushing their boundaries while also having a lot of fun. For the emerging artists, both those leading the project and the trainees, The Yard project is providing ongoing learning for new aspects of the music profession, developing skills through fairly paid work that early career musicians can use as part of the foundations to build the rest of their working lives.
We simply couldn’t do this work without YMI. Everyone knows how hard and competitive it is to raise funding at the moment. Smaller pockets of funding from trusts and foundations can achieve some incredible results and Live Music Now Scotland couldn’t exist without these charitable donations.
Image courtesy of Liv Dawn 2023
It was a trust donation that allowed us to pilot working with The Yard prior to the YMI funding. However, the level of funding offered through YMI gives scope for much deeper engagement which, in turn, is more meaningful and lasting for those who are part of it, whether the children and young people, the artists delivering the activity or at an organisational level between The Yard and Live Music Now Scotland.
Once the project is complete and evaluated, we’ll be able to sit down with The Yard team with increased understanding as partners to look at what’s next and where we can go from here. Having a successful YMI project under our belt will allow us to approach some of the bigger hitting foundations for, we hope, multi-year funding that can take forward what we’ve achieved so far and grow it to something that the children, young people and their families can rely on and look forward to as being an ongoing feature of their lives rather than a one-off project add-on.
It means a lot to us to see the impact these music sessions have on the children. Both our musicians and the venues continuously share amazing stories about young people coming out of their shells, engaging and bonding through the power of music.