'Music for Young Players' is a series of experimental scores from the 1960s and 1970s in the British Music Collection
Sound and Music has teamed up with Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and Heritage Quay for a brand new Portfolio project using archival scores from the British Music Collection.
Within the British Music Collection is a set of experimental scores from the 1960s and 1970s called “Music for Young Players”.
Published by Universal Edition and intended for classroom use, these scores aimed to encourage experimental approaches and connections to the new music of the time. These were designed to be accessible to both children with, or without, previous music experience - something that continues to be an important feature of much participatory music today.
See Duncan Chapman's brilliant exhibition on the subject below:
We are looking for two Yorkshire-based composers who wish to develop their practice as artists in education, taking inspiration from these unique scores.
The composers will select scores from the Music for Young Players series to use as starting points in two primary schools, work with children to create a realisation of these scores and make original, collaboratively composed companion pieces during the autumn of 2017. The new pieces will be performed in a specially curated event during the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in November 2017.
Alexandra Richardson, Learning & Participation Officer at Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival explains:
“We’re really looking forward to this exciting opportunity to work with pupils from local primary schools to make their own compositions, using the British Music Collection’s wealth of wonderful music as a springboard for creativity. We’re incredibly proud to be presenting the music they create at hcmf// 2017, and to be working with Sound and Music and Duncan Chapman to inspire the next generation of music makers.”
Duncan Chapman, composer and educator explained:
"Many years ago I was given a large number of the Music for Young Players scores which were described to me as a bit of a “dead end” in music education history. On closer inspection these turned out to be a wonderful collection of pieces encapsulating many of the compositional ideas of the 1960’s and 70’s. What is most exciting for me is to see how these can inspire the composers and young musicians of today, bringing bring back to life some wonderful music that could have been so easily forgotten. It makes perfect sense for this collaboration to be between Sound and Music and HCMF - two organisations that have at their heart the exploration and creation of dynamic new music."
How to apply
Download the application guide here
Fill out the online application form here
Deadline: Noon Thursday 25th May
N:B We are aware that users of screen readers may experience problems accessing the application form.Please contact judith.robinson@soundandmusic.org if you require details of an alternative application process
About The British Music Collection:
The British Music Collection consists of an online element, and an offline, physical element:
The British Music Collection Online: A discovery platform for new music in the UK. It grows all the time as more and more composers contribute their work, and as a diverse group of curators weave its content together in unique and original ways.
The British Music Collection physical archive – a publically accessible collection of over 40,000 scores, 21,000 recordings and other artefacts including books, programme notes and photographs housed at state-of-the-art archive centre Heritage Quay at the University of Huddersfield. The British Music Collection celebrates its 50th Anniversary in November 2017.
About Heritage Quay:
Heritage Quay is the official archive for the University of Huddersfield, acting as the guardian of the archives of other organisations, families and individuals dating back over 200 years – including the British Music Collection. Their 21st-century role is to collect and secure the future of archives, both digital and physical, to preserve them for generations to come, making them as accessible and available as possible.During 2012-2017 £2 million funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund alongside funding from the University of Huddersfield has been invested in transforming the archives.
About Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival:
hcmf// is an annual, international festival of contemporary and new music, taking place over 10 days and consisting of approximately 50 events – including concerts, music-theatre, dance, multi-media, talks and film – with a related Learning and Participation programme devised and implemented to reflect the artistic programme and respond to regional need.
hcmf// aims to provide life-changing and unique artistic experiences to as wide an audience as possible; to be an international platform for new music and related contemporary art forms in Britain; to enthuse existing audiences and draw in new ones through adventurous programming and informed, stylish presentation, and to be an active cultural partner within the region.
About Portfolio
Aimed at talented composers at an early stage in their career, Sound and Music’s Portfolio scheme provides a key development opportunity for composers to create new work with and for some of the UK’s leading ensembles and presenters of new music.
Funded by Esmee Fairbairn and PRS for Music Foundation.
