COUNT US IN - PROJECT OUTLINE

Orchestras Live is delighted to be a partner in the Count Us In Music Partnership Project in Hertfordshire - a new music initiative led by Hertfordshire Music Service and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, supported by Orchestras Live.

Funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), the Hertfordshire MPP has been awarded £200,000 to support high quality music projects across 9 districts in the County, targeting more than 2,000 young people. This year-long music programme, which is launched in October 2009, will deliver an unrivalled range of music-making and performance opportunities in the county, both in and out of school.

More than 350 music workshops will be delivered by a joint music team, comprising of musicians from the world renowned Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, who will work closely with local music staff and Secondary Heads of Music. Count Us In will stimulate a wide range of new music projects, each responding to the needs of the local area and the views of the young people involved, providing them with regular showcase opportunities throughout the year.

By the end of this year the Hertfordshire Music Service and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will establish 12 specific music projects across 9 districts: Dacorum, St Albans, Stevenage, Broxbourne, Hertsmere, Potters Bar, Hertsmere, Welwyn Hatfield and Watford. A creative youth board, made up of participants from each of these districts, will inform the development of the programme, ensuring young people are able to help shape the music projects and get involved in staging local showcases.

Orchestras Live has partnerships with more than 70 local authorities, including long-standing partnerships with the County and District Councils in Hertfordshire. It was responsible for forging the relationship between the RPO and Hertfordshire through a major county-wide project On The Edge in 1999, and more recently produced a music a film project, Picture This, involving community groups in several parts of the county composing and performing with the RPO. For Count Us In, Orchestras Live will be looking particularly to develop orchestral performance opportunities for the creative work with young people.

Further information
Hertfordshire Music Service website
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra website
DCSF website