Becky West, Regional Producer - North, reflects on the power of community in Classically Yours. From Withernsea High School to local choirs and care homes, intergenerational participants and professional musicians have been collaborating to create music that celebrates their place.

One of the wonderful things about working in partnership is seeing and feeling how these grow and evolve over time and how our work becomes deeply rooted in a community.

As I was in Withernsea High School this summer for the latest Classically Yours project culmination Music to Watch the World Go By, I was struck by the sense of camaraderie and mutual support across the many cultural and community partners involved.

Our Care Home soloist, one of the activity leads who has brilliantly supported residents to take part over many years, was unable to sing so the Manchester Camerata producing team stepped in at the last minute to sing on his behalf to ensure the words so carefully crafted by care home participants were heard in the concert.

The friendship and mutual support between Withernsea Ladies and Hornsea Choirs and their partnerships with care homes are blossoming! The excitement of the young people from Withernsea High and Hornsea School bubbled away as they were busy contributing to event preparation and queuing up to be interviewed about their experience this year.

Throughout the day, the commitment, passion and excitement from young to old, participants to professionals, to making this concert such a special occasion each year was evident all around me.

Every year, something about the culmination concert at Withernsea High School captures my imagination and lifts me up. Music to Watch the World Go By explored the nature and local environment, with a rich vein of discussion about perspectives on their place and community, nature walks, artwork and music making.

From a Yorkshire dialect song celebrating the ‘Olderness Coast to young people’s Perspectives exploring their sense of identity and belonging, powerful new music was presented. A wonderful programme of music with Manchester Camerata and the Choirs encapsulated this theme, with Bradley Creswick’s performance of The Lark Ascending captivating the audience.

One person told me afterwards that Classically Yours feels like a big family, which got me thinking: how did we get to this point? We began work in Withernsea back in 2016, and in a place with no cultural infrastructure and no history of orchestral music making, finding partners within the community was key to building engagement and an audience.

We began our journey with creative projects of different scales and quickly Withernsea Ladies Choir and High School became key partners in the programme. Coming out of the pandemic, we approached new community partners in Hornsea to join the programme. Bringing people from both towns together has brought a new element and richness to Classically Yours, alongside helping us to reach a wider audience.

Incrementally building these community partnerships over time has been the key to success, alongside the consistency of the artistic team Manchester Camerata provides. Professional musicians, producers and community have got to know each other as people, built trust, personal commitment and passion for the music we make together. Things haven’t always gone smoothly, but step by step, the programme has evolved and adapted into the intergenerational community model we now have today.

Each year we have strengthened community voice within the programme so the people we work with are shaping the delivery of orchestral projects. Strong partnerships with key community group leads have been key; we introduced a young producers group in 2024, and this year, established a community consultation day at the start of the project.

This produced rich conversations about artistic themes to explore, what the future of Classically Yours should be and what participants can do to support the programme. Alongside a robust evaluation framework, these are all ways we ensure people’s voices and opinions are heard.

Every year as producers we wonder what we will do next and how we can improve on the current project.

Our Social Value Engine Pilot (2022-24) has helped our partnership deepen our understanding of the social impact of Classically Yours and how we want to use our artistic partnerships to focus on building social impact over time.

With the community at the heart of the programme, they make sure we have a rich vein of creative ideas to explore to drive forward Classically Yours and deepen our social impact. I’m excited to see what we plan together as we look forward to celebrating some big milestones in the next few years!