Capturing the voices and opinions of the young people we work with is really important to us at Awards for Young Musicians. We want to make sure that we are supporting young musicians in ways that are most helpful and there is no better way of doing this than by speaking with young people directly. On 4th August 2021 we held our first ever Young People’s Programme Panel, which saw a group of Furthering Talent students from across the country meeting for the first time to talk about the programme.
The meeting was chaired by 4 young adults who had previously been supported by AYM. We’ve kept in touch as they continue their musical journeys and they’ve all been doing some mentoring work for us – meeting regularly with Furthering Talent students to support them in their learning. They were joined by students from Manchester, Nottinghamshire, Sheffield, Brighton and Bradford to talk about a range of topics related to the Furthering Talent programme.
“The meeting had a lovely, collaborative feel. It was great to work alongside the other mentors, and the participants were very honest, open and forthcoming with their ideas and opinions. I look forward to building a further relationship with the group over future panels, and I hope that the young musicians can feel that their voice is being heard.” Jennifer, 27 (Mentor)
The meeting was a great success – providing an opportunity young people from across the country to meet, whilst making music together and agreeing on some brand new group rules. Most importantly they gave feedback on the main topic of the day, which was a look at the brand new Online Individual Learning Plan, which we are developing in partnership with Charanga. This item was really important and gave the young people a real opportunity to help shape how the project develops.
“I really enjoyed the panel because we all took part together and shared our different views. I found out about other people I didn’t know. It was great” Rosie, 11 (Student)
Thanks to all involved for their input, we look forward to the next programme panel in the Autumn!
Furthering Talent supports the instrumental learning of children from low-income families beyond initial state-funded lessons, so they can keep on playing music well into their teens and beyond.
