Furthering Talent

Sustaining musical journeys

Furthering Talent Connect helps musicians from the earliest stage in their musical journey. The programme is specifically designed to help young people from low income families sustain their musical learning after initial state-funded whole-class lessons end, so they can keep on progressing and playing music well into their teens and beyond.

The shape of FT

Hub Partners

Connectors

YPPP

In review

The shape of Furthering Talent

Furthering Talent has four core elements for every student, for at least two years.

Instrumental Lessons

Each young person recieves up to 35 one-to-one or small group instrumental lessons per year, weekly, during term time.

A personal bursary

Everyone selected for the programme receives a personal bursary of between £50 and £150.

3 Get Togethers per year

Every term, Furthering Talent students have the opportunity to meet with others to share a musical experience

Individual Learning Plan

Every student has an online Individual Learning Plan (ILP) recording three goals they have chosen for the term.

A student-led approach to teaching and learning is at the heart of Furthering Talent. Every student has an Individual Learning Plan (ILP) recording three goals they have chosen for the term. For a beginner with few points of musical reference, the ILP guides and prompts the student while allowing the teacher to tailor their lessons to an individual’s needs. Using this tool encourages a more personalised approach to progression

We’ve now developed an exciting online version, in partnership with Charanga. Click here to find out more about the online-ilp.

Click on the + icon to read more.

Additional opportunities

Joining regular music groups run by the Hub

Taking part in programmes and projects run by national music organisations in their area

Access to a Young Sounds Alumni Mentor

Contributing to Young Sounds events, films and publications.

Hub Partners

Furthering Talent Connect now comprises two programme types, operating across 20 Music Hubs in England.

Ambassador Hubs

Support the musical progression of over 400 young people via a holistic programme designed to help them overcome barriers and keep learning.

Bradford
Greater Manchester
Manchester
Hull
Lewisham
Resonate (Liverpool)
Severn Arts (Worcestershire)
Sheffield
Sunderland
The Music Partnership (North-West Midlands)

Connector Hubs

Focus on inclusion and access for ALL young people and families in their area, and beyond.

Cumbria
Berkshire
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
Coventry
Devon and Torbay
Hertfordshire
Lincolnshire
Norfolk
North Tyneside
Waltham Forest

Connectors

We have established a network of experts across our Ambassador and Connector Hubs . We’re calling them ‘Connectors’ and their role is to connect young people and families with musical experiences in their local area. They exist to find appropriate opportunities and share valuable information on how best to support young people’s musical development.

Click here to find a connector

Young People's Programme Panel

The National Young People’s Programme Panel is; a group of young musicians from across the country on our Furthering Talent programme, who meet online twice a year. Chaired by Young Sounds mentors, this is a space for them to chat about their experiences on Furthering Talent and explore their ideas for how to make the programme even better.

We’ve now introduced regional panels in each of our partner Hubs, with the discussions being more locally focused.

All panel sessions are led by young people and are an opportunity for them to meet each other and make some important decisions about how Young Sounds and our Hub partners can develop our support for programme participants.

If you are or know a young musician on the Furthering Talent programme who’d like to participate please ask a parent or carer to contact [email protected]

In review

Described as ‘overwhelmingly successful’ by music education expert Richard Hallam, in his 2013 external evaluation of the first programme phase, Furthering Talent has received significant support from Youth Music since 2014 thanks to their funding from the National Lottery via Arts Council England.  We were also a founding member of the Alliance for a Musically Inclusive England. The programme is also supported as part of our NPO grant from Arts Council England and our NYMPO support from the Department for Education.