National
NYJO develops open-access programmes with clearly established pathways for progression, in which achievements are celebrated at every level. Our national programme is based around Widening Access partnerships where we develop initiatives that respond to our partners’ work and their communities’ needs.
If you would like to find out more about our National work, please contact NYJO’s Head of Programmes Vikki Maudave at [email protected].
Widening Access
Our Widening Access partnerships are designed to create sustained impactful participation work nationally. We deliver year-round jazz education programmes in partnership with Music Education Hubs, schools and educators across the country.
Partners provide local knowledge and infrastructure to identify need, facilitate provision and ensure sustained impact.
We run bespoke Widening Access projects in:
- Cardiff & Rhondda Cynon Taf
- Durham & Darlington
- Essex
- Humberside & North Lincolnshire
- Lancashire
- Leicestershire
- Luton & South Bedfordshire
- Manchester
Watch what happened when NYJO partnered with Cumbria Music Hub to deliver a weekend residential combining Jazz & outdoors activity to overcome rural isolation.
If you are interested in developing a Widening Access project in your area, please contact NYJO’s Head of Programmes Vikki Maudave at [email protected].
Rhondda Cynon Taff
Read our Learning Programmes Manager’s thoughts on jazz and political engagement in our new Welsh partnerships.
North Lincolnshire
Find out more about our music education project involving four schools in North Lincolnshire during 2024.
Durham
NYJO partnered with Durham Music Service to deliver a creative composition workshop for young musicians in County Durham. Watch the video here.
Luton
Read all about our Widening Access pilot project in Luton earlier in 2024, inspiring the next generation of musicians at Challney High School for Boys.
Leicester
NYJO Learning partnered with Leicestershire Music Hub on a Second Line project, bringing young people together for a community performance.
Margate
This summer, we embarked on an extraordinary project in Margate, with the aim of creating a space to help young people unlock their creativity.
First Time Jazz
First Time Jazz is a long-running schools tour of jazz, and jazz-inspired, music for secondary school pupils aged between 11-16. The repertoire is chosen to be accessible, enjoyable and also to contextualise jazz within its social, cultural and historical significance.
The 2024 edition of the project visited seven secondary schools across Lancashire, performing to 1,148 young people, 85% of whom hadn’t seen live jazz music beforehand.
We Out Here
In 2023, we took our Tubas to We Out Here festival’s new home in Dorset, where we delivered workshops at the Family Bandstand, led by Andy Grappy and FLOetic Lara – culminating in a moving tribute to the great Pharoah Sanders.
Read all about our experience and how the young people felt about being part of this project!
NYJO in Wales
In 2024, NYJO Learning is collaborating with three new partners in Wales, looking at how music can be used for social engagement.
Linking conversations with all our partners is their interest in exploring the intersections between music and the political – if we demand access to strong arts education in schools as a basic right for our young people, how can this help us to build a better society for everyone?
NYJO Network
The NYJO Network seeks to support peer learning and development between music educators around the country who want to:
- Forge partnerships with other organisations facing similar challenge
- Share ideas and learnings
- Work together to widen access to their programmes
The Network meets across the year to share the success and challenges of music education in their areas. The hope is that by bringing organisations together, we can work to support each other in meeting challenges, celebrating success, and finding new ways of working collaboratively to strengthen the sector to the benefit of all.
If you’re interested in joining the NYJO Network, please contact NYJO’s Learning Programmes Manager Beth Ismay at [email protected].
Beth Ismay, our Learning Programmes Manager, was a participant on the Clore Leadership 2024 Inclusive Cultures programme. Read her reflections on the nature of ‘ambition’, and how it comes into play in her work at NYJO.
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