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 Learning 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
- Cumbria
- Durham & Darlington
- Humberside & North Lincolnshire
- Lancashire
- Leicestershire
- Luton & South Bedfordshire
If you are interested in developing a Widening Access project in your area, please contact NYJO’s Head of Learning Vikki Maudave at [email protected].
Cardiff & Rhondda
Read all about NYJO’s 2023 Creative Improvisation project in Cardiff. You can also find out more about our 2022 Songwriting project here.
Cumbria
Watch what happened when NYJO partnered with Cumbria Music Hub to deliver a weekend residential combining Jazz & outdoors activity to overcome rural isolation.
Durham
NYJO partnered with Durham Music Service to deliver a creative composition workshop for young musicians in County Durham. Watch the video here.
Hull
In 2022, NYJO partnered with Hull Music Service to deliver a creative composition project. Hear more about the project here.
Leicester
NYJO Learning partnered with Leicestershire Music Hub on a Second Line project, bringing young people together for a community performance.
Lancashire
Read about our project, developed in partnership with Lancashire Music Service, to inspire young people in the county to start their musical journey.
First Time Jazz
The 2023 ‘First Time Jazz’ Schools Tour was devised as a tour of jazz, and jazz-inspired, music for secondary school pupils aged between 11-16. The repertoire was chosen to be accessible, enjoyable and also to contextualise jazz within its social, cultural and historical significance.
The project visited six secondary schools across North Lincolnshire (including one SEND school) and two secondary schools in Thurrock, performing to approx. 1,400 young people.
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 Head of Learning Vikki Maudave at [email protected].
Meeting points
NYJO Network is an opportunity to share best-practice, discuss challenges, and address need across the sector.
Read more about how NYJO is meeting the challenges of widening access to music-making opportunities in our local area, in this article written by NYJO’s Learning Programmes Manager Beth Ismay.
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