Our Sound Foundations groups are run by a team of our NYJO Emerging Professional (18 – 25 year old) musicians every Saturday during term-time from 10:30 – 12:00.
These groups are for young people interested in learning the saxophone or trumpet for the first time. When they join, they are given their own instrument and get to take part in 45-minute group lessons with us every week. The instrument is theirs to keep as long as they continue learning with us!
We only have a very limited number of spaces available in these groups so, when new spaces do become available, priority for this unique opportunity is given to young people from lower-income families who may not otherwise be able to learn and own an instrument.
“I’m so proud for us to be mentors to these young people as we see them grow as musicians. To see the progress they have made already, not just on the saxophone but also in their confidence in the group, has been wonderful and quite an emotional thing! I am so aware of how I wouldn’t be where I am today without having had access to similar schemes to Sound Foundations, and I couldn’t imagine my life having not been lucky enough to have musical education, so I’m so grateful and excited to be able to pass on some of the same feeling and experience to the new generation of players!”
Lydia Cochrane, NYJO Emerging Professional musicians and Sound Foundations group leader“
I’d never seen a saxophone in real life before NYJO visited my school, and before long, I was told I could learn it through lessons provided! Sometimes I think back, and I still can’t believe that without that morning assembly, I would have never picked up a saxophone. I would have never thought of playing in a concert, because just the thought of performing in front of so many people made my legs shake! I would have never thought to find the joy in an instrument as I did with my saxophone. But I am ever so glad it all happened.”
Iasmina, Sound Foundations Programme Member
