* North Wales Music Co-operative: Cllr Mark Young, Cllr Gill German, Paul Mealor, Tom Barham and Heather Powell at the opening of the new Denbigh base. Pictures by Mandy Jones.
Schools in Llangollen are benefitting from a pioneering music service hailed as a "national treasure" by a royal composer.
The North Wales Music Cooperative teaches 5,000 children from every school in Denbighshire and Wrexham every week.
According to its patron
Professor Paul Mealor, the spectacular success of the cooperative is all the more remarkable because it was formed nine years ago in
the aftermath of a financial crisis that saw funding for peripatetic music
teachers being axed.
Prof Mealor, the new
artistic director of the North Wales International Music Festival in St Asaph
who was appointed by the King as a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order
after writing music for the Coronation, was speaking during a special celebration
at the award-winning cooperative.
The organisation, which
runs two sister coops in Denbighshire and Wrexham, has now been able to buy its
base in Denbigh thanks to grants from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, via
Denbighshire Voluntary Services Council, and other partners.
They work with pupils from
more than 100 primary schools and 18 high schools in the two counties while
providing work for 70 freelance music tutors who are also members of the
cooperative.
The celebrations will
continue at two concerts featuring young musicians from Denbighshire and
Wrexham, the first at Ysgol Glan Clwyd in St Asaph on Monday, July 1, and the
second at the Stiwt theatre in Rhos on Monday, July 15.
Prof Mealor, who first won worldwide acclaim
after he composed the motet Ubi caritas, sung at the Westminster Abbey Royal wedding of Prince William and
Catherine Middleton, believes that buying the building is a huge step forward.
He said: “Before this
organisation was formed, we were at a precipice where music could have died in
schools for children from my background. Only the very rich could have afforded
it but this group particularly has made sure that that isn’t the case and
that’s benefited so many children and young people in North Wales.
“But we couldn’t do it
without everybody who’s funding us from the councils in Wrexham and
Denbighshire, Welsh Government, and Levelling Up money from the UK Government.
“Music opens up a world to
people that they wouldn’t have known about, a world that’ll live with them for
the rest of their lives and I’m incredibly proud to be the patron of this
wonderful organisation that is now a real national treasure.”
The cooperative was founded
in Denbighshire nine years ago by Head of Service Heather Powell who was one of
the music tutors made redundant due to the budget cuts and subsequently it
expanded into Wrexham in 2018.
When the pandemic struck,
the organisation revamped the service “pushed the boundaries of technology” to provide
online lessons and as a result was honoured at the prestigious Social Business
Wales Awards.
Heather Powell said:
“Thanks to levelling up monies and support from Denbighshire Voluntary Services
Council, we now own the building, which is fantastic.
“This is a huge step in the
evolution and growth of the organisation. It gives us sustainability and
strength because now we own the building, we’re able to do a lot more with it.
“We’ve got all the
community groups, choirs, ensembles, things like that accessing the building,
and we’ve also got 70 members now who use the building for rehearsals, a harp
group, a percussion ensemble and various children’s ensembles here as well so
there’s a buzz here. There’s always something going on.
“We cover every school in
Denbighshire and every school in Wrexham where we run lessons and whole class
activities, ensembles, choirs, orchestras, bands, so on an average week,
probably 5,000 people access the service.
“Music is incredibly
important for wellbeing and we work to make sure that every child who has an
interest in some way or another can access our service.
“It’s also a scientific
fact that music improves literacy, numeracy, language skills. It’s all part and
parcel. The new curriculum in Wales is steeped in music.
She added: “We are very
lucky to have Paul as our patron because he’s a great talent who needs to be
celebrated in Wales. We’ve got a lot of young composers in our music
cooperative who can look up to people like Paul and learn a lot from what he’s
done and what he’s achieved. He’s a real inspiration.”
According to the
cooperative’s Chair, Cllr Mark Young, buying the building meant the
organisation was well placed to continue to grow and expand the service in
other areas.
He said: “This provides a
launchpad for the future of the cooperative. We’ve got the template and this
head office now can be the hub of the management of that to make it affordable
for children and their families. Everyone now has upskilled to deliver that
music for the future.
“The amount of pupils accessing music because of the high quality
lessons, is going up. And every level of talent gets looked after.
We don’t leave anyone behind – it’s totally inclusive.
“We’re reaching more and more pupils and I’m pretty sure more and more
local authorities will take up the model and we’re here, willing and able to
help with that and I’m very proud to be the Chair.”
Cllr Gill German, Cabinet
Member for Education, Children and Families at Denbighshire County Council, is
also a big fan of the organisation.
She said: “We’re
particularly pleased to work with them on the roll out of the National Music
Service, which is a Welsh Government initiative.
“It’s very valuable to
reach out to children who might otherwise not have access to playing a musical
instrument and they’ve been doing a great job rolling that programme out across
Denbighshire.
“Music enriches the soul
and wellbeing as well as having academic benefits. Music is a touchstone that
can take you through life as a source of joy. The value is enormous.”
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