Music Mark’s Summer Summit drives forward the national debate on the future of music education
27th June 2018
Over 200 delegates attended Music Mark’s Summer Summit Tuesday June 26th. Hub leads, Music Service staff and a range of representatives from the wider Music Education Sector came together to discuss the current National Plan for Music Education and its future.
To a packed auditorium at Stratford Circus Arts Centre, the new Mayor of Newham Rokhsana Fiaz welcomed delegates before keynote Darren Henley, Chief Executive of Arts Council England, took to the stage to consider the ever-evolving music education landscape. Darren Henley was then joined by a panel of guests from across the Music Education sector taking questions from the floor. The panel included Britta Koerber from Jessie’s Fund; Simon Glenister from Noise Solutions; Paul McManus from Music for All; Linda Bance from MEYRC England; Tom Newton from Stratford Circus; James Dickinson from Hertfordshire Music Service and Priscilla Hossain from New Young Voices Collective.
Following the morning portion of the event, the afternoon was split into 3 breakout sessions: Progression Pathways, led by Carolyn Baxendale (Bolton Music Service) and Hester Cockcroft (Awards for Young Musicians); Equity of Access, led by Charly Richardson (Essex Music Services) and Carol Reid (Youth Music); and Governance, led by Bridget Whyte (Music Mark) and Hannah Fouracre (Arts Council England). There were also special musical performances by New Young Voices Collective and Newham Music Roma Bridging Sounds Orchestra, as well as an exclusive exhibition fair from Music Mark Corporate Partners.
The Summer Summit forms part of Music Mark’s year-long consultation with both its members and the sector before it sits down with the Department of Education to offer a united and viable solution for when current funding for the National Plan comes to an end in 2020. The Music Mark Annual Conference November 22nd and 23rd concludes the 2018 consultation and will invite young people and parents to share their experiences. Throughout the year, the debate has been followed on twitter using the hashtag #MM2020. Here below are some of the top tweets from the Summer Summit.
