Outreach Projects
In collaboration with the North Yorkshire Music Service, the College administers a project to encourage singing in primary schools. Following visits to the schools by our choristers the school children come to Ampleforth to form one large choir to sing the music they have learnt. There are three combined events each year involving about 400 children between the ages of eight and 11. To date over 30 local schools have been involved in the project.
Ampleforth Children's Choir was founded in April 2007 in response to growing interest in the establishment of a choir for children between the ages of six and 11 and represents a partnership between the North Yorkshire Music Service and Ampleforth College. All children of this age group are welcome: there are no auditions and no previous musical or singing experience is required. The choir is staffed by members of the College music department with assistance from staff from the maintained sector. Parents are also increasingly involved, helping to look after the children in rehearsals, provide refreshments and raise funds. The main aims of the choir are to encourage singing in young children by offering weekly Saturday morning rehearsals which introduce the children to a range of styles - secular, sacred, popular and folk; time is also devoted to help with vocal production and music-reading skills. But there is also the aim that the children should have fun: the social aspects of the choir are important and the children make new friends. The choir has attracted the patronage of Howard Goodall, the Government's Singing Ambassador who works closely with the Government on the Music Manifesto of which the project SingUp! is an important initiative. Mr Goodall is also known for his Channel 4 music documentaries and for his music for films such as Mr Bean, Blackadder and Red Dwarf. The choir is supported by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and is part of the government's national campaign to encourage singing in children of primary school age.
The College stages an annual 'Musical in a morning' when children from primary schools rehearse intensively to present a concert performance for parents later in the day.
In June 2008 three performances of Benjamin Britten's Noye's Fludde were given at St Martin's. Over 300 primary and secondary school children took part. Similarly in 2010 three performances of Brundibar by Hans Krasa involved 300 local children along with some students from the College.