In Harmony is a British government-led social and music education programme based on

El Sistema El Sistema (which translates to The System) is a publicly financed, voluntary sector, music-education program, founded in Venezuela in 1975 by Venezuelan educator, musician, and activist José Antonio Abreu.Lesniak It later adopted the motto " ...

, adapted to an English context. In Harmony uses music to bring positive change to the lives of children in disadvantaged areas of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, delivering benefits across the wider community. The programme encourages participation in music – in the form of the symphony orchestra – which can have huge personal benefits for the children involved, providing opportunities to grow and develop academically, socially and musically.

History

In Harmony began in 2009 and is a British-government-led music education and community development project based on Venezuela's El Sistema. British cellist

Julian Lloyd Webber Julian Lloyd Webber (born 14 April 1951) is a British solo cellist, conductor and broadcaster, a former principal of Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and the founder of the In Harmony music education programme. Early years and education Julia ...

is the founder of In Harmony and was the Chairman of the In Harmony steering group, which was initially responsible for guiding the three pilot project in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

(West Everton),

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

(

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

) and

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

Funding

The project receives funding from the Department for Education and Arts Council England. On 22 November 2007, Julian Lloyd Webber noted the following in regard to the UK government's announcement of an infusion of £332 million dedicated to music education: "''We also have an impoverished South American nation to thank. Last August, in the midst of school holidays, when an uncomfortable number of British children seemed even more disaffected than usual, the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra arrived from Venezuela to deliver performances at the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of Arts festival, arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the ...

and the London Proms that were, quite simply, miraculous''" Lloyd Webber visited Venezuela in late 2009 and reported on what he saw there. The project has centers in Lambeth (led by Lambeth Council's Children and Young People's Service), Leeds, (led by

Opera North Opera North is an English opera company based in Leeds. The company's home theatre is the Leeds Grand Theatre, but it also presents regular seasons in several other cities, at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, the Lowry Centre, Salford Quays a ...

), Liverpool (led by the

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is a music organisation based in Liverpool, England, that manages a professional symphony orchestra, a concert venue, and extensive programmes of learning through music. Its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmo ...

), Newcastle Gateshead, (led by

The Sage Gateshead The Glasshouse is an international centre for musical education and concerts on the Gateshead bank of Quayside in northern England. Opened in 2004 as Sage Gateshead and occupied by North Music Trust, the venue's original name honours a patron ...

), Nottingham, (led by Nottingham City Council), Norwich, (led by ''NORCA and Sistema in Norwich'', and Telford and Stoke-on-Trent (led by Telford and Wrekin Music). The UK-government-commissioned Henley Review of Music Education (2011) reported that "there is no doubt that they (the In Harmony projects) have delivered life-changing experiences". Independent evaluations published in 2011 reported that the programme has a significant impact on educational attainment and community cohesion. In July 2011,

José Antonio Abreu José Antonio Abreu Anselmi (May 7, 1939 – March 24, 2018) was a Venezuelan orchestra conductor, pianist, economist, educator, activist, and politician best known for his association with El Sistema. He was honored with the 2009 Latin Gramm ...

, the founder of El Sistema in Venezuela, recognised In Harmony as part of the El Sistema worldwide network. In November 2011, the British government announced it would expand In Harmony across England by extending funding from the

Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for child protection, child services, education in England, educati ...

and adding funding from

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council o ...

. In May 2012, Arts Council England announced funding for four new In Harmony projects from 2012 to 2015. In July, Arts Council England said that the new projects would be delivered in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

and

Telford & Wrekin Telford and Wrekin is a borough and unitary authority in Shropshire, England. In 1974, a non-metropolitan district of Shropshire was created called the Wrekin, named after a prominent hill to the west of Telford. In 1998, the district became a ...

, and that funding would also continue for In Harmony Lambeth an
In Harmony Liverpool
Activities in Norwich continued as part of the independently funded Sistema in Norwich programme.

Partnership

In 2013, In Harmony announced a partnership with

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, which was intended to result in children from both England and Venezuela working together in a series of music-making projects.

External links

Evening Standard Article
- Anything Venezuela can do Lambeth can do much better

- Julian Lloyd Webber: on the children enriched by music
In Harmony Nottingham Website

In Harmony Nottingham, Our Story so far video

In Harmony Lambeth Website

References

{{Reflist Community-building organizations