2025 is the eighth year that we have taken classically trained musicians into primary schools in the Lower Wye Valley. We've now worked with over 28 schools in the Forest of Dean and Monmouthshire, reaching close to 5,000 local children aged 4--11. In 2024, we also held a secondary school session and a masterclass for cello students, expanding our range slightly; we plan to do both again in the coming year—the masterclass will be for higher strings this time and will again be led by tutors from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
We are also really pleased with our Young Musicians Training Programme which helps recently graduated chamber musicians develop performances for primary school children, at the same time providing us with a pool of talent for future use. Four duos (violin and piano; harp and mezzo soprano, two guitar and flute duos) have participated in the programme thus far and two of the duos have graduated to regularly delivering workshops for us. Our intake for this autumn includes a string quartet, a solo pianist and a mezzo and piano duo. We’re particularly happy to have strengthened our relationship with the RWCMD in Cardiff, which put out a call for interest with all of their graduate students for us for the first time this year.
We are now looking at a potential June 2026 joint event with the Scarr Bandstand in Sling, which would bring world-renowned violinist Michael Bochmann to first perform for the audience and then work with children from several local primary schools to deliver an afternoon, outdoor, summer choir performance by them.
But it’s perhaps best to let the children and pupils speak for themselves: “It was very nice and I was very happy—I loved the tunes.” “I loved your music it was amazing!!! It was the best music I’ve ever heard on guitar and flute!” And it perhaps speaks for itself that we have been asked to partner with the Expressive Arts Coordinator of one of our participating schools.
Like Wye Valley Music in Mind, we are funded entirely by grants and donations and welcome any and all contributions.
Comment re accounts: WVMiS has continued running down income from previous years: if you look at our cash position, you will see that it is positive although our expenditure for the year exceeded our grant and donations income so for the year we look as though we made a loss. We have never actually been in the red at any time since our inception.
