National Association of Music Educators

NAME is the largest professional association representing individuals involved in music education more…

Chair's blog

Fireworks and Dynamite

Submitted by Rob Nash on 17 January 2010 : 3PM :

Last week I fought my way through the snow to go to the Victoria Hall in Hanley to hear the National Youth Orchestra's Winter Concert. The 160 strong orchestra performed a challenging programme under the title 'Fireworks and Dynamite' consisting of Rachmaninov's 'The Rock', Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra and Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony. They were superb and showed the incredible standard of musicianship that, working with a dedicated professional team (the current Principal Conductor is Vasily Petrenko), they have reached. My only disappointment was the number of empty seats.

Telling the Story - help us to help you!

Submitted by Rob Nash on 16 November 2009 : 9AM :

I have recently been privileged to be invited to attend one of the School Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. What a fantastic illustration of the incredible activity going on daily in our schools, music centres and beyond! It set me thinking, however, as to how many people beyond the music education sector really know about all this work and, in particular, the impact that we know music has on the lives of individual children and young people and on school communities.

NAME Conference 09 delegates

Arts Council opens consultation on future priorities

On 19 January 2010, Alan Davey , the Chief Executive of the Arts Council England, introduced a consultation that sets out a process identifying areas for development of the arts over the next ten years. Your views will shape and inform the next set of investment decisions within the Arts Council's long term strategic framework.

Visit www.artscouncil.org.uk/consultation for a pdf of the consultation that includes an appendix specifying the Arts Council's proposals for Music. The consultation is open until 14 April 2010.

ICT Conferences for ASTs to be held in Spring Term

These BECTA Conferences are FREE and designed to highlight the essential role that embedded ICT has in delivering 21st Century teaching and learning, provide practical and exciting examples of how ICT can help and how practice has been successfully developed and shared. Attendees will leave energised about the possibilities for ICT in their own contexts, with an enthusiasm for improvement and change.

Musical Futures training courses for 2010 announced

Musical Futures has announced its free training and professional development courses around the country for 2010 which will run in January/February and June.  The courses, at introduction level or for those already running Musical Futures, are free of charge. Musical Futures brings non-formal teaching and informal learning approaches into schools. It aims to make music learning relevant to young people, connect in-school and out-of-school experiences, and find ways of engaging all 11-18 year olds in sustainable music-making and learning.

NAME online shop open

Our new, expert range of regular specialist publications including books, magazines and information bulletins is now available to browse and buy online. Visit the NAME publications section (see right) for more information.The new online shop will enable those working in music education to access our resources more easily, from home or work.