2024 is the seventh year that we have taken classically trained musicians into primary schools in the Lower Wye Valley. We've now worked with over 19 schools in the Forest of Dean and Monmouthshire, reaching over 2,600 local children aged 4--11. We've also begun working with secondary schools—the Carducci Quartet held a riveting session at Wyedean School in March. And together with Gloucestershire Music, we held a first masterclass for four cello students from around the county in April, led by Wales top two cellists, Rosie Biss from the WNO and Alice Neary from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (both are also tutors at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama).

It was also the first full year of 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. Three duos (violin and piano; harp and mezzo soprano, guitar and flute) and one solo pianist have participated in the programme thus far and two of the duos have graduated to delivering workshops for us. One of those, the Welsh harp and mezzo-soprano duo, is perfectly placed for the Welsh border schools with which we work and will be going into 4 schools for us this autumn.

But it’s perhaps best to let the children and pupils speak for themselves: “It made lots of us want to learn to play an instrument”, “I have never seen anything like it, please come again” “One word... SENSATIONAL! I loved how the hands moved and the way you showed your musician spirits.” And at our first secondary school, Wyedean, one pupil said ““I thought that it was incredibly inspiring to see people with such passion for playing and it made me want to learn to play more instruments. I thought that the facts and wider context offered by the Quartet were incredibly useful and interesting for my GCSEs and just as someone who has an interest in music!” Another, brief and to the point: “It was very cool to see world class musicians in action.”

We plan to continue our combination of using experienced, professional musicians for half of our school visits, and our young professional musicians at the start of their careers for the other half. We’re also looking forward to continuing to explore ways to work with secondary schools and with the RWCMD on select masterclasses.

Like Wye Valley Music in Mind, we are funded entirely by grants and donations and welcome any and all contributions.

Comment re accounts: WVMiS rolled forward unspent income beginning in the Covid years when we were unable to spend grants and donations sourced for 2020. We have been trying to run that money down steadily year on year. It does mean that WVMiS has enough of cash in the bank to cover its expenses so while a snapshot of the current fiscal year shows a loss, we are not in fact in the red overall.