Open Up Music
Young disabled people are for the most part excluded from ensemble music making: in schools, among orchestral players, composers, music leaders and audiences. Since 2007, Open Up Music’s award-winning programmes have created opportunities for young disabled people to be musicians, making their own music, not just listening to the music of others.
It launched the National Open Youth Orchestra (NOYO) in 2018, creating an accessible orchestral environment for talented 11-25 year-old disabled musicians to develop their skills at advanced level. Alongside non-disabled musicians, they rehearse and perform as members of a world pioneering inclusive youth orchestra. Some play acoustic instruments, other electronic and accessible ones – such as the Clarion, which can be played with any body movement, including head or eye movement.
There are currently five Regional NOYO Ensembles run in partnership with leading arts organisations in Bristol, Birmingham, London, Cardiff and Bournemouth. Watch BBC Newsround’s visit to the London NOYO Ensemble to meet some NOYO musicians and discover the Clarion.
Thanks to support from the Lightbulb Trust, NOYO is continuing to grow a vibrant community of musicians. Together, they are pushing the boundaries of contemporary classical music by performing works commissioned or arranged for a more diverse range of players and instruments.
The Trust is also supporting development of a toolkit to share what Open Up Music has learned, designed to help other organisations to open up their programmes to more young disabled musicians.
Open Up Music
Young disabled people are for the most part excluded from ensemble music making: in schools, among orchestral players, composers, music leaders and audiences. Since 2007, Open Up Music’s award-winning programmes have created opportunities for young disabled people to be musicians, making their own music, not just listening to the music of others.
It launched the National Open Youth Orchestra (NOYO) in 2018, creating an accessible orchestral environment for talented 11-25 year-old disabled musicians to develop their skills at advanced level. Alongside non-disabled musicians, they rehearse and perform as members of a world pioneering inclusive youth orchestra. Some play acoustic instruments, other electronic and accessible ones – such as the Clarion, which can be played with any body movement, including head or eye movement.
There are currently five Regional NOYO Ensembles run in partnership with leading arts organisations in Bristol, Birmingham, London, Cardiff and Bournemouth. Watch BBC Newsround’s visit to the London NOYO Ensemble to meet some NOYO musicians and discover the Clarion.
Thanks to support from the Lightbulb Trust, NOYO is continuing to grow a vibrant community of musicians. Together, they are pushing the boundaries of contemporary classical music by performing works commissioned or arranged for a more diverse range of players and instruments.
The Trust is also supporting development of a toolkit to share what Open Up Music has learned, designed to help other organisations to open up their programmes to more young disabled musicians.
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