On Friday 27 May, we welcomed Councillor Abigail Marshall-Katung to Music House. A long awaited opportunity for staff and trustees to show appreciation for grant funding we received when Covid-19 sent the UK into lockdown.
The visit was a chance for us to share the exciting projects which are in progress (we will tell you about these as they develop) as well as communicating our vision for the future:
To transform Music House into a musical hub for everyone in our communities – especially underprivileged young people, seniors and people with learning or physical disability. We strongly believe music needs to be inclusive and equal. To fulfil this, working in synergy with organisations that share our ambitions is key.
The afternoon was a great success! Councillor Marshall-Katung saw first hand the direction Music House is travelling in. Because opportunities like these are rare, we wanted to maximise the visit.
We invited a couple of VIP’s we are working closely with…
Sheila Howarth is Head of Pastoral Care at Leeds City Academy and Front of House at Leeds Playhouse. Sheila has dedicated her working life to making sure young people fulfil their aspirations. Her drive and passion coupled with a bit of tough love has transformed hundreds of lives.
Sharon Watson MBE is the principal of Northern School of Contemporary Dance, prior to this as artist director of Phoenix Dance, she choreographed numerous works including the celebrated Windrush: Movement of the People and Black Waters. We are delighted to share the news that Sharon has agreed to be an ambassador for Music House.
After a tour of our wonderful facilities and having talked at length about the partnerships and work underway, it was time to let our hair down!
Entertainment was provided by ’Six Strings’ six black teens who were destined to meet. Music House is proud to provide them with a free space to rehearse. Carmen is ten and was literally born singing – she’s amazing!
We’ve put together a four minute video which summarises the visit. I urge you to watch this to get a sense of the wonderful afternoon. Click here
Councillor Marshall-Katung summarised the visit perfectly:
“To see what you are doing (Music House) with these young ones, we are grateful. Looking after these young ones and seeing they are supported and looked after, thank you. Amazing young ones, amazing teens, they’ve made my weekend. As a council we are grateful, we love to see things like this, we are a city of compassion, a city of sanctuary. Thank you.”
Keep an eye out on our social media channels including FaceBook, Twitter and Instagram where will be posting lots more content, photos and teaser video clips.
Please get in touch if you have any feedback, comments or wish to discuss opportunities, we look forward to hearing from you.