National Youth Arts Wales and ABRSM working together to boost music education in Wales

National Youth Arts Wales (NYAW) and The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) are excited to announce a new partnership to support music education in Wales.

Both organisations share a commitment to championing high-quality, accessible, engaging and inclusive music education and experiences for young people throughout Wales.

 The partnership was announced at a concert by the National Youth Brass Band of Wales at the Great Hall, Swansea on Sunday 28 July.

 During the first year, the partnership will focus on the following three strands:

 1. Talent Pathways

NYAW holds auditions throughout Wales every year - and then supports the most talented young musicians to form ensembles, receiving world-leading tuition and performing together.

To enable this to happen, NYAW works with music services, organisations and schools throughout Wales to analyse progression routes across different instruments (and voices) and music genres.

 Drawing on the above work, NYAW and ABRSM will identify cold spots in provision for young people and deliver a range of projects, including "Côr Skills" to give singers an experience of choral singing, and “Strings Attached” a programme to boost the skills of young violin, viola, bass and cello players.

2. Youth Voice

ABRSM and NYAW will support each other's youth representation programmes, including providing young people with new opportunities for training, influencing policy and work experience. NYAW has recently appointed three young trustees to its board and created a group of young 'ChangeMakers' to influence NYAW activities. It will share these experiences with ABRSM, with a view to developing new models of best practice for the arts sector together.

3. Data

ABRSM and NYAW will develop new ways of gathering data about music education and participation throughout Wales, and correlate their existing data, to identify which instruments are being learnt to a high standard, which are less popular, and which areas of the country are most in need of support.

James Welburn, Deputy Head of Engagement of ABRSM said: “We’re delighted to be collaborating with National Youth Arts Wales on what we anticipate will be an engaging and energetic partnership in support of young musicians across Wales. We’re particularly excited about our youth voice programmes, helping to embed the voices of young people within our organisations and the wider sector, and keeping young musicians at the heart of all we do.”

Evan Dawson, CEO of National Youth Arts Wales said: “ABRSM is one of the world’s leading music education organisations and we're excited to embark on this new partnership. Together, we understand the emotional role that music plays in the lives of young people, recognising and celebrating the diverse range of backgrounds each individual brings, while drawing on our musical network of composers, teachers and performers. We are all thrilled to be working in closer partnership with ABRSM to help inspire and support young people to flourish through creative, innovative and generous music-making, throughout all of Wales.”