Opera North’s In Harmony programme has been inspiring pupils across Leeds for the last ten years and now reaches over 2,500 children every week in seven schools in Leeds and Halifax.
This year, In Harmony Opera North, our award-winning music residency, marks its tenth anniversary with a special celebratory day at our home in Leeds on Wednesday 7 December and the launch of a clear progression pathway for talented young musicians. Pupils who are currently participating in the programme will perform, alongside short presentations about the programme and the impact it has.
The company’s music education programme teaches children how to sing and how to play string and brass instruments. Without In Harmony, the children might otherwise be unable to access high quality music tuition.
Macy, one of In Harmony’s students:
“Performing with the real orchestra and chorus is one of the best things I’ve ever done. I never thought
someone like me would get to do something like that.”
An Opera North Tutor:
“Giving music to children in the way we do at In Harmony normalises beauty and art; experiencing and
creating high quality music becomes part of their daily lives in a way that is inclusive.”
This Christmas, Opera North’s Together In Harmony campaign is asking people to help enrich the lives of children with music by making a
charitable donation to support In Harmony’s work. A donation of £15 would provide sponge shoulder rests for a class of violinists. New strings for a cello cost £50, and an instrument such as a violin or trumpet would need £150.
So far, more than 4,000 pupils have been helped, and schools in Leeds have received 1,500 instruments. Pupils have had the opportunity to create music with the Chorus and the Orchestra of Opera North. The programme has helped to boost confidence, encourage self-expression and creativity, increase concentration and build perseverance. In short, the children have been inspired with a lifelong love of the arts.
Anna Mackenzie, Teacher at Richmond Hill Academy:
“I firmly believe that learning an instrument gives a child a wide range of invaluable and transferable
skills and I feel that these have the potential to have a significant impact on future success.”
Other schools currently benefiting from the In Harmony residency include Windmill Primary School in Belle
Isle, which was the first school to join the project, Low Road Primary School in Hunslet, and New Bewerley
Community Primary School in Beeston. They were joined more recently by Clapgate Primary School in Belle Isle, Lee Mount Primary School in Halifax, and Trinity Academy, a new secondary school in Burmantofts, Leeds.
Weekly sessions are held for small groups in musicianship, singing and instrument playing. The children are also given the opportunity to join the Harmony Choir after school when they reach year 5 and to develop their composition and instrumental skills during their last two primary school years, at ON Afterschool.
Jacqui Cameron, Education Director, Opera North:
“Seeing the lasting difference that the In Harmony Opera North programme has made to the
participants over the last ten years has inspired us all. We have seen so many talented children from a
range of backgrounds realise their musical potential in a way they never would have envisaged and gain
valuable self-belief in the process. Not only that but parental and community participation in music-
making has seen an uplift in In Harmony areas.
Any donations towards our work will be very gratefully received as they will enable us to continue to
grow the project, impacting even more children and communities across the region.”
Donations can be made online at https://www.operanorth.co.uk/support-us/together-in-
harmony/ or by calling Opera North on 0113 223 3553.
