British music education organization
The Berkshire Young Musicians Trust (trading as Berkshire Music Trust) is a music education charity operating in Berkshire, United Kingdom.[1]
History
The Berkshire Young Musicians Trust (BYMT) was founded in 1982. Between 2006 and 2023 it traded as Berkshire Maestros,[2] after which it was rebranded the Berkshire Music Trust.[3]
Description
The charity's aim is to bring music to a wider audience, and encourage children to play a musical instrument, sing, or play music in a group with others.[4]
The charity teaches over 6,000 children in schools, bands, orchestras and choirs, and has centres in Bracknell, Newbury, Windsor, Reading and Wokingham.[5] Tuition covers a wide range of instruments, including vocals, guitar, keyboard, percussion, brass, strings and woodwind in a range of styles, and composition.[6]
Following the renaming ceremony coinciding with 40th birthday celebrations in the summer of 2023, Berkshire Music Trust adopted a new strap-line, "Making Music for Everyone", signalling their intent to expand their offerings to all ages in the Berkshire community, building upon their Parkinson's Sing-along Cafe and Dementia Sing-along Cafe.[7]
Recognition
In 2024, Berkshire Music Trust was awarded new generation Music Hub status by Arts Council England.[8]
Events
In 2007, the charity's choir appeared at the BBC Proms,[9] and alongside Southbank Sinfonia at the Windsor Festival.[10] In 2014, the organisation was awarded a grant from the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation.[11] On 1 May 2016, around 1,500 of the Berkshire Maestros students performed a concert at the Royal Albert Hall. Primary school choirs from West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead performed songs from musicals such as Mamma Mia!, Oliver! and The Jungle Book.[12]
On 19 October 2018, the Bracknell concert band played to Elizabeth II at The Lexicon, Bracknell.[13] In 2023, the charity's county choir and string ensemble played at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle culminating in a performance of Zadok the Priest.[14]
In 2024, Bracknell, Windsor, Newbury and Reading Senior Wind Bands united to form the Berkshire County Massed Wind Bands, to perform Brian Balmages' Rapture at the Anvil Theatre in Basingstoke.[citation needed]
References
External links