Pennine Spring Music Education Programme

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Each year since 2001 PSM has run an education programme in conjunction with it's Spring Festival. Working with professional animateurs, pupils from Calder High School and Heptonstall Junior School have created original compositions for performance at the Sunday evening Young People's Concert.

In 2001, pupils worked with Nick Meredith on music inspired by Haydn's Creation, writing and performing songs and making instrumental pieces incorporating recorded samples from Haydn's work.

In 2002, Vicky Sharp and Richard Taylor worked on a group song called The Biggest Pet Shop In The World with pupils from Heptonstall, who performed it live at that year's inaugural Young People's Concert.

In 2003, nationally renowned composer Barry Russel worked with John Habron and pupils from Calder High School and Heptonstall and Hebden Royd Junior Schools to create Spring Riddles and Pennine Puzzles, again performed at that year's Young People's Concert.

In 2004 Barry and John worked with the children to produce Sounds and the Spaces In Between. Tony Harris, who is new to Pennine Spring, produced the electroacoustic backing for this work.

In 2005 John Habron and Maria Harron helped the local children compose, produce and perform A Pennine Composition. This was part of a programme which included works performed by older students at local schools, and a piano trio from RNCM.

In 2006 Barry and John worked with pupils of Heptonstall, Castle Hill and Todmorden High School to compose and perform A Dictionary of Imagined Places. Other items in the programme included Music from Slovakia performed by members of the Horvadh family at present attending Mount Pellon and Siddal Primary Schools, a set of jazz standards performed by Lauren Day (sax.) who studied at Calder High School before attending Leeds College of Music. Music students from Todmorden High School presented a varied programme of classical and contemporary music. Finally the Helder Trio, students of the RNCM, gave a contemporary performance on flute, viola and harp.

PSM believes that providing a platform where youngsters can create and perform their own work both diversifies current music-making in the community, and provides an essential key for understanding and enjoying the music of the past.