Schedule

Explore the conference programme, your guide to what's on, where to go and who you'll hear from in each session.

We look forward to welcoming you at the East Midlands Conference Centre on Monday 18th and Tuesday 19th November 2024.

9:40am

  • Making Music In Minecraft

  • 9:40am - 10:40am
  • Banqueting Hall Sponsored by Drums for Schools

A unique, interactive session showing how we use the Minecraft platform to teach key musical principles. This will be a hands on session for delegates exploring music education delivered in the child’s preferred environment. Bring your inner child. Working with...

  • Carl Cole

    Carl Cole
  • Paul Weston
  • A Recipe For Sustaining Learning

  • 9:40am - 10:40am
  • Conference Suite 1 Sponsored by The Ear Academy

Young Sounds UK are delighted to be partnering with the DfE on the Music Opportunities Pilot, which expands on our existing programme – Young Sounds Connect – to support nearly 1000 young people to continue their musical learning over 4...

  • Helen Borg

    Helen Borg
  • Neil Phillips

    Neil Phillips
  • Survive Or Thrive Climate Change

  • 9:40am - 10:40am
  • Conference Suite 2 Sponsored by Music First

The This Is Not A Rehearsal Steering Group introduces Positive Planet with a session to equip you with a foundational understanding of the business impacts of climate change and provide practical tools to assess your organisation’s readiness.

  • PK Whalen

    PK Whalen
  • Musicians In Residence

  • 9:40am - 10:40am
  • Conference Suite 3 Sponsored by Specialised Travel Concert Touring

In this session we’ll give you an overview of our Musician-in-Residence programme, the impact it’s having in schools and how classroom staff are embedding music and musician-led approaches into curriculum delivery. We’ll talk through the impact on engagement with learning,...

  • Ben Armstrong

    Ben Armstrong
  • Carmen Flores

    Carmen Flores
  • Liz Muge

    Liz Muge
  • Developing Sustainability In Primary Music Through Building Non-Specialist Teacher Confidence

  • 9:40am - 10:40am
  • Conference Suite 4 Sponsored by groove'n'play

Find out about the Building Musical Confidence Research Project, which investigates how the use of inclusive, culturally diverse instruments and associated teaching resources can make non-specialist teachers feel more confident and musical, thereby ensuring the long term sustainability of primary...

  • Beth Carr

    Beth Carr
  • Andy Gwatkin

    Andy Gwatkin
  • Liz Stafford

    Dr Liz Stafford

11:10am

  • Transforming School Engagement

  • 11:10am - 12:10pm
  • Banqueting Hall Sponsored by Drums for Schools

Berkshire Music Trust shares their approach to transforming school engagement. We will explore our sustainable approach to Continued Professional Development for primary schools, and our partnership work with our lead schools. Join our school development managers as they investigate a...

  • Laura Bridger

    Laura Bridger
  • headshot of Woman looking directly at camera, smiling, wearing black blazer.

    Wendy Harvey
  • Melanie Hopkin

    Mel Hopkin
  • Governance for Sustainable Organisations

  • 11:10am - 12:10pm
  • Conference Suite 1 Sponsored by The Ear Academy

Augustus Della-Porta from Bates Wells leads this session looking at governance in small music education organisations across the sector. Gus will share his tips and hints on good practice in governance. If you have questions about how you should be...

  • Augustus Della-Porta
  • Gary Griffiths
  • Greening Your Finances

  • 11:10am - 12:10pm
  • Conference Suite 2 Sponsored by Music First

How green is your organisation’s bank? Is your pension supporting fossil fuels? Did you know that choosing the right financial partners can greatly reduce your carbon footprint? This session explores how financial choices impact the environment, showing how informed decisions...

  • Peter Bolton
  • Ruth Roberts

    Ruth Roberts
  • Pressure To Perform

  • 11:10am - 12:10pm
  • Conference Suite 3 Sponsored by Specialised Travel Concert Touring

Soundcastle’s mental health trainers tackle the relationship between pressure and stress and how this gets in the way of a sustainable, healthy, enjoyable music career. Join to explore your own pressure points and how we can begin vital mental health...

  • Hannah Dunster

    Hannah Dunster
  • Gail MacLeod

    Gail MacLeod
  • Rachael Perrin

    Rachael Perrin
  • AMP Generators: Sustainable programming through equitable access routes

  • 11:10am - 12:10pm
  • Conference Suite 4 Sponsored by groove'n'play

Join Brass Bands England, AMP and Shepherd Group Brass Bands for a session exploring a pilot project designed to diversify leadership and pave the way for a more equitable music sector. The team behind the project will examine how the...

  • Sarah Baumann
  • Craig Brown
  • Sarah McWatt

2:00pm

  • Beyond Youth Voice: Young people as agents of change

  • 2:00pm - 3:00pm
  • Banqueting Hall Sponsored by Drums for Schools

Join us to look beyond a tick-box approach to youth voice, to question how we currently work and how we might start centring relationships to enable authentic, inclusive co-creation within music education. This talk will share learning from MAC Makes...

  • Anita Holford
  • Immy Robinson

    Immy Robinson
  • Julia Thomson-Smith

    Julia Thomson-Smith
  • Towards An Integrated Music Education Ecosystem

  • 2:00pm - 3:00pm
  • Conference Suite 1 Sponsored by The Ear Academy

As music educators, we work in a complex ecology, navigating different spaces, practical challenges, varied geographies, and diverse community needs. We could think of this as an ecosystem. In this interactive conversation session, the Birmingham City University team will present...

  • Dr Anthony Anderson
  • Martin Fautley

    Professor Martin Fautley
  • Dr Victoria Kinsella-Hadjinestoros
  • Dr Adam Whittaker
  • Reducing Our Carbon Footprint: Our story so far

  • 2:00pm - 3:00pm
  • Conference Suite 2 Sponsored by Music First

In autumn 2023, Greater Manchester Music Hub started putting in place measures to ensure that we are impacting positively on the road to net zero. Join us to hear about our journey so far including the highs and the lows...

  • Tina Parsons

    Tina Parsons
  • Gemma Price

    Gemma Price
  • Community Connection: How partnership working in Nottingham is creating a flourishing music ecology

  • 2:00pm - 3:00pm
  • Conference Suite 3 Sponsored by Specialised Travel Concert Touring

This session shares insights from a successful partnership between an award winning community music project, Nottingham Music Hub and music industry partners. By pooling resources and expertise, partners are developing shared programmes that provide young people with real-world experiences and...

  • Claire Dyer
  • Tricia Gardiner

    Tricia Gardiner
  • Tiffany Holland

    Tiff Holland
  • Kate Rounding
  • Let's Not Reinvent The Wheel: How can research in sports science aid the sustainability of music education

  • 2:00pm - 3:00pm
  • Conference Suite 4 Sponsored by groove'n'play

This session aims to introduce innovative approaches to addressing challenges in music education by exploring how sports science research and applications can be adapted and utilised. Sports science, due to various factors including more substantial funding, is a more developed...

  • Michelle Robinson

Frequently Asked Questions

Get answers to frequently asked questions about our Annual Conference.

This website runs on green hosting and has been optimised to minimise its carbon impact. The estimated carbon impact of this webpage and how that compares to other websites is shown below.