The Yamaha Music Foundation’s flagship music education course for young children will launch for the very first time in London on Thursday 14 November and Saturday 16 November 2019.
It will be based at Croydon’s Fairfield Halls, which re-opened in September following a multi-million pound Croydon council-led restoration.
The Yamaha Music School is just one of several initiatives at Fairfield Halls, designed to engage, inspire and educate young people in the local community and further afield.
Established in Tokyo in 1954, the Yamaha Music Foundation offers a global music education programme, in over 45 countries. More than five million children have learned music through it and it is the most trusted and proven early years music education in Japan. The Junior Music Course, for children aged 4 or 5 years old at the start, has been in the UK for nearly 40 years. Well-attended schools are in locations such as Milford, Abingdon, Burton, Tamworth, Derby and Nottingham.
Fred Scott, BH Live’s Artistic Associate for Music Education at Fairfield Halls said,
“With the launch in South London, our music education programme looks set to enter centre-stage. And justifiably so: Yamaha is known for quality, and this does not just apply to the products on offer, but also to its music education programmes and staff: teachers must go through a rigorous audition, training and qualification system.”
The Junior Music Course curriculum is one of ‘timely education’. The carefully researched programme comprises four two-year courses, designed with teaching approaches that evolve to suit the children as they develop. Lessons are comprehensive: they include singing, playing, listening, moving, reading and writing and make full musical use of the group format for the entire course pathway. Parents accompany children for the first two years to group lessons, which include up to 10 students in a class. Individual piano lessons are added to the curriculum after the first few years.
Nigel Burrows, Yamaha Music Education Manager for the UK said
“In over 40 years of being involved with Yamaha Music Schools, I have yet to see another programme that can produce such consistently high levels of creativity with such young students.”
Talented Yamaha students from around the world come together each year to perform at national and international Young Composers’ Concerts. These impressive platforms showcase Yamaha students performing their own compositions, highlighting the musical goals of the programme: to be creative and expressive musicians, with a lifelong love for music – whether students go on later to be professional or amateur.
Families can apply to Fred Scott for information about places and course details: Fred.Scott@bhlive.org.uk
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Notes to Editors:
Photo credit:
Yamaha Music School, Hamburg Eppendorf Unterricht: Credit: Patrick Piel
About BH Live
Fairfield Halls is managed by BH Live in partnership with Croydon Council.
BH Live is a leading operator of leisure and event venues; a social enterprise that designs and builds engaging experiences to inspire people and enrich lives.
With more than five million visits a year we are changing lives and are at the heart of the UK’s growing social economy. In 2018/19 we had 4.5 million leisure centre attendances, hosted more than 500 events and sold over half a million cultural, sporting and entertainment event tickets. We also welcomed 52,500 conference and exhibition delegates.
This generated an estimated £42 million in local economic benefit.
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For more visit bhlive.org.uk.
About Fairfield Halls
At the completion of a multi-million-pound development, Fairfield Halls formally reopened on Monday 16 September 2019.
It is now one of the biggest arts centres in the UK, the largest in South London, and the largest multi-disciplinary arts and entertainment space in South London and the South East.
Its first season runs until March 2020 and includes an eclectic mix of theatre, music, comedy and family entertainment in the 809-seat Ashcroft Playhouse, the world-class 1,802-seat Phoenix Concert Hall, and in spaces across the building, including the Arnhem Foyer – an aspirational community hub with a free programme of events and exhibitions.
New spaces including The Recreational (750-capacity standing live music venue), the Savvy Studio, Talawa Studio, John Whitgift Community Cube, Business Lounge and Terrace Bistro.
With a long and distinguished history, Fairfield Halls is at the heart of Croydon’s new cultural quarter. Talawa, the UK’s primary Black led touring theatre company, the award-winning and inclusive Savvy Theatre Company, and London Mozart Players are companies in residence at the venue.
Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother opened the Fairfield Halls on Friday 2 November 1962. The inaugural concert in the Phoenix Concert Hall was performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent, with renowned soloist Yehudi Menuhin also performing.
The Ashcroft Playhouse (formerly Ashcroft Theatre) was opened on 5 November by Croydon-born Dame Peggy Ashcroft, with the opening ceremony including a monologue by Sir John Betjeman called ‘Local Girl Made Good’. The first play performed was Royal Gambit, starring Dulcie Gray.
The Arnhem Foyer is named after Croydon’s twin-town of Arnhem in Holland.