Fèis Rois will on Thursday 27th May launch a brand new programme
of traditional music and song tuition in Primary schools in Highland.
Funded by the Scottish Executive’s Youth Music Initiative, the scheme was
offered to all Local Authorities following Jack McConnell’s announcement that
“every primary school pupil should have access to at least one year’s free music
tuition by the time they reach Primary 6”. The initiative is administered
by the Scottish Arts Council, with each Local Authority allocated funding.
Highland Council invited Fèisean nan Gaidheal, the umbrella organisation
supporting all the Fèisean, to deliver a programme of traditional music and song
in schools.
Fèis Rois will be delivering the programme in two areas,
Inverness and Caithness, beginning
with Inverness this week. Fèis Rois
successfully manages a programme of weekly after-school classes which have grown
to twenty since first introduced in 1990. These are enhanced by monthly master
classes, and are attended by over 500 young people.
In 2000, tuition was introduced to Primary and Secondary schools in Ross and
Cromarty in an innovative Fèis Rois ETAS (Enriching Traditional Arts in Schools)
programme created through SAC National Lottery funding.
Rita Hunter, Fèis Rois Manager welcomes the increased Scottish Executive and
Scottish Arts Council funding, and sees that “traditional culture is very
buoyant in the Highlands, and is very much in increasing
demand from Highland pupils, teachers and parents.
The Fèisean movement has brought about an incredible resurgence of participation
in traditional and Gaelic culture and the whole area is enjoying many rewards
including lots more people learning and playing and a new host of young tutors
and performers.”
Fèis Rois is also managing the Traditional Music in Schools scheme, funded
through the Scottish Arts Council and the Scottish Executive, and providing
musicians’ visits to Primary 6 & 7 children throughout
Scotland.
Over 10,000 Primary children in Renfrewshire, East
Renfrewshire, West Dunbartonshire, North
Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, East Ayrshire, Scottish
Borders, Aberdeenshire, Caithness,
Dumfries and Galloway, South
Ayrshire and Angus have received lively visits, involving performance and
participation.
“The emphasis is very much on areas where there is little or no provision,
and we regularly receive overwhelming feedback from all the Head Teachers”, said
Education Officer Marcus Logan, “they really appreciate that the children get a
chance, often their first ever chance, to hear live musicians and can join
in too. We will be broadening out this work through additional funding from the
Scottish Arts Council and the Youth Music Initiative, introducing repeat visits
and tuition visits, while keeping the emphasis on areas of need”. The Head
Teachers note that the children gain new knowledge, respond with obvious
enjoyment and enthusiasm, are motivated and inspired by the visits while gaining
a first understanding of Scotland’s traditional culture, and every school would
welcome a repeat visit.
The first of these new developments is taking place during next month in
schools in South Ayrshire, in a collaborative programme arranged between Fèis
Rois and the area’s Culture Co-ordinator, Ruthanne Baxter. A team of
traditional musicians will carry out a 6-week programme of traditional music and
dance tuition for Primary pupils in five Girvan schools, culminating in an
evening show for parents and education representatives.
Reaffirming Fèis Rois commitment to continuing to develop and expand high
quality tuition, Rita is very aware of the significance of the new Youth Music
Intiative funding. Excited about this week’s developments she believes
that “these new Scottish Executive funded education initiatives will bring
traditional culture home to many more children, as well as giving welcome career
opportunities to a good number of tutors throughout the country. This heralds a
very important new phase for traditional culture and children throughout
Scotland”.
For further details please contact Rita Hunter on 01349 862600 or
rita.feisrois@feisean.org
