Join us again for our junior prom event on the bowling green at Carisbrooke Castle!  Bring your students along for an opportunity to perform on the green with fantastic visibility for parents, friends and families to come along and watch on the raised areas around the green and bring a picnic.  This year this event will be solely focused on singing and our theme in 2026 will focus on local stories, myths & legends as part of our Songs of Place project. 

A songbook including stories, myths and legends from the Island (tales of Isabella di Fortibus and The Pied Piper of Newtown for example) will be produced by the music hub and workshops will also be available to support learning this from March onwards.  As always we will run a site visit and meeting prior to the event to discuss logistics with teachers which will take place in early May from  4pm - 5pm at the castle as a twilight meeting.  In the case of inclement weather we will also have a reserve date of 12th June.  Please use the form below to sign up for this event

Approximate timings: 4pm - 4.30pm School ensembles/groups arrive , 4.30pm - 5pm Sound checks , 5.30pm - 7pm Concert

Recorder Extravaganza with Palisander Monday 18th May 2026 Queensgate Primary School 6pm - 7pm KS1, KS2 in partnership with Fairest Isle Festival

Interested in setting up a new recorder ensemble in your school or teaching recorder to your whole class?  This project is the perfect opportunity for the hub to support you with this through CPD, resources, workshops and a performance event on the Isle of Wight!  The NPME states that all schools should have an instrumental ensemble so this project will allow you an avenue to set one up in your setting.

Participating schools will be given;  a brand new set of songs and resources for beginner recorder players written and created by Miriam; take part in an online CPD session (Tuesday 10th March 4pm - 5pm) introducing the resources with lots of hints and tips on how to teach your class or group to play the recorder; receive a free workshop from the hub to introduce the resources and then the opportunity to take part in a final performance.  The hub can also loan sets of recorders for free if you don’t have any in school currently. 

The project will culminate in a massed performance event for Isle of Wight Schools after school on Monday 18th May hosted by Queensgate Primary in East Cowes.  Your group will have the opportunity to play alongside the other school groups in the project and hear incredible performances from Miriam and her recorder supergroup Palisander!  Southampton schools are also very welcome to take part in all the other elements of this project barring the performance event (unless you want to travel to the Island).

Approximate timings: 4.15pm - 4.30pm School ensembles/groups arrive , 4.30pm - 5.30pm Rehearsal with Palisander, 6pm - 7pm Concert 

Isle of Wight Songs of Place Songwriting workshops KS2, KS3, KS4 & SEND in partnership with Creative Island Spring 2 & Summer 1

As part of the Island-wide ‘Can You Hear Us’ projects taking place in 2026 we are offering the opportunity to take part in some songwriting workshops in the spring and summer terms with local songwriters Maria Woodford and Jess Ong and composer James Redwood.

Suitable for KS2, KS3 and KS4 schools can take part in up to 3  x two hour workshops with a songwriter to develop and a song based on well known stories from the Island or the experiences of your students as young people living on the Island today.  The songs that are recorded in this workshop will then be showcased as part of our Island playlist on Spotify and on Vectis Radio and an opportunity to perform them in the Ventnor Exchange Arena on our takeover day in the Autumn term (Sunday 11th October 2026) will also be available.  

Schools will also be offered the option of a one-off workshop with composer James Redwood who will be gathering some material to write a new piece of music for lots of groups to perform together on the 11th October. These one off one hour workshops with limited availability will take place on Monday 27th, Tuesday 28th and Wednesday 29th April.

All the sessions are suitable for a class of up to 30 children or perhaps a group that has been selected as a reward or even a nurture group but ideally a group of students that will still be in your setting in the Autumn term 2026 if they would like to take part in the performance event too.

We are delighted to be continuing to partner with London Sinfonietta as part of their composition challenge programme.  Their fantastic workshops leaders and composers will be visiting us again this year to deliver a small number of workshops in schools supporting the use of their fantastic online resources which you can find HERE

Next year they will be touring again and making use of the music created and submitted by your young musicians.  For KS3 pupils this is a great opportunity to work with some contemporary composers and for teachers to support your delivery of teaching composition too. 

Please also see the CPD offers for a year long programme of CPD sessions on creative composing utilising these resources.

Schools choirs and music groups or a class of up to 30 children are invited to Osborne House on Monday 24th November for a carousel of Christmas activities!  You will have the opportunity to perform in the Durbar Room, have a tour of the ground floor of the house and take part in some Victorian Christmas craft activities.  If take up is high we will also offer the opportunity for schools to take part the following week on 1st December.

As part of this project we have commissioned two new songs from composer Pam Wedgwood which we will workshop with you prior to the day in school to learn and perform on the day alongside the other schools.  You can find the songs and resources in the Songbank from the end of September.  You are also welcome to perform another song of your choice to the other schools on the day which could be something you have prepared for Christmas concerts or anything you have been working on this term - all are welcome, although this is optional.  We will not have a full band or sound set up sadly due to the delicate nature of the Durbar Room but we will have a piano and be able to play backing tracks.  

Our proposed timings on the day would run from 9.30am - 2.15pm with the opportunity for parents to drop off and collect children on the day to save on transport costs where possible. 

Sign up for the visit and free vocal workshop in school spaces are limited to 3 schools per day via the button below (link to come soon)

This project from Music in the Round introduces KS3 and KS4 students from all backgrounds to composition through extensive resources and visits from professional musicians and composers. Students will be supported by emerging and professional composers to create their own music which will be performed by one of our internationally renowned ensembles at the end of the project in a culmination concert at a local venue.

Timeline:

Autumn 2025: introductory films from composer Andre J Smith and PDF resources shared

Thursday 2nd October: ½ day INSET session at Portsmouth Guildhall (KS3 9am-12noon, KS4 1pm - 4pm)

Follow up Zoom meeting to tailor the project to your students

Week’s beginning 1st Dec, 19th Jan & 9th March: In school workshops with the composers

Tuesday 18th November: Phaedra Ensemble Introductory concert Portsmouth Guildhall

Monday 8th & Tuesday 9th June: Final concert of your student’s compositions at Portsmouth Guildhall

This project costs £150 but is significantly underwritten by other funding sources, however if this is a barrier to participation please contact nia@siowmusic.org to discuss support.

Sign up via the button below.

Schools are invited to either the Classic Boat Museum in Cowes or the Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum in Arreton to take part in workshops and a performance to mark the RNLI Bicentenary celebrations. 

A group or class of 30 students will take part in a half day set of workshops (singing sea shanties, dancing a hornpipe and dramatic storytelling) along with touring the museums and learning about water safety. Children are then invited back after school with their parents to perform.  Following on from attendance parents will be given vouchers to attend the heritage site in the future. 

Contact ian.vallance@maritimearchaeologytrust.org for more information or to register interest

Our Day Will Come

A series of new songs sung by the Isle of Wight primary schools to celebrate who we are

Building on the music hub’s and English Heritage’s annual Vocal Prom at Carisbrook Castle which is an open-air public performance of young people’s voices Southampton & IOW Music and IW Cultural Education Partnership have commissioned a series of songs under the collective title Our Day Will Come as an expression of what it is to be a young person growing up on the island. Set within the context of a changing demographics and the consequent need to consolidate the number of primary schools this is an opportunity to both celebrate and champion the hopes of the almost 7000 young people currently in primary education here.

Songwriting workshops will take place during the spring term in identified schools giving young musicians the opportunity to express themselves through composition and write their own verses unique to their school.  The verses will be incorporated into the songbook resources produced and feature in the final performance.  Vocal workshops to introduce and learn the songbook material will also take place in all participating schools.  Alongside workshop activity digital resource will be created to support wider school singing, the national curriculum and SEND adaptations including CPD for teachers and practitioners reaching across the whole island. 

The project will culminate in a powerful massed singing event on the bowling green at Carisbrooke Castle on Thursday 12th June 2025 5.30pm – 7pm (reserve date for inclement weather Tuesday 17th June 2025) featuring young voices singing songs written by the participating schools, local artists and the island’s young musicians.  Friends and families are invited to come and watch on the raised areas around the green and bring a picnic.

4pm - 4.30pm School ensembles/groups arrive 

4.30pm - 5pm Sound checks 

5.30pm - 7pm Concert

We are delighted to partner with Kiyafest in Kolkata to bring you an opportunity to participate in their Kolkata International Youth Arts Festival via a Global Orchestral Collaboration: "Mind The Gap": A world-class orchestra comprising 100 musicians from Kolkata who will be performing on stage and 70 musicians from the UK who will be performing on screen, led by the renowned Sarod maestro Dr. Rajeeb Chakraborty in collaboration with Milap (Liverpool).  This innovative stage 2 screen format will truly be the first of its kind. 

Suitable for instrumental players and singers from grade 3 upwards, flexible arrangements of pieces have been created for ensembles to rehearse and record their parts and contribute via video to the final performance in 21st June 2025 on a screen at the festival in Kolkata. 

If you are interested in this amazing opportunity Dr Rajeeb Chakraborty will meet with you the week prior to February half term to explain the project and the repertoire and any support you need to learn this, the music hub will provide.  This will culminate in a recording session in April which will be included in the final event. 

This is a fantastic opportunity for your students to collaborate with international musicians, learn from renowned experts, and perform on a global stage. Please contact nia@siowmusic.org to discuss this opportunity in more detail if you are interested in participating.

We are continuing our collaboration with The New Carnival Company and have written a new Anthem for the Mardi gras this year ‘The Wheel of the Year’.

Schools signed up will receive a free singing workshop from the hub in the summer term to learn the song to sing it before the parade heads off on the day in July 2025.

You can listen to the track here and this will be added to our songbank along with a new Sign & Sing video to go alongside it in early June!

We are excited to be partnering with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra this academic year as part of their “On Your Doorstep” programme. 

A group of instrumental players from the orchestra along with a workshop leader will visit schools to deliver some live performances and also work with  instrumentalists in your setting - this could be adapted to be suitable for beginners or any types of players/instruments or could perhaps be a starting point for a new ensemble in your school or a chance for an established group to receive some specific coaching. 

We would be keen to work with you to understand what would support you in the best way.  Please complete the form linked below to book a space for this, although slots are limited. The players will follow this up with a wider island-wide community performance on Saturday 30th November.

Schools choirs and music groups are invited to Osborne House on Monday 25th November for a carousel of Christmas activities!  You will have the opportunity to perform in the Durbar Room, have a tour of the ground floor of the house and take part in some Victorian Christmas craft activities. If take up is high we will also offer the opportunity for schools to take part the following week on 2nd December.

Your performances could include the new music hub Christmas songs from our songbook which we will learn in the workshop, something you have prepared for Christmas concerts or anything you have been working on this term - all are welcome!  We will not have a full band or sound set up sadly due to the delicate nature of the Durbar Room but we will be able to play backing tracks.  You are welcome to bring your own equipment too.  

Our proposed timings would be as follows:

9.15am - 9.30am Arrive / parents drop off gather school groups in the car park

9.30am - 9.45am Move to first workshop space 

9.45am - 10.30am Workshop 1 / tour

10.30am - 10.45am change over/break

10.45am - 11.30am Workshop 2 / tour

11.30am - 11.45am change over/break

11.45am - 12.30pm Workshop 3 / tour

12.30pm - 1.15pm Lunch break (bring packed lunch)

1.15pm - 1.30pm schools to Durbar Room

1.30pm - 2.15pm Performance in the Durbar Room

2.15pm Finish and schools leave and/or children are collected from the car park by parents

SIOW Music has collaborated with Sound Pop Academy to produce a digital songbook transcribing their brilliant 3 part harmony flexible arrangements of pop songs to share with secondary schools and sixth forms. The music hub and Sound Pop Academy will run a FREE CPD session in your school to introduce the songbook and arrangements and support singing across the Key Stages.

As part of this programme, you will be offered a free log in to the Vocal Kit online platform to continue using the resources following your workshop with backing tracks and a progression framework for vocal learning.

This project will run from January 2025 and through the Spring term.

Schools are invited to either the Classic Boat Museum in Cowes or the Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum in Arreton to take part in workshops and a performance to mark the RNLI Bicentenary celebrations in 2024.  A group or class of 30 students will take part in a half day set of workshops (singing sea shanties, dancing a hornpipe and dramatic storytelling) along with touring the museums and learning about water safety. Children are then invited back after school with their parents to perform.  Following on from attendance parents will be given vouchers to attend the heritage site in the future.  We only have one space left for this project on Tuesday 1st October at the Classic Boat Museum in the morning.  Please contact nia@siowmusic.org if you would like to take this opportunity.  A sample schedule of the day is below.  

Morning workshops & visit

9.20 - Arrive and welcome

9.30 - 10.15 - Session One

10.15 - 11.00 - Session Two

11.00 - 11.15 - Break

11.15 - 12.00 - Session Three

Evening Performance

5.30 - Intro and Welcome (TBC)

5.35 - Parents tour the relevant venue with a provided map - Programme will look like this;

      Shanty school 1

      Dramatic Story school 1

      Hornpipe school 1

      Shanty school 2

      Dramatic Story school 2

      Hornpipe school 2

6.15 - END - It is hoped that each evening will end with an optional Sea Shanty Sing-a-long for 30 minutes or so either at Cowes Corinthian Yacht Club on the Tuesday and or the White Lion pub on the Wednesday

We have an exciting and inspiring Hub Menu for schools and education settings.

Get in touch to hear about music opportunities for the children and young people you teach via our mailing list or use the buttons below to download a pdf of activities for your region.