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Recognition for pioneering music chairty
The Bristol charity ‘Open Up Music’ had an aim to encourage disabled young people to play music, and they succeeded according to an influential new list.
The group were behind the UK’s first disabled youth orchestra and have now been named as one of Nesta‘s 50 New Radicals for 2016.
Open Up Music was established in 2013 to get young disabled people interested in music and provide access to youth orchestras and specially adapted musical instruments.
is needed now More than ever
In June this year their South West Open Youth Orchestra performed as part of BBC Music Day.
Open Up Music’s musical director Doug Boult said: “We’re delighted with this national recognition for the ideas behind our charity which operates out of a front room in north Bristol.
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Read more: A pioneering orchestra for disabled musicians
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“Over the last three years we’ve brought music and technology to many young people, their teachers and families in South West and we’re now well on our way to bringing performance and composing within reach to all young disabled people in the UK.”
The charity has created and developed instruments that disabled people are able to play easily using any part of the body, including the eyes.
Chief executive of Nesta Geoff Mulgan said: “The people on this list are not the richest or the most famous, but they are likely to leave a positive mark on the world around them, and they can inspire us to do more in our own lives to be the change we want to see in the world.”
Anyone interested in auditioning for the Orchestra can get more information at www.openupmusic.org/swoyo email info@openupmusic.org or phone them on 0117 914 0917.
Photos taken by Paul Blakemore
This article was written by Andy Probert, a 15-year-old pupil at Bradley Stoke Secondary School.