Pied Piper!
Junior Arts School
The Yorke Trust is committed to providing artistic opportunities for children living locally. Exposure to music from a young age is critical to the development of social skills, and the building of personal confidence. The Pied Piper! Saturday morning arts school provides such an experience.
Inspiration for the scheme derives from the success of the Junior Strings Project in Manchester that won a Queen’s Anniversary Prize in 1998. Concepts enshrined in the programme are based on the philosophy that every child, regardless of ability or background, can learn to enjoy the arts if tuition is of the highest possible standard.
Established in 2004 after a successful pilot in 2002 in which workshops were held in preparation for The Sailor’s Tale, the aim of Pied Piper! is to provide children with a special experience beyond the school curriculum. The programme embraces an exchange between Wells-next-the-Sea Primary School and Gallions Primary School in East London. The on-going exchange was initiated by the Trust and has helped link two very disparate communities through music.
Children can join Pied Piper! from the age of six. Each year there is a different theme and workshops cover a variety of linked activities that may include writing, painting, drama, singing, percussion, puppetry and painting. Dalcroze Eurhythmics forms an important underlying strand of the tuition. Every summer a mini-opera, largely written by the children themselves, draws together elements of work done throughout the year. A picnic in the orchard has become a popular regular fixture of the final weekend.
Recent tutors have included Paul Ayres (composition), Kevin Crossley-Holland (poetry), Diane Dutton (music and rhythm), Joyce Ellis (singing), Mick Gower (words), Karin Greenhead (Dalcroze), Madeline Hagon (Dalcroze), Jennifer Hamilton (singing and drama), Kevin Hathway and Prince Consort Percussion (percussion), Jonathan Keates (words), Patrick King (percussion), Joan Price (art), Mary Somerville (drama), Philip Wells (poetry), and Pat Willis (puppetry).
Pied Piper! has received generous financial support from The Ashden Trust, Thomas & Henrietta Faire, Laurence Heyworth, The Michael Tippett Musical Foundation, Samuel Gardner Memorial Trust and NADFAS (The National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies) Sedgeford Branch and a number of private benefactors.
In 2010 the title of the programme was Mrs Temple's Tale. Research, led by Catherine Temple, one of Norfolk's leading cheese-makers, explored the history and cheese manufacturing process from meadow to market and concluded with a short music drama written largely by the children themselves.
The Power Struggle was the theme for the 2011 workshops, focusing on aspects of energy supply. Neil McErlean (Dalcroze) and Mary Somerville (drama), with Joan Price (art) devised a short music drama based on the children's material that explored coal mining and wind farms. NADFAS, the Samuel Gardner Memorial Fund and a private sponsor supported the project, which led to performances in June.
Please see future events for further information
