Cooperative Drumming 2023

For nearly six months Wylye Valley School, Codford has been the location of a unique experiment run by Cherubim Music Trust, with funding from the Coop. Cherubim is a charity that lends professional orchestral instruments to music students; but like everyone in the music profession we have become concerned about where the next generation of musicians are coming from, following the near-complete withdrawal of funding for instrumental lessons in primary schools and increasing restrictions on studying music in secondary schools.

We have previously offered concerts by our Cherubim Young Musicians to schools which were well received but made little longterm impact on children’s musical engagement we felt. Therefore on this occasion we designed a project offering children an extended experience of rhythmic music-making, which we have filmed in the hope to make a template that other schools will find easy to follow. We called it Cooperative Drumming because it has been funded by the Coop, but also because it demonstrates the social and musical gains that accompany cooperation.

We now come to the final concert given by the senior classes of the school where parents will see the mental and physical musicianship the children have acquired through the brilliant teaching of Alex Miles over several months. The course began with an introduction to percussion given by our Cherubim Young Musician Toril Azzalini-Machecler, a BBC Young Musician semi-finalist who is now a student at the Royal College of Music; and he now returns for the final concert to perform with the children in their new-found musical confidence.

The concert will last about half an hour, and feature three drumming pieces devised by the children themselves, a duet groove with Toril, and finally Toril showcasing some of the instruments and skills he employs in his professional work with orchestras.