This is a blog reflecting written by Rachel Parsons, our Youth Programmes Manager reflecting on the experiences of the More Music team who are running ‘Viva La Youth’ 2020 online during lockdown.

Viva la Youth:
A week of inspiration; music, debate, masterclasses, workshops and industry events for the next generation.
Running from Mon 6 July until Sat 11 July, Viva La Youth is open to young people aged 0 – 25 years.

Viva la Youth…

*  Is a platform for young people’s voices to influence the future

*  Connects artists across the North West with the music industry

*   Inspires the next generation to explore creative career progression

*   Recognises the importance of early musical experiences

*   Showcases North West artists

 

Day one … Monday July 6th

Today the Viva La Youth team have been working hard behind the scenes, late into the night creating content to share during the week. Editing video and audio tracks, filming our final zoom sessions of term to celebrate the hard work that has happened during this lockdown term, searching for misplaced WeTransfer links and zoom codes.

By the end of the week all this hard work will be ready to share at our second Stages Live in Lockdown Gig – Premiere on Friday at 6pm on the More Music Facebook page

On the frontline, we began our final week of sessions and online events for Viva La Youth 2020. At 2pm we logged into Zoom for our weekly music making session with Unique Kidz and welcomed a very special guest music leader, multi instrumentalist and performer Sarah Fisher. Sarah talked to the group about how she has developed her career as a community musician and performer, shared some of her own music and then led her first zoom workshop (having obviously run many a session pre lockdown!)

Then the Unique Beatz band filmed group and solo sections for the music video they have been working on for the past four  weeks. Their verison of ‘We will Rock You’ be part of the Stages Live in Lockdown 2 gig on Friday – a great platform to bring all our projects together in one big celebration.

Later on, while LYVE put the finishing touches to their latest video, a group of 12 young leaders came together from 8 music organisations and charities from across the North West for the first ever Reaching Out Youth Network meeting.

More Music, Brighter Sound, Soundtracks, Cre8, Rock it!, Jubacana, Global Grooves and Future Leaders were all represented by young leaders at the meeting that stemmed from conversations that took place during the a recent Reaching Out network meeting.

Coordinated by Ash Murphy from More Music and Lucy Wallace from Brighter Sound, the Reaching Out Network is a training, development and future thinking network for project manager, programme managers and anyone planning and managing inclusive music activity across the North West for children and young people.

The group got to know each other by sharing their favourite biscuits and information their respective organisations before converstaion moved to lockdown and imagining the possibilties of this new network.

Depsite all the negative aspects of Covid-19 and its impact on making music, themes of collectivity, ability to adapt and new opportunities that have arisen through having to do things in a new way were at the forefront. Young people talked about how maintaining a regular programmne of sessions through zoom has helped to keep up a sense of routine and an opportunity to check in with friends and project leaders. Some of the group also talked about how in lockdown has provided that often sought after time to actually sit down and make music both for themselves and collaboratively. Learning how to use technology in a new way, share tracks and ideas and get feedback during online sessions have been positive learning experiences for both young leaders and organisations.

What happens next with the Reaching Out Youth Network is to be led by the group themselves, the possibiities are endless, but they were quick to book another meeting in for the end of July!

Editing continued late in to the night to get videos ready to share on Tuesday and you can tune in to watch the premeires of our brand new Bay Youth Voices and Baybeat videos by following the link below.

Bay Youth Voices ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ – live at 3.15pm Tuesday 7th July

Baybeat Streetband  ‘Bring Me Sunshine’

Remix by Leroy Lupton

“We’ve been making loads of backing tracks for people in the band to practice along with at home and thought it might be fun to see where producer Leroy could take things!

Some footage captured at Zoom rehearsals, some shows people’s lockdown hobbies and some LIVE but SAFE in the mighty Morecambe breeze!”

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/More.Music1/posts/10164279319850037?notif_id=15…

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpTpGTYt7Ec&feature=youtu.be

If you are interetsed in finding out more about the Reaching Out network please email  ashley.murphy@moremusic.org.uk