Broughton High School welcomed the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq yesterday.
Tudor Morris, who is Director of The City of Edinburgh Music School based at Broughton, explained: “This is the orchestra’s first ever visit to the UK, where they are performing at the Edinburgh Festival with Julian Lloyd Webber, Khyam Allami and players from the Edinburgh Youth Orchestra, conducted by Paul MacAlindin.
“The National Youth Orchestra of Iraq is a remarkable project set up by a brave 17-year-old Iraqi, Zuhal Sultan, just four years ago. Although many musicians had fled the country during the war, Zuhal was determined to create a national youth orchestra, which has since enjoyed great success in Iraq and abroad.
They were featured in a Channel 4 documentary last week and have been on several news programmes this week, and we are delighted to welcome them to Broughton.”
The Iraqis are spending three weeks working with the Edinburgh Youth Orchestra
before the 26 August concert at Greyfriars Kirk. They will join cellist
Julian Lloyd Webber and their repertoire will include a concerto by Scottish composer Gordon McPherson.
Dozens of school pupil files that were stolen from a city council worker’s home during a burglary have been recovered. The files contained information about Broughton High, Granton and Forthview Primary School pupils who have had contact with the Education Welfare Service.
It’s understood that the data records, stolen during a break-in last month, concerned the childrens’ school attendance.
A city council spokesperson said: “The files were recovered on Wednesday after the car that had been used in the robbery was found. The files do not appear to have been tampered with and we have sent a letter out to all the families to let them know this.”
Triumphant Technophonia! Local students perform Olympic music
Disabled musicians using new technology took centre stage with City of Edinburgh Music School students when they performed Technophonia, an orchestral arrangement to celebrate the Olympics, to great acclaim recently.
The disabled musicians played specially designed, weird and wonderful instruments – with brilliant names like skoog, soundbeam and brainfingers! – which detect tiny movements, making it easier for people with disabilities to perform. The ensemble rehearsed weekly at Broughton High School, home of the renowned City of Edinburgh Music School, the new wave instruments playing in harmony with the conventional.
The children have been working with the charity Drake Music Scotland, established in 1997 with the ethos that ‘disability is no barrier to making music’. DMS’s Thursa Sanderson said: “We had no pre-existing link with the school, but our artistic director knew Tudor (Morris, head of the City of Edinburgh Music School). When we were applying for the New Music 20×12 funding for the commission, we thought it would be great to approach Tudor and ask if pupils from the City of Edinburgh Music School would like to be involved as they are recognised as the best young players from Edinburgh and the surrounding area.”
She went on: “It makes a huge difference for our young musicians with disabilities to play in an ensemble with them, because they rarely, if ever, get the chance to play or perform along with their peers, so it is a great experience for them. I think it works both ways, as it opens the eyes of the CEMS students to the technology and what you can do creatively with it, allowing them to see how young people with disabilities are able to play music – they just need the right resources and support.”
Tudor Morris said: “We were delighted to be involved in this initiative with Drake Music Scotland. It has been an incredibly rewarding project and a really great experience for our students.”
Scots composer Oliver Searle (pictured above) was one of twenty composers commissioned to write a twelve-minute piece to celebrate the Cultural Olympiad. He said: ”Part of this project was trying to write specifically for these instruments so you could say: this is a skoog piece, this is a piece for soundbeam and chamber ensemble, or this is for brainfingers. Not only have we used these instruments, but there are also solos for them!”
The soloists were Anthony Swift and Chris Jacquin, who both have cerebral palsy, and Stephanie Forrest on soundbeam, brainfingers and skoog respectively.
Andrew (15) said: ”When I was wee all I wanted to do was play an instrument. It’s just so amazing to get the opportunity to show people what I can actually be capable of.”
Pic: BBC
Technophonia, Scots composer Oliver Searle’s specially commissioned piece, was premiered in Edinburgh’s Queens Hall on 15 June, followed up with a Royal Conservatoire of Scotland on 22 June before a gala performance at London’s Southbank Centre on 15 July as part of the New Music 20×12 Weekend Celebration.
The performances received great acclaim. Triumphant Technophonia!”, “momentous achievement”, “brilliantly conceived” and “astonishing demonstration” were just a few of the many glowing comments on the three performances.
Technophonia demonstrated just how technology can aid disabled musicians perform on an equal footing with their peers, and that skoogs, soundbeams and brainfingers could become a regular sight in orchestras and bands. And yes, that disability is no barrier to making music. Congratulations to all concerned – bravo!
An investigation has been launched after the confidential files of 45 school pupils were stolen from an Edinburgh City Council worker’s home earlier this week. The files relate to pupils from Forthview and Granton Primary Schools and Broughton High School, who have had contact with the Education Welfare Service.
The files were stolen during a burglary on Wednesday, BBC Scotland has revealed.
The council said the files were ‘predominantly’ about school attendance, and a city council spokeswoman added: “We are working closely with the police on this matter but believe that these files weren’t targeted by the thief. We are making contact with all the families this information relates to and have made staff available to them to help with any questions or concerns they may have.”
Inverleith’syoung people had their say at last week’s Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership meeting held in Broughton High School. The meeting was dedicated to youth issues, and a varied programme of dance, song and drama highlighted the young people’s talents and made a refreshing change to the usual agenda of reports, presentations and statistics.
Assisted by the local Community Learning and Development team, Inverleith’s young people set the agenda for the day and Broughton High School students introduced the event. As well as music, drama and dance performances there were certificate presentations and Inverleith Youth Forum representatives also put their priorities to Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership members.
The two-hour meeting concluded with a short question time slot, where young people raised a wide range of issues including library services, safer cycling, leisure activities and community safety.
Councillor Lesley Hinds, who officially chaired the meeting, said: “I think the event really worked. On behalf of Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership I would like to say thank you to Broughton High School, and particularly the young people of Inverleith, who made the event such a success”.
Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership now plans to convene an extra meeting to look in detail at the priorities highlighted by Inverleith Youth Forum.
Inverleith’syoung people had their say at last week’s Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership meeting held in Broughton High School. The meeting was dedicated to youth issues, and a varied programme of dance, song and drama highlighted the young people’s talents and made a refreshing change to the usual agenda of reports, presentations and statistics.
Assisted by the local Community Learning and Development team, Inverleith’s young people set the agenda for the day and Broughton High School students introduced the event. As well as music, drama and dance performances there were certificate presentations and Inverleith Youth Forum representatives also put their priorities to Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership members.
The two-hour meeting concluded with a short question time slot, where young people raised a wide range of issues including library services, safer cycling, leisure activities and community safety.
Councillor Lesley Hinds, who officially chaired the meeting, said: “I think the event really worked. On behalf of Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership I would like to say thank you to Broughton High School, and particularly the young people of Inverleith, who made the event such a success”.
Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership now plans to convene an extra meeting to look in detail at the priorities highlighted by Inverleith Youth Forum.
Broughton High School Parent Council is holding a Family Music Quiz in the school’s main hall on Friday 16 March from 7 – 10pm (doors open at 6.30). It’s a great opportunity to raise funds for Broughton High School and have some fun as well.
You are invited to come as a team, or join in on the night to pit your musical knowledge against the students!
There’s a licensed bar, light buffet and music and entertainment with tickets priced at £3 for adults, secondary and students £2 and primary pupils go free.
Tickets can be reserved through the School Office on 0131 332 7805.
Local young people have been heavily involved in the planning of the next meeting of Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership. The meeting, which will held on Friday 2nd March at Broughton High School from 1.30 to 3.30pm, will offer an opportunity to see some of the young talent on display and also to view a selection of artwork created by local older people.
INP development officer Elaine Lennon explained: “We are holding an afternoon event to try to attract a wider range of people, and are holding this meeting in the local High School to showcase the talents and to highlight the issues of local young people. We will also be displaying a selection of artwork by local older people, so we hope that you can join us. Please contact me if you would like more information and feel free to pass this on to anyone you think may be interested”.
Elaine can be contacted at North Local Office on 529 5270, email elaine.lennon@edinburgh.gov.uk
Local youth work in North Edinburgh was today praised as being Outstanding and Sector Leading according to a government report which was published today following the inspection on the Broughton High School Learning Community by HMIe earlier this year.
The report has concluded that the Voluntary Sector and Community Learning & Development (CLD) scored an excellent in the section Impact On Young People.
HMIe inspectors spent a week visiting local projects and meeting with various activists and community representatives to gather evidence about the services that are being offered in the local community not only on Youth Work but on Adult Work, Capacity Building, Improving Services and Improvements in Performance.
In the other areas of their work the HMIe has graded them as Very Good. The report has highlighted certain areas of work as good practice and and in particular mention to the wide range of activities and opportunities available to young people as well ensuring that young people are involved in the local decision making process. Local project Stepping Stones was mentioned for the excellent and vital support they offer to young parents. Fet Lor Youth Centre was also highlighted for its excellent work in delivering the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme to local young people who attend their youth clubs and also within the Broughton high School.
The work that Pilton Equalities Project does with adults with additional support needs and assisting them to mange their money independently was also praised by the Inspectors. Pilton Community Health Projectare making life-changing differences to the health, wellbeing and resilience of vulnerable women and their families said the report.
The HMIe have agreed that CLD and the local service providers need to improve the following areas:
Clarify and simplify the roles and functions of strategic and operational partnerships.
Further develop accredited learning opportunities for adults.
Develop use of Experiences and Outcomes within youth work practice.
Overall this was an excellent report for the Learning Community and highlights some of the excellent work that is being carried out in the Broughton Learning Community area.
You can get a copy of the report here: http://tinyurl.com/3kaxujb
