Skills Lab Academy 2022 kicked off earlier in February, and we had nearly 70 people creating music and developing musical skills throughout the last 3 workshops!
We are excited to share with you some highlights of the Skills Lab Academy workshops we have had so far.
Collaborative Facilitation in Music Leading
Skills Lab: Collaborative Facilitation in Music Leading marked the beginning of Skills Lab Academy 2022. With Abimaro Gunnell, Kate Whitley, and The Multi-Story Orchestra, the participants explored and developed workshop techniques and leadership skills. The workshop involved creative music making, and encouraged the participants to get out of their comfort zone and have fun! Here’s a sneak peek into the workshop:
Digital Technology and Inclusive Practice
In May, we travelled up north to Leeds for our Skills Lab Academy workshop on digital technology and inclusive practice. The session offered established and emerging music leaders the chance to understand working creatively with inclusive ensembles involving both disabled and non-disabled musicians. The participants explored themes around how one can modify their material for mixed ability groups, and discover accessible music technology for supporting fun, creative, inclusive music-making.
One of the participants, Sharon, shared about the workshop:
“The thing that made me want to take part in the Skill Lab Series, was that I was looking for a course that would help me to learn about facilitating therapeutic music in a class setting or community, I was really thinking about mental health and how I could get some training on how to lead others to create music for themselves and other people for their well-being. And as I was looking for a course. I stumbled upon Spitalfields website and saw the workshops.
The workshops have really helped me to come out of myself. As I can be quite shy, but also realising that we are all in the same boat, and that you don’t have to know everything. Just be open and go for it. Your learning as you go along. Plus the wealth of information and resources that have been shared within the workshop has made me feel a little more confident to lead a workshop.”
Music and Mindfulness
We have delivered a series of online wellbeing workshops for musicians and practitioners during the 2020 lockdown, The Island of the Self neighbourhood schools project, and a day of Music & Mindfulness for families as part of Spitalfields Music Festival 2021. And this year, we decided to bring Music and Mindfulness to Skills Lab Academy!
Music-making and Mindfulness has been developed alongside experts in music and wellness methodologies, Mindful Music, and it offered an overview of mindfulness techniques and methodologies that use music to support wellbeing, and help participants explore their feelings within the context of a creative music workshop.
We have also brought this amazing workshop to a number of our neighbourhood schools this year, and we hope to keep creating a positive impact on young people’s lives by bringing Music & Mindfulness workshops to more schools in the near future.
Did you miss out on the Skills Lab Academy workshops?
Don’t worry, we still have one more Skills Lab Academy workshop!
Creative Music Making in Schools was originally planned for 29 March and has been rescheduled to take place on 14 July.
You can book your place now on our website.