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NEWS F Music & Drama Education Awards 2025 ILLER MIN COL © Winners at the Music & Drama Education Awards ceremony Radio presenter Simon Beale presented the Music and Drama Education Awards 2025 at a live ceremony on 30 January at The Royal National Hotel, London. The winners were chosen from a pre-announced shortlist, with six organisations or individuals given high commendations for their work. The MDEA jury – chaired by Phil Croydon, editor of Music Teacher, and Wendy Frost, Head of Content (Drama) for Expo 2025 – was made up of a range of leading voices from the worlds of music and drama education. The music categories were judged by Emily Crowhurst, Kate Campbell-Green, Kay Charlton, Aileen Douthwaite, Liv Edwards, Jon Fell, Tolu McCarthy, Edwin Pitt Mansfield, and Sarah Share. This year the awards included a new category, The MTI Award for Achievement in Musical Theatre Provision. Sponsored by Music Theatre International (MTI), the award acknowledges and celebrates outstanding musical theatre provision in a primary or secondary setting. Two Editor Awards were given directly by Music Teacher and Drama & Theatre magazines, each to an individual or organisation of its choosing. Phil Croydon gave the Music Teacher award to Brass Bands England, for the charity’s work in supporting community musicmaking and instrumental music teaching in schools. Also announced at the Awards ceremony was the launch of a joint campaign by Music Teacher and Gramophone to promote the right of everyone to a music education. Further details of the campaign can be found on page 9. musicdramaedawards.com The 2025 Music & Drama Education Awards winners included: Outstanding Musical Initiative Winner: Flagship Schools Programme, Music Masters Outstanding Music Education Resource Winner: Musical Storyland and the BBC Philharmonic Outstanding Music Education Print Resource Winner: How to Sight-Read by Paul Harris, Faber Music Excellence In SEND (Music & Drama) Winner: Voices In The Wilderness, The Big Reveal Highly commended: Orchestra360, Create Music Excellence In Musical Theatre (Music & Drama) Winner: BB Broadway at Turbine Theatre Battersea MTI Award For Achievement In Musical Theatre Provision Winner: Droylsden Academy, Manchester Highly commended: Caister Academy, Caister-On-Sea Excellence In Primary and Early Years (Music & Drama) Winner: Satellite Opera House, Buxton Opera The Rocksteady Award For Progressive And Inclusive Music Education Winner: Composition Challenges, London Sinfonietta Highly commended: Powerjam Band Project Outstanding School Music Department Winner: The Winston Churchill School, Woking Highly commended: Bristol Cathedral Choir School Instrumental or Vocal Teacher Of The Year Winner: Catherine Williams Music Inspiration Award Winner: Carly Palmer Music Teacher Magazine Editor’s Award Winner: Brass Bands England Lifetime Achievement Award (Music) Winner: Professor Martin Fautley 6 F March 2025 F MUSIC TEACHER www.musicteachermagazine.co.uk
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F NEWS International conference will focus on music and physical disability An international conference on Music & Physical Disability will take place on 15 and 16 March at Birmingham City University’s City South Campus; it is expected to attract musicians, music educators, instrument designers and instrument makers from across the globe. The event will explore barriers to music-making faced by people with physical disabilities, including the design and ongoing production of instruments to wide-ranging issues around performing. Presentations will include a demonstration of recently developed instrument designs. Among the contributors will be disabled musicians as well as instrument makers, academic researchers from many different disciplines, teachers, charities, funders, and government agencies. The conference is being delivered by music disability charity The OHMI Trust, in collaboration with Birmingham City University and Imperial College London, and with sponsorship from The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM). It builds on the inaugural OHMI Conference in 2018, which attracted international representation and speakers from five continents. Rachel Wolffsohn, OHMI’s general manager, said, ‘Our 2025 Conference will be a truly international affair. We have speakers from the US, Australia, mainland Europe and the UK presenting their groundbreaking work. Our overarching themes, which include digital music solutions and music education, are designed to appeal to a range of delegates beyond professional musicians whatever their interest in full inclusion in music-making.’ James Risdon, ABRSM’s Access Lead, added, ‘We recently announced our new exam repertoire lists for pianists playing with one hand at Grades 1–5. Featuring a broad range of music for left- and right-hand piano, including some exciting new commissions through our composer mentoring programme, this development has been made possible through the dedication of specialist consultants and the invaluable support of organisations such as OHMI. We’re delighted to be headline sponsor for this important conference, which will help raise awareness of one-handed piano playing among both adults and children.’ Delegates at the conference will hear internationally acclaimed classical pianist Nicholas McCarthy perform some of ABRSM’s new one-handed Performance Grade repertoire. The winners of the OHMI Competition awards – which are designed to stimulate further and more rapid developments over the coming years – will also be announced at the awards ceremony on the Sunday evening, presented by Toyah Willcox. Tickets may be purchased on the OHMI Research Partnership website. An Early Bird Discount rate of £200, for tickets offering full access to Saturday and Sunday of the conference and to the Awards ceremony on Saturday evening, is available until Friday 14 February. Nicholas McCarthy will perform at the conference NEWS IN BRIEF The Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, gave a keynote address at The Bett Show in London on 22 January in which she set out government plans to transform teaching through the use of technology. All students and teachers should be able to access tools and support, including knowing what tech to buy, teacher training, and help in classroom usage. AI should also ‘cut through costly and time-consuming processes’, thus helping to resolve the current recruitment crisis, which is particularly acute in music – Simon Toyne (see February MT) wrote: ‘Over the last five years, only 65% of the music teacher trainee recruitment target was met; last academic year, the figure was only 27.3%.’ SoundLincs, a charity aiming to foster universal and accessible music-making, has a new website. It includes the new and improved SoundEMission and MusicLink services. SoundEMission is a free information service supporting individuals and organisations involved in music development across the East Midlands; MusicLink is a directory for music professionals in the East Midlands. soundlincs.org On 3 February, applications closed for the ORA Singers’ Young Composers programme. Under the scheme, 10 composers will receive 1:1 mentoring with a professional composer; an additional 40 Apprentices will participate in a series of online composition workshops, meet industry experts and gain advice about further study. tinyurl.com/4f5a84ym www.musicteachermagazine.co.uk MUSIC TEACHER F March 2025 F 7

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NEWS F

Music & Drama Education Awards 2025

ILLER

MIN

COL

©

Winners at the Music & Drama Education Awards ceremony

Radio presenter Simon Beale presented the Music and Drama Education Awards 2025 at a live ceremony on 30 January at The Royal National Hotel, London. The winners were chosen from a pre-announced shortlist, with six organisations or individuals given high commendations for their work.

The MDEA jury – chaired by Phil Croydon, editor of Music Teacher, and Wendy Frost, Head of Content (Drama) for Expo 2025 – was made up of a range of leading voices from the worlds of music and drama education.

The music categories were judged by Emily Crowhurst, Kate Campbell-Green, Kay Charlton, Aileen Douthwaite, Liv Edwards, Jon Fell, Tolu McCarthy, Edwin Pitt Mansfield, and Sarah Share.

This year the awards included a new category, The MTI Award for Achievement in Musical Theatre Provision. Sponsored by Music

Theatre International (MTI), the award acknowledges and celebrates outstanding musical theatre provision in a primary or secondary setting.

Two Editor Awards were given directly by Music Teacher and Drama & Theatre magazines, each to an individual or organisation of its choosing. Phil Croydon gave the Music Teacher award to Brass Bands England, for the charity’s work in supporting community musicmaking and instrumental music teaching in schools.

Also announced at the Awards ceremony was the launch of a joint campaign by Music Teacher and Gramophone to promote the right of everyone to a music education. Further details of the campaign can be found on page 9. musicdramaedawards.com

The 2025 Music & Drama Education Awards winners included:

Outstanding Musical Initiative Winner: Flagship Schools Programme, Music Masters Outstanding Music Education Resource Winner: Musical Storyland and the BBC Philharmonic Outstanding Music Education Print Resource Winner: How to Sight-Read by Paul Harris, Faber Music Excellence In SEND (Music & Drama) Winner: Voices In The Wilderness, The Big Reveal Highly commended: Orchestra360, Create Music Excellence In Musical Theatre (Music & Drama) Winner: BB Broadway at Turbine Theatre Battersea MTI Award For Achievement In Musical Theatre Provision Winner: Droylsden Academy, Manchester Highly commended: Caister Academy, Caister-On-Sea Excellence In Primary and Early Years (Music & Drama) Winner: Satellite Opera House, Buxton Opera

The Rocksteady Award For Progressive And Inclusive Music Education Winner: Composition Challenges, London Sinfonietta Highly commended: Powerjam Band Project Outstanding School Music Department Winner: The Winston Churchill School, Woking Highly commended: Bristol Cathedral Choir School Instrumental or Vocal Teacher Of The Year Winner: Catherine Williams Music Inspiration Award Winner: Carly Palmer Music Teacher Magazine Editor’s Award Winner: Brass Bands England Lifetime Achievement Award (Music) Winner: Professor Martin Fautley

6 F March 2025 F MUSIC TEACHER

www.musicteachermagazine.co.uk

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