BBC Blast and The Poetry Society have partnered up to bring you this year’s SLAMbassadors competition. Six winners will be invited to a two day masterclass event to be held in London with leading UK poets. The winners will also get the chance to show their skills at a live slam poetry event and perform alongside professional poets including Scroobius Pip and Benjamin Zephaniah!

Write an original piece (poem or rap) on the theme of identity and win the chance to perform at a live slam poetry event. Record your original track in less than 60 seconds and upload to our showcase now!

HOW TO ENTER

If you are 13-19 and want to enter the competition send us an audio or video recording of yourself performing your original verse as a rap, song or spoken word in 60 seconds or less.

For more information on Slam and a further workshop not on the Blast tour, find out more on The Poetry Society’s SLAMbassadors UK website.

YOU CAN ENTER BY:

1. Uploading your entry to BBC Blast website and tagging it ’slam09′.
2. Email your entry to blast@bbc.co.uk with your name, age and email address and put ‘SLAMbassadors Competition’ in the subject line.
3. Send by post with details of name, age and email address to: ‘SLAMbassadors Competition’, BBC Blast Online, MC3 D2, 201 Wood Lane, London W12 7TS.

Musical Futures brings non–formal teaching and informal learning approaches into schools. It aims to make music learning relevant to young people, connect in school and out–of–school experiences, and find ways of engaging all 11–18 year olds in sustainable music making and learning.

‘Musical Futures: An Approach to Teaching and Learning’ guides teachers and practitioners through the ethos and approach of Musical Futures, providing practical advice and a range of resources.  The resource is free with a £5 postage and packing charge.

Order your copy now at www.musicalfutures.org.uk

Deadline: 30 October 2009

Choral Ambition is a brand new scheme run by the BBC Performing Arts Fund in association with Making Music to provide funding for choirs across the UK. The fund is for adult or youth choirs of any genre. The maximum grant is £5,000, the minimum is £500. The grant can be used for commissioning new music, training and development, masterclasses, workshops and projects to attract new members

To find out more visit www.bbc.co.uk/performingartsfund/choral_ambition

Ed Balls – Secretary of State for Children Schools and Families – has announced details of exciting plans for the academic year 2009-2010. A national year of celebrating music will commence in September 2009, encompassing unprecedented opportunities for children and young people across the country to participate in a range of music-related activities.

www.youthmusic.org.uk/news/dcsf-announces-national-year-of-music-celebration.html

RNID is the largest charity working to change the world for the UK’s 9 million people who are deaf or hard of hearing. We run the Don’t Lose The Music campaign, which aims to make sure people know how and why to protect their hearing while enjoying music.

Exposure to sounds above 85 decibels over time will damage hearing. Music played at clubs, gigs, in cars, at home and on personal audio equipment can be well above that level. Yet many people do not know the very thing they love could be harming them. We’re campaigning to make sure people know how to protect their hearing while enjoying music.

The campaign is not about

For more info visit http://www.dontlosethemusic.com/home/

Available to music projects providing music-making activities to children aged 0-18, Youth Music will be launching their new funding programme on 30 June 2009.

Grants for between £5,000 and £30,000 will be available to projects running for 6 - 24 months. The fund will be available to projects that provide structured, regular and progressive music-making activities for children and young people in support of Youth Music’s 3 goals of working with Early Years, Children and Young People in Challenging Circumstances and Encouraging Talent
To be eligible, projects will need to work with children and young people aged 0-18 years (or up to 25 if they have special educational needs, disabilities or are in detention) and children and young people will be at the heart of the decision making for all projects

The fund will support and promote innovation, partnership working and workforce development.
More: www.youthmusic.org.uk/news/new-youth-music-fund-launches-30-june.html

Mike and his team cover anything from rock bands to computer based music making.

(Mike ran the very successful soundbeam workshop at The County Youth (arts) Day)

Tel -01926742630

Mobile - 0785 5544685