Putting young people at the heart of everything we do

At Sheffield Music Hub, we are committed to putting young people at the heart of everything we do, and our joyful Christmas concerts were a wonderful example of that!

Our incredible Junior Ambassadors for Music (JAMs) were in full swing during our concerts. Young musicians took charge of organising rehearsal timings (and enjoyed reminding some adults of the schedule). They passionately discussed how to organise the music groups in the holding rooms. The scripts for every concert were co-written with our young people, and all speaking and announcements were delivered by them.

We believe that music education isn’t just about improving young musicians' skills on their instruments and learning to play as a team. It’s also about developing their communication, public speaking, concert management, leadership, and much more. We want our young musicians to leave us ready to take on bigger and better things with a wealth of skills that will benefit them throughout their lives, not just as proficient musicians.

Our JAMs also play a crucial role in the collection of Youth Voice. During our concerts they gathered feedback from our young musicians. We received some fascinating insights. Please find the full Youth Voice feedback presentation put together by young person Samuella here. After discussing the feedback, we have developed some action plans that we would love to share with you. Here’s what we found out.

Confidence during performances: The majority of students felt confident, but some were slightly worried. ACTION: Music Hub staff will remind young people that support is available if needed, and our Junior Ambassadors for Music will be encouraged to speak to those who appear to be struggling.

Concert Programming: Most students enjoyed performing with a variety of music groups, though younger students preferred similar groups. ACTION: We will continue to programme mixed concerts but provide more opportunities for informal performances. These will take place on rehearsal nights.

Venues: The young musicians enjoyed performing at all venues but especially enjoyed the more exciting and special venues. ACTION: We will continue to programme concerts at both rehearsal venues and other more exciting spaces in Sheffield, ensuring music groups get a chance to experience both. We will also look at ways to make our rehearsal venue concerts feel special and not just like a weekly rehearsal.

Going forward we will continue to prioritise youth voice. We want to make every part of our young musician’s musical journey the best possible experience, and youth voice is an integral part of that process!