Liverpool has been singing the praises for Passion for Music Festival, a Liverpool Music Support Service (LMSS) production that took place in St George’s Hall this week from Monday 20th – Tuesday 21st June.

The Festival, which was in celebration of the City’s young musical talent, brought together over 700 children on World Music Day for a spectacular display of performance, musical workshops and mass singing sessions within the great hall. Jonathan Dickson, Head of Service at Liverpool Music Support Service said: “Passion for Music Festival was a roaring success for both the LMSS and every child involved in these special events. We could feel a real buzz around the Festival but we didn’t realise just how much it meant to the children until we saw the looks of excitement on their faces this week.” The Festival, which showcased the talent of the young people benefiting from the LMSS’s musical education programmes, featured live performances from groups of singers and musicians as well as workshops where the young people could learn new songs, dance and celebrate the classics tunes, as well as their favourite chart hits with their own renditions. An evening of performance and presentation kicked off the Festival on Monday evening and the activities continued with a day of musical fun on Tuesday.

Jean Tremarco, Coordinator of Classroom Support at Liverpool Music Support Service said: “The children had such an incredible time in one of the most beautiful venues in Liverpool on World Music Day. Groups from some of the 27 local schools in attendance were getting up on the stage to sing and dance, while hundreds of other in the audience danced and sang along with them. After all of the hard work these children have put into their musical education over the school year, it was fantastic to offer them this opportunity to celebrate their excellence and, most importantly, have fun with music!” Liverpool Music Support Service’s Wider Opportunities initiative works to provide entire Year 4 classes with the chance to learn an instrument for a whole year with the support of specialist teachers from the service.

The instruments, chosen by each class, are loaned to the school for one year, where they will be available to the schoolchildren for the musical instruction that has been integrated into the core curriculum, as well as at the various after school and weekend workshops that LMSS organise in partnership with local schools. Working with over 125 schools across Liverpool, LMSS have been instrumental in developing the musical education system in the city, providing everything from individual and small group lessons to Wider Opportunities, whole class instrumental lessons, curriculum support and after-school music clubs.

The first Festival of its kind in the city, this week’s success has inspired Liverpool Music Support Service to start planning for next year and looking to collaborate with others to involve additional artistic disciplines such as dance, and perhaps even theatre, in the programme.