Students studying GCSE, BTEC and A level music often have to write music in four parts, but in many cases lack the confidence to compose for an existing ensemble such as a string quartet. School budgets are stretched and it’s often not possible to expose students to high quality music performance in school as part of the standard curriculum, which widens the attainment gap between students who have these opportunities outside of school and those for whom those opportunities are lacking.

Our project will take live music workshops into six Gloucestershire secondary schools, introducing the instruments, breaking down string techniques, and empowering the students to feel confident in writing music for a tried and tested combination of instruments. As part of the workshop, the quartet will perform student compositions in development and the visiting musicians and composer will provide advice and feedback on how to take things on to the next stage and complete their works.