Welcome
FSYO is a charitable organisation whose aim is to support the orchestral and string ensembles that are part of the Southampton Youth Orchestras. The pyramid offers opportunities equally for very new string players, some of whom may be just 8 or 9 years old, through to sixth formers of Grade 8 standard on one or several instruments. Many of those who started out in the junior ensembles have, with encouragement from teachers and families, built on those early experiences to get right to the top of the pyramid and beyond. Additionally we are now linked with 'First Steps', the City's ensembles for very new players.
Southampton has a long pedigree of music provision, including wind ensembles, brass bands, jazz orchestras and percussion groups which complement the classical music played by 'our' seven ensembles. Quite a few young musicians eventually learn more than one instrument, and/or enjoy performing more than one type of music.
Performances
It's a long tradition that the majority of the ensembles have a concert in the weeks running up to Christmas. There were upbeat reports on all fronts. A special mention is warranted for SYCS who coped admirably with the lights going out and the fire alarm going off during their performance - fortunately there were no fires!
Southampton's Central Hall is host to two very interesting events this spring. Saturday 10 March sees the annual Pyramid Concert, where all our ensembles have the opportunity to perform under the same roof. The quality has been unerringly high over the last few years, from the new starters in First Steps to veterans of the Youth Orchestra (shown here in rehearsal in 2008). Many of the youngest will not so far have performed in anywhere grander than a primary school hall, while some of the SYO top tier will be soon moving on to conservatoire or university. It's truly inspirational, and is a great family outing. As usual, to cut down on queues on the night, you are encouraged to get your tickets in advance. Details of practical arrangements for the day and evening are available in FAQ form from the Downloads page.
Some of First Steps and SYCS will be back at Central Hall on Thursday 22 March, along with members of other ensembles and choirs. With the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, they will be part of a special centenary performance of The Wreck of the Titanic. Composer David Bedford, who died last year, had a lifetime's commitment to composing for a wide range of styles and musicians of all ages and backgrounds. Again this promises to be a really memorable event.
The future of music in Southampton
The 2011 AGM took place on Saturday 5 November, at Taunton's College. You can read about some of the past year's activities from the musical directors, and the Chair's report from Sue Wilkins. These are all on the ensembles page.
The long awaited National Music Plan was published in November. This sets out the way in which music education will be organised through local music Hubs from September 2012. These Hubs, consisting of partnerships of music education and arts providers in a locality, will bid for funding. FSYO have been invited to take part in the discussions with other local partners.
While the NMP has been broadly welcomed in the music world, reaction in the press and elsewhere has been mixed with concerns about long-term funding. The Core roles of a local Hub are to:
a) Ensure that every child aged 5-18 has the opportunity to learn a musical instrument (other than voice) through whole-class ensemble teaching programmes for ideally a year (but for a minimum of a term) of weekly tuition on the same instrument.
b) Provide opportunities to play in ensembles and to perform from an early stage.
c) Ensure that clear progression routes are available and affordable to all young people.
d) Develop a singing strategy to ensure that every pupil sings regularly and that choirs and other vocal ensembles are available in the area.
Most Hubs are also expected to offer CPD to school staff, particularly in supporting schools to deliver music in the curriculum; provide an instrument loan service, with discounts or free provision for those on low incomes; provide access to large scale and/or high quality music experiences for pupils, working with professional musicians and/or venues. This may include undertaking work to publicise the opportunities available to schools, parents/carers and students. As one of the underpinning principles of the NMP is the requirement for partnership working to meet local needs, parental involvement and support remains as vital as ever. You can access the DfE document The Importance of Music here.
Getting involved
You can download the 2011-12 FSYO membership form, including a Gift Aid section. Joining today is one way of helping us to support your child's orchestra, and others, into the future.
We have had kind offers of help with several roles. If anyone else would like to offer their services or skills, however great or samll, for the coming year, please contact Sue Wilkins (Chair) or Claire Thompson (Secretary). In particular, we need:
- Advertising co-ordinator, generally to make (and sustain) contact with local businesses to agree advertising in programme concerts, or possibly other forms of sponsorship.
- A news editor to help with the words on the website and/or the newsletter. You don't have to be techie, but you do need to be involved with both the Friends and at least one of the orchestras, so you know what's going on.
- More Committee members.
For any FSYO-related payments received or expenses claimed, you can download a voucher to complete and pass to the Treasurer. You can find the voucher, along with the Educational Visits Consent Form and several other documents on the Downloads page.
Fundraising
Our fundraising partners buy.at have recently been rebranded as Spend and Raise. The principle remains the same however: you go through their site to the websites of partner retailers, and anything you buy through this method generates a commission for FSYO. If you would like to be added to the mailing list for special offers, just let us know at the usual email address, info@fsyo.org.uk.
Your suggestions and contributions to the website are always welcome, again via this email address. For additional management facilities, click here.
Most of the downloadable documents on this site are in .pdf format. If you do not already have a .pdf reader on your PC, you may wish to download the free Foxit reader (1.5mb).
The Music Library pages are back again while new ones are redeveloped. Follow through the link on the right.