Oxfordshire County Council Music Centre Workshops

As well as teaching a big range of musical instruments, the Oxfordshire Music Centre runs lots of events and activities to bring people together to play and learn as a group. In fact the service helps organise over a thousand different musical activities every week for musicians of all ages and abilities.

Orla, Imogen and Elizabeth from St Andrews School play the viola, Skye from St Michaels school plays the violin, and also has lessons with the County Music School. All four play together in the Oxfordshire Schools Orchestra, and several of them play at the Oxford Area Music School on Saturday mornings. 

Earlier in the summer they took part in ‘Baroque Rock’, a workshop created by the Music Centre and Oxford Music Partnership, along with around 80 students from schools across Oxfordshire.

The workshop used pieces like Pachelbel’s Canon and Vivaldi’s the Four Seasons, adding bass and drums to create a blend of classical and rock. 

Having several pieces of music to play over the course of the day is a great way to build up confidence, and get to grips with several different pieces of music. It also helps budding musicians improve their technique. Most importantly it’s really fun.

Oxfordshire Music Service’s workshops are a great activity for young musicians of all different genres. As well as classical music the service also give aspiring rock or pop artists the chance to get to grips with PA systems, soundchecking and rehearsals.