The Wiltshire Music Centre has had strong roots in its local communities since the very beginning with hundreds of local people working and fundraising for over ten years to make the building a reality. And since the Centre opened eight years ago, it has been the work of local musicians and teachers, the commitment of the volunteers and the enthusiastic involvement of thousands of young players and singers from all over Wiltshire and Swindon that has given the Centre its inimitable buzz and sense of creative vitality, in many ways just as much as the glittering array of national and international artists.

Open and busy for up to 80 hours each week, during term time you might find the stage packed with junior string players taking part in a West Wilts Young Musicians’ rehearsal; budding young jazz stars learning improvisation skills from more experienced players at Jazz Factory; or toddlers arriving with their parents for the Music Makers group. And during the holidays, there might be the inspiringly talented Wiltshire and Swindon Youth Orchestra; open access summer workshops; or Creative Factory which gives young people of all abilities the chance to take part in a week of intensive improvisation and composition, devising and performing their own music. Find out more about our regular activities.

But what happens in the building is by no means the complete picture. Ever since the Centre opened its doors, the Wiltshire Music Centre Trust has worked hard to share the rewards of live music-making with communities right across the County and beyond. This is the Centre’s exciting outreach programme.

Since 1998, the Trust has delivered 42 outreach projects in 87 rural and urban primary and junior schools, 11 secondaries, 12 special schools, 17 youth centres and with 33 other community groups; over 9,860 people (mainly young people) and 150 teachers from all parts of Wiltshire & Swindon have taken part.

Whilst the extent of the work is impressive, the activity is also very varied in order to give the widest range of people access to high quality music making. There are singing projects in small rural primary schools where professional musicians train teachers to help meet curriculum targets, and, most importantly, give children from isolated communities the uplifting experience of singing in a large group in front of an audience at the Centre. Young people have worked alongside world-class players from Britten Sinfonia and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment to write and perform new music. DJ decks and laptops have been loaded onto Youth Service buses to provide music technology workshops for ‘at-risk’ young people and the Centre has received national acclaim for its work with disabled people of all ages, which empowers them to create their own shows. Find out more about our education and community outreach projects.

Since opening, the Centre has raised more than £750,000 to support its education and community work and we are grateful to all who have supported this valuable programme.