Supporting young musicians is at the heart of our Festival’s mission. We work closely with schools and music organisations across Buckinghamshire to provide opportunities for young performers to showcase their talent. Our bursary partnership with Bucks Music Trust offers primary aged children music lessons at a discounted rate, helping those who face financial barriers to access music for the first time. Through workshops, masterclasses, and performance opportunities, we aim to inspire the next generation of musicians and nurture a lifelong love of music.
Music Education
'The Winds of the World'
A children’s singing project from September 2026
Introduction by Chris Hopkins
Back in 2022 I was lucky enough to be invited over to Denmark to work on a project which was inspiring and energising - one which we hope to bring to young people in and around Amersham.
Fundamentally, ‘The Winds of the World’ is a set of four song collections: each one contains 7-9 purpose-made narrative songs published in engaging format, with lots of supporting material. Every book tells a story from a different part of the world with songs perfectly written for children to sing, regardless of musical ability.
More than that though: ‘The Winds’ is also a template for an amazing experience for young people; these uniquely brilliant songs can be a gateway for children to find their voice, to discover music, to express complex ideas and perspectives, and ultimately to engage with their innate creativity in a very practical and empowering way. Written by expert educationalists Kirsten Juul Seidenfaden and Cecilie Eken, ‘The Winds’ have been highly successful in Denmark where they have encouraged thousands of schoolchildren to sing, create, and enjoy expressing themselves through music.
For many children practical engagement in music is disappearing at an alarming rate, fuelled by successive governments’ failures to invest in education and the arts. The gap in provision between state and private schools is growing, and the opportunities that were available in my own youth to be involved in musical projects are too few and far between. This despite the fact that we know that regular practical ensemble music-making can have hugely positive effects on happiness, attendance, social and emotional skills, numeracy, literacy and much more besides. We can’t fix this national problem, but we can do what we can do to help our local community, and that’s what this project is about.
Our three-year plan is to provide 25 weekly sessions led by qualified and inspiring musicians and built into the timetables of five schools per year, with all materials, music, musicians and support provided at no cost: children will learn warm-ups, musical games, songs from ‘The Winds’, and create their own artistic responses to the pieces. The programme will run from September each year, and culminate in participating schools coming together as part of the festival’s spring season the following April. We’re on our way to being fully funded for this programme, but if you are interested in supporting the project, please consider donating by following this link.
Bursary Scheme
Following a generous legacy from the Lascalles family in 2004, the Amersham Festival Society supported over 100 young musicians through bursaries, assisting them to achieve their potential. In 2024 we reviewed the impact of our bursary scheme and migrated to our bursary partnership with Bucks Music Trust to deliver greater impact, supporting children to access music lessons for the first time.