With awards from the Arts Council and the National Lottery, Acoustic Arts have co-ordinated music projects with playgroups, schools, colleges, youth centres, hospitals, prisons and environmental and arts organisations across the U.K.
Workshops are accessible to people of all abilities, exploring the fundamentals of sound and rhythm through activities such as instrument-making (using scrap materials), voicework, percussion and storytelling. Past projects include;
‘Blow Your Own Trumpet’ with Bristol School of Samba, 2000. A group of teenagers worked with professional craftsmen over ten weeks to build musical instruments from recycled materials. They then performed their own compositions at a BBC Music Live concert in front of 2000 people.
‘All Join in’ with Children’s Playlink and South Gloucestershire Council, 2003-4. In this project, involving over 400 pre-school children, Acoustic Arts recruited local and international artists to showcase a wide variety of musical styles and instruments, and to provide specialist training for playgroup leaders.
‘5x5x5’ with WOMAD and Youth Music, 2005. Inspired by the Reggio Emilia early years educational model in N. Italy, this research project brought together groups of young children, some with profound learning difficulties, to explore art and sound in a series of self-directed sessions.