Talbot Village Trust has awarded the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO) with a £20,000 grant to support the purchase of the equipment needed to livestream school concerts.
Through the donation, Talbot Village Trust has enabled thousands of children who go to school in Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch and East Dorset, to watch the livestream of BSO Schools’ Concerts as part of the Orchestra’s Participate education programme.
BSO Participate teaches over 70,000 people every year and aims to bring music to people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities, with a particular focus on those who don’t have easy access to classical music.
Lisa Tregale, head of BSO Participate, explained: “Over the past four years, the BSO’s waiting list for its schools concerts has grown enormously, however, not all schools have the funds to attend. Now that we have received the grant to livestream our concerts to local schools, it has allowed us to engage with children who wouldn’t have been able to attend and enjoy high quality music-making in their school and local community.”
“A child’s first experience of a live concert, playing a musical instrument or taking part in a music-making workshop, can lead to a lifetime of enjoyment and even a professional career in music which is something which we are keen to support.”
Russell Lucas-Rowe, Trustee of Talbot Village Trust, added: “Music plays such an important role in education and we are pleased to have provided the BSO with the funds to ensure the school concerts are accessed by all children in the county.
“We are really happy to be supporting the BSO in this way as we believe music has such a positive impact on children both inside and outside the classroom.”
Talbot Village Trust meets biannually, and will be accepting applications for funding from both previous and new applicants in the area before the Trustees meet in the autumn of this year. Please go to www.talbotvillagetrust.org for more information.