Love Music - life enhancing music making for everyone

… a couple of weeks after the Punkit performance… they have increased confidence in the classroom and their assessed work is of a high quality. Students who hadn’t previously had instrumental lessons have taken them up since September… the biggest uptake has come from the group of students who had emotional, social and behavioural problems. I now have a group of SEN boys who regularly attend piano, guitar and drumming clubs, and two of them have taken up playing the dhol and are preparing for their first performance. ~ Punkit

Without exaggeration it was one of the best weeks of my professional career. ~ Love Music Festival

It was a fantastic week which left many young people in the Peebles area feeling inspired… they seemed to be transfixed and very respectful of these elders who came from a very foreign culture to their own. ~ Love Music Festival

These are juicy, clever, renegade songs that tap into the delights of bizarre imaginings and ricketty-racketty word play. Naughty round the edges… but touching deep into the soul of childhood… ~ The Songbook of Unsingable Songs

It’s really important that young people meet inspiring professionals and creative teams, so they can see there is actually a path… a profession in the music industry that they can aspire to.  It’s a bit more of a stand-out project in my mind – it’s up-ed the game. It’s so creative, and Stephen has done a wonderful job putting together such an inspired composition. ~ Punkit

Love Music Festival provided a tremendous opportunity for young people 4-18 to experience diverse musical performances of the highest international calibre in the local setting of the Grand Hall Complex in Kilmarnock. Over 2,200 pupils from over 30 schools attended the four-day Festival in East Ayrshire alone. One of the key success criteria in successfully devising, managing and delivering a programme of this size and complexity was the high level of effective partnership working from the outset. It was a highly successful and professional event, which has had a significant impact on the learning and life experiences of a large number of children and young people. ~ Love Music Festival

I don’t think I have ever felt like I need to write and thank a festival or a concert like I do now. I attended Friday’s Balkan Mash with my school and then returned with my family on Saturday. I can’t say how much we all enjoyed both days and to have the chance to hear, mix with and talk to all the musicians and music from around the world. They all felt like friends by the end. It was great and also brought us in touch with other teachers and schools who were enthusiastic about different music and cultures. Above all, it treated the children like adults, listening to real music – not ‘children’s songs’ – and the respect that that showed was brilliant. The resources online were great too as they really enabled us to get in tune (pardon the expression) before hand. ~ Love Music Festival

The choir has led me to want to take my interests in music further. For a long time I have wanted to know more about music theory, so I found a free online course that I could study at night. This in turn led me to study song writing and the history of classical music, also online. More to the point, my return to choral singing has inspired me to want to tackle an emotional block that has affected my voice for many years. ~ Love Music Community Choir

I’ve learnt how to play the drum better, and I’ve built my confidence. I’ve made new friends, I’ve had fun so far, and I can’t wait for the rest of Punkit, and plus I can’t wait until tomorrow to play. ~ Punkit

“I love Punkit!” “We got to express our inner talents!” “I learned how to make music with different instruments” “Punkit is the best!” “Punkit is brilliant and good fun” “It was a great experience” ~ Punkit

The Love Music Festival was such an amazing experience. In all our years of performing at festivals, we’ve never seen another event with a more diverse or globally representative lineup of artists. Regardless of culture, style or heritage, every act was exceptional and world-class. ~ Love Music Festival

Punkit is very accessible to schools, particularly to any teachers who might have students who lack confidence working with others or any social skill problems, because it gets them working together as a big group, and making music together. For people who are not so confident in leading big groups, I think this could be a fantastic project for them. ~ Punkit

I have no experience teaching world music, but here was a superb online resource, with clear, ready-made mini-lessons on video, heaps of inspiring lesson ideas and a treasure-store of music clips. Soon we were layering rhythm patterns into exciting percussion performances, and experimenting with tone sequences from Balkan modes to create atmospheric pieces. By the time of the actual festival, the children all listened with much greater understanding, appreciation and enjoyment. ~ Love Music Festival

Fun, amazing, inspirational – it’s inspired me to do more music. ~ Punkit

Music and a love of singing may be the common thread that brings everyone together here, but once that has been achieved then finding out more about the people around you, making new friendships and breaking down any perceived social barriers is in the end the far more important aspect of a community choir. ~ Love Music Community Choir

Yesterday I had the chance to get a full drenching in the many parts and artistic beauty of the Love Music Festival. I have never heard the like of it. From the foundation in a broad inclusiveness and irrepressible curiosity about music, to respect for young people’s musical capacity, to the hundreds of decisions made by teaching artist/animateurs that give every interaction an engaging flavor, it is irresistible. ~ Love Music Festival

I joined LMCC after trying out two other choirs and was immediately made very welcome. I have met lovely, cheery folk every week and forget my troubles for a couple of hours. My brain has been stretched, I have learned masses and achieved more than I thought possible. My choir friends have been so supportive; every rehearsal is fun, uplifting, demanding and joyous. ~ Love Music Community Choir

Three years in and I still feel inspired and motivated every week! It’s a wonderful, joyful, fun and challenging adventure and I am very thankful to be part of it! ~ Love Music Community Choir

There is an atmosphere of relaxed fun during rehearsal. No one is made to feel that they cannot keep up; the ethos is one of encouragement that everyone can sing. People respond to this message and give their best in return. At the same time there is no compromise on musicality. The standard set is high and even those who have some musical training can be challenged by what is expected of us. It’s a winning combination and has provided me with something from which I can learn and that is highly enjoyable and always worth the effort that it takes to get there each week. ~ Love Music Community Choir

Music and song, as practised by the Love Music team, is uplifting, fun and a true ‘cradle for the soul’ ~ Love Music Community Choir

Love Music Festival is a brilliant project. Introducing new and international sounds to young people at the time their musical appetites are developing, in communities from the Borders to the Western Isles, is a fantastic way to develop audiences and the next generation of musicians. ~ Love Music Festival

Everything about it was clever and cutting edge… a most incredible and uplifting event, as though Tom Waites and Stephen Sondheim had come together with Roald Dahl. Deazley is quite simply a visionary… he makes real, challenging art with the children who are lucky enough to work with him. ~ The Songbook of Unsingable Songs