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education projects

The Henley Festival Trust is supporting the arts in the community through education projects.

Our outreach programme SHOUT! (Schools in Henley OUTreach) brings arts professionals into 17 schools throughout the school year and touches around 800 students. Funds also go towards visual arts residencies in schools and musical theatre courses are run during school holidays.

SHOUT
From September 2005, Henley Festival has appointed Kinetika, the London based Carnival Arts company. Visual arts, music and dance specialists will introduce students in Henley area schools to the world of Carnival Arts towards a Carnival for Henley Festival in July 2006.

SHOUT! was started in 2001 as a way of introducing young people in the Henley area to a broad spectrum of the performing arts. Each academic year, a company working within a different performing discipline is resident across the three terms. The project began with a programme of visual theatre delivered by Hoodwink Theatre Company, then a year of multi-cultural dance by The Dance Movement; a year of vocal workshops with a commission of ‘Algon and the Star Children’ for massed youth choir and a capella group The Magnets by Barry Russell. Last year the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra was company in residence encouraging creative instrumental music-making and composition.

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‘A Row on the River’ Henley Festival 2002 with Hoodwink Theatre Company		 friends_image_5
Street dance at Chiltern Edge School 2003
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Opera workshop at The Henley College 2004		 friends_image_7
New commission performance of ‘Algon & the Star Children’, Barry Russell at Henley Festival 2004
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Music making with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra 2005

Visual Arts Residencies
Funds pay for artists from HEDFAS Young Arts to run workshops in 13 primary schools each March. This year’s theme was ‘Recycling’ and some of the work was displayed in the Friends’ Exhibition at Henley Festival in July.

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Week-long residencies in schools take place in association with Kids @ Art (Oxfordshire Art Weeks). Murals, sculptures and large-scale banners have been created with artists working with every child in the school. Textile artist Judith Gussin created banners for Henley Festival’s production of the opera ‘The Magic Flute’ at Sacred Heart Primary School this Summer.

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Musical Theatre Workshops
West End actors, dancers and choreographer run an intensive week of theatre workshops during the school Summer holidays to create a musical.

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Music Therapy Programme

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www.nordoff-robbins.org.uk

Funds from the Henley Festival Trust are supporting a new music therapy service for the head injured in Henley.

In a groundbreaking three way partnership with Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy and national charity Headway, this scheme is bringing music to attendees at Headway Thames Valley’s centre in Henley’s Townlands Hospital.

Music therapist Sharon Warnes runs sessions one to one and in small groups for around 26 attendees each week

Research suggests that in the right setting, music therapy has positive effects both for clients, their families and carers, Head injuries come about through a wide range of causes, including car accidents, accidents at works, violent assaults, sports injuries or accidents in the home. They can significantly alter and restrict the lives of those affected and their families. Music therapy can help people improve the quality of life by aiding communication through the power of music.

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Headway attendees enjoying the weekly choir session