Blog Archives

In an exciting new venture, South West Music School is now managing the Dartington Summer Youth Programme.   This year the programme has moved to the University of Exeter campus where not only is international quality tuition offered but now for the first time accommodation is available to enable more young people from around the UK be able to participate.

Courses include Chamber Music, Gospel Choir, Piano Masterclasses, Songwriting, Folk Music, Jazz, Music Theatre and Composition.  These courses also range from first access to advanced levels and are open to young people from 11 – 18 years old.  

For more information please visit the website www.dsyp.org

Young Composers’ Competition

Now in its twelfth year, the prestigious BBC Proms Inspire Young Composers’ Competition gives young composers aged 12-18 a chance to get their music heard by a wider audience. Young composers will need to enter their own, original piece of music – no more than five minutes long – to the BBC Proms judging panel, who’ll choose the winning compositions, which are then performed at the Young Composers’ Concert during the BBC Proms season and broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

If they win, they’ll also receive a commission to be performed and recorded by BBC musicians at the 2010 Inspire events, and get to work with top composers and musicians in a series of workshops to develop thier commission. Last years winners were commissioned to write for the last night of the Proms!

Anyone who enters the Young Composers’ Competition or attends a lab can attend Inspire Day, a day of workshops that will challenge and inspire them to compose in ways they’d never thought of, in London on 2 August 2010.

BBC Proms Composer Labs

As part of the scheme, we offer composer labs throughout the UK. These labs help young people meet other composers, share ideas and discover new ones, develop a deeper understanding on how to use use rhythm, harmony, melody and form and how to make them their own.

Composer Labs are a unique chance to join professional musicians from the UK’s top orchestras and the BBC Singers, top composers and the BBC Proms team in a day of music making, exploration and discovery.

Labs will be held at locations around the UK between February and April.

Composer Lab Date in Cornwall 

Truro High School for Girls, Falmouth Road, Truro, Cornwall, TR1 2HU
14 March 2010, 10.30am to 4.30pm
In partnership with the BBC Concert Orchestra and the BBC Singers

How to get involved

All you need to do is contact promslearning@bbc.co.uk or call 020 7765
5575 or visit www. bbc.co.uk/proms if you would like to attend any of the Labs.

How to enter the Young Composers’ Competition

Send in two musical scores of your composition, along with two CD recordings and an entry form to:
BBC Proms Inspire Young Composers’ Competition,
14 Lakeside, PO BOX 105,
Rochester, Kent ME2 4BE.

Entry forms are available from bbc.co.uk/proms, by calling 020 7765 5575 or emailing promslearning@bbc.co.uk

The closing date for entries is 28 May 2010. Any entries received after this date will not be entered in the competition.

The next CYMAZ Annual General Meeting will be held at 7:30pm on Wednesday 13th January 2010 at Trelander and St Clements Community Hall, Trelander Highway, TruroTR1 1PG.

The AGM is open to all members of the community who have an interest in the activities of CYMAZ and further details can be obtained by contacting us on 01872 270074 or e-mailing us at robin.leah@cymaz.co.uk

Last week was Youth Music Week and CYMAZ’s contributions to this nationwide celebration of young people’s music making were a resounding success.

On Thursday 12th November, nearly 30 young people got involved in our free music workshop at The House in St Austell and our spectacular Showcase Talent Gig at the Livewire Youth Project in Saltash on Saturday 14th attracted an audience of well over 200!  Both events were well covered in the local press, which certainly helped the high attendance figures.

We’d like to offer our thanks to all those involved who made both evenings so memorable:  Andy Rance and the crew at Livewire, Jamie Crowe, Roger Luxton, all the guys at The House, Youth Music (especially for providing those exceptionally cool torches!), Young Promoters, all the superb performers and everyone who came along and enjoyed themselves.

Last night was the first introductory session for our new Internet Radio Station, held at The House in St Austell.  The event was well attended and we were wowed by the level of interest in the project, with more than 20 young people signing up to be involved.

If you weren’t able to go yesterday, the second introductory session is being held tonight, Thursday 19th November, at Livewire Youth Project in Saltash, starting at 7:30pm.

If you live in the west of the county and can’t get there, don’t worry; we’ll be organising more sessions in West Cornwall in the near future so keep checking our News board for details.

Win the chance to record your demo at a professional studio…

Chew TV has joined forces with Cornwall Council’s Integrated Youth Support Service and The Family Information Service to launch a ‘Battle of the Bands’ competition for budding young musicians in Cornwall. 

The top five acts voted for by the public will get to perform in the New Year and the winner of this gig will go on to record their demo at a Press Pack Studios, Plymouth, where they will also receive a full press pack to help them promote their demo! 

All you need to do to enter the competition is submit a short film of your band doing your thing by January 1^st 2010! Whether it’s a slick music video, or a shoddy clip filmed off your mobile, it doesn’t matter. All that we ask is that the films adhere to Chew TV’s Terms and Conditions (which means no cover versions – show us what you’re made of!) And you have to be aged between 13-19 to enter.

To enter, go to www.chewtv.com/hollaboxx and register as a new user, then after receiving your confirmation email, click upload to enter, making sure you put the abbreviation ‘BOB’ in the title of your short film.  The winners will be voted for online, so tell all your friends to sign up to Chew TV and get voting!

As part of Youth Music Week and to celebrate Youth Music’s 10th birthday, CYMAZ will be holding a gig at Livewire Youth Project in Saltash to showcase young people’s musical talent. 

Entrance is FREE so come along and enjoy some great music on Saturday night!

This week it’s Youth Music Week , a nationwide celebration of young people’s music making and CYMAZ will be holding a FREE Music Workshop for young people on Thursday 12^th November from 6pm – 9pm at The House, St Austell to mark the occasion.  Even if you’ve never held an instrument before, feel free to come along and give it a go!

This Halloween, Barnardo’s had some treats in store for young people at the Eden Project.  Children, young people and their families were invited to take part in workshops and a variety of performances throughout the day, from Taiko drumming to arts and crafts.  CYMAZ were invited to have a stand at the event, and making the most of the Halloween theme, attracted many young people with our CYMAZ pumpkin and sweet treats.  We also created a stir of excitement about the new CYMAZ internet radio station, with young people, parents and other agencies very much inspired by the idea.  Lots of young people signed up to the CYMAZ e-mailing list and were keen to find out how to get involved in the radio station and other CYMAZ work.  We asked young people to tell us what kind of music activities they would like to get involved in to help us plan provision around their needs.  This will form a larger piece of consultation work.

CYMAZ is running two introductory sessions to recruit young people to the station on The House Youth Centre in St Austell on Wednesday 18th November at 7:30pm and Livewire Youth Music Project in Saltash on Thursday 18th November at 7:30pm.

Please contact us if you’d like CYMAZ to have a presence at your event.

Dates have now been set for introductory sessions for anyone interested in being involved in the new radio station. The sessions will be at:

The House Youth Centre, St Austell: Wednesday 18th November @ 7:30 pm
Livewire Youth Music Project, Saltash: Thursday 19th November @ 7:30 pm

Click here for more information.