SCHOOLCHILDREN across Moray are to benefit from a new initiative making learning Scottish musical instruments more affordable.
The project is available to both primary and secondary pupils, helping them pick up piping and drumming and to perform with other pupils.
The programme is in partnership with groups including Moray Council’s Music Instruction and Performance, the Scottish School Pipes and Drums Trust (SSPDT) and the Moray Youth Pipes and Drums Tuition Scheme (MYPDTS) charity.
There will be a small lesson fee charged to pupils to cover the tuition costs on a non-profit basis. Children who receive free school meals or are unable to afford the fees will have free tuition provided.
The council music service is providing £8000 towards free places for the first year of the scheme.
An appointed school piping and drumming co-ordinator from the charity MYPDTS will run the programme, helping a group of tutors to make sure that every child who wants to learn a musical instrument gets the opportunity to do so.
The SSPDT was set up to promote the educational benefits and achievements among schoolchildren of pipe band membership.
Chief executive of SSPDT Alexandra Duncan said: “This new programme takes a practical approach by charging low fees on a non-profit basis, by drawing in charitable grants to help fund the programme and by offering free places to those that can’t afford to pay.
“It has the capacity to reach every single young person who wants to take up the pipes and drums throughout the whole of Moray. This is truly remarkable."
The programme will also provide links to local community bands for pupils who wish to go beyond school tuition.
Alexander Davidson, principal teacher of music instruction and performance at Moray Council, said: “Following the outcomes of a consultation with children and young people, parents, carers and teachers which highlighted demand for pipes and pipe drumming instruction, we are pleased to have been able to allocate some of our additional funding from the Scottish Government to MYPDTS and to support access to this instruction for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
“The programme’s key goal will be to provide pupils in all of Moray’s schools the opportunity to learn the pipes and drums, thereby developing confidence, friendships, resilience, self-esteem and other attributes for life, learning and work.”
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