Greater Manchester Shines!

Creative Partnerships Greater Manchester commissioned local musicians to work with young people in three secondary schools to make sure Manchester Shines this summer.

The Three schools, St Patrick’s RC High School, Salford, St Ambrose Barlow Technology College , Salford and Newall Green High School, Wythenshawe worked with musicians from Greater Manchester Music Action Zone (GMMAZ) to produce a unique musical performance.

Students from the three schools worked with professional musicians Joe Botham, Audrey Mattis-Lawrence and Martin Botham (no relation!), and in the process developed their confidence and their musical skills on a wide variety of musical instruments from steel pans to electric guitars, from piano to saxophones and brass, from voices to drums. Each group of students, drawn from years 7-9, worked independently with a short theme composed by Joe Botham, enabling them to come together for the big gig.

This project demonstrated how creative energy can make the most of whatever resources schools have and can work to bring people together in a shared endeavor. Music is in all of us and just needs a chance to be expressed, a chance given in this case by Creative Partnerships and GMMAZ.

We now invite you to enjoy the recorded results and hear what can happen when schools engage in truly creative collaborations.

Director of Creative Partnerships Greater Manchester, Nancy Barrett, said:

“ Shine is a national celebration of young people’s talent across England. Manchester and Salford’s musical talent are renowned- worldwide so we thought it fitting that Greater Manchester Shine will show off the talents of upcoming young musicians and vocalists form the two cities. “

All three schools came together for the collaborative piece which was performed in Studio 1, The Lowry, Salford Quays on Friday 4th July, between 1-2.15p.m. There was a chance to mingle with and meet the performers and creative team after the show, when snacks and drinks were available.