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| Big Noise: the musical, social revolution jumps from Raploch to Glasgow | Big Noise: the musical, social revolution jumps from Raploch to Glasgow |
| (8 days later) | |
| Visitors to Raploch in Stirling will often be met by a small voice asking: "What do you play?" The children here just assume everyone has an instrument, that everyone plays something. | Visitors to Raploch in Stirling will often be met by a small voice asking: "What do you play?" The children here just assume everyone has an instrument, that everyone plays something. |
| Raploch is home to the UK's first flowering of the remarkable El Sistema movement from Venezuela. In the 1970s maestro José Antonio Abreu began running music lessons for a handful of children in a parking garage. | Raploch is home to the UK's first flowering of the remarkable El Sistema movement from Venezuela. In the 1970s maestro José Antonio Abreu began running music lessons for a handful of children in a parking garage. |
| Today El Sistema involves half a million children across the South American country. It has produced some of the finest classical musicians in the world, but behind these musical achievements is an even more exciting story. | Today El Sistema involves half a million children across the South American country. It has produced some of the finest classical musicians in the world, but behind these musical achievements is an even more exciting story. |
| El Sistema uses the symphony orchestra to benefit society. It produces not only musicians, but also happy and well-equipped citizens, often from the poorest and most vulnerable backgrounds. | El Sistema uses the symphony orchestra to benefit society. It produces not only musicians, but also happy and well-equipped citizens, often from the poorest and most vulnerable backgrounds. |
| Raploch is a tiny place that now teems with musicians. There are over 450 children from babes-in-arms through to 14-year-olds involved in Big Noise, the orchestra programme launched in 2008 by the charity Sistema Scotland. | Raploch is a tiny place that now teems with musicians. There are over 450 children from babes-in-arms through to 14-year-olds involved in Big Noise, the orchestra programme launched in 2008 by the charity Sistema Scotland. |
| Around 75% of the primary school-aged children in the estate are involved at any given time. The orchestra will grow with this new generation through to adulthood. All this is within just a couple of square miles tucked into a meander of the river Forth. | Around 75% of the primary school-aged children in the estate are involved at any given time. The orchestra will grow with this new generation through to adulthood. All this is within just a couple of square miles tucked into a meander of the river Forth. |
| Once lumbered with a very negative image the community is now becoming famous for its young maestros instead. More than that, these children have become role models and this community has become an inspiration. | Once lumbered with a very negative image the community is now becoming famous for its young maestros instead. More than that, these children have become role models and this community has become an inspiration. |
| This week Glasgow city council will consider a paper paving the way for a second Big Noise centre, in Govanhill. The drive for this has come from within that community. People have seen what is happening in Raploch and they want it too. | This week Glasgow city council will consider a paper paving the way for a second Big Noise centre, in Govanhill. The drive for this has come from within that community. People have seen what is happening in Raploch and they want it too. |
| So next week, we may have Big Noise Govanhill. After visiting Raploch, Lyn Ewing from Govanhill community development trust said: | So next week, we may have Big Noise Govanhill. After visiting Raploch, Lyn Ewing from Govanhill community development trust said: |
| We were bowled over by the dedication of the staff, volunteers and - most importantly - the young musicians. So we started getting support from the rest of the community for a Big Noise Govanhill. | We were bowled over by the dedication of the staff, volunteers and - most importantly - the young musicians. So we started getting support from the rest of the community for a Big Noise Govanhill. |
| The experience in Raploch shows that the benefits for local young people and the wider community could be enormous. In an area where at least fifty three languages are spoken, music will bring people together. | The experience in Raploch shows that the benefits for local young people and the wider community could be enormous. In an area where at least fifty three languages are spoken, music will bring people together. |
Councillor Stephen Curran, Glasgow's lead councillor for education and young people, is now an enthusiastic champion: | Councillor Stephen Curran, Glasgow's lead councillor for education and young people, is now an enthusiastic champion: |
| Our hope is that in the short and long term Sistema Scotland will work alongside the good work already being carried out in primary schools and local community, and instilling in our children greater aspirations and expectations, a better sense of community and improving health and well-being. | Our hope is that in the short and long term Sistema Scotland will work alongside the good work already being carried out in primary schools and local community, and instilling in our children greater aspirations and expectations, a better sense of community and improving health and well-being. |
Supportive papers have also passed by Aberdeen and Fife councils, and in Dundee the MSP Jenny Marra has been campaigning for a Big Noise there. | Supportive papers have also passed by Aberdeen and Fife councils, and in Dundee the MSP Jenny Marra has been campaigning for a Big Noise there. |
| But this summer, after superstar conductor Gustavo Dudamel led Big Noise and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela in the launch concert of the London 2012 cultural and arts festival, the floodgates really opened, with interest in these orchestras from communities across Scotland. | But this summer, after superstar conductor Gustavo Dudamel led Big Noise and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela in the launch concert of the London 2012 cultural and arts festival, the floodgates really opened, with interest in these orchestras from communities across Scotland. |
| I like to think Raploch set the tone for the whole Olympic summer – hugely exceeding everyone's expectations. | I like to think Raploch set the tone for the whole Olympic summer – hugely exceeding everyone's expectations. |
| A third of a million people watched The Big Concert from Raploch live on television, while 7,000 people defied the rain to watch, in the open air, both orchestras together perform under the shadow of Stirling castle. | A third of a million people watched The Big Concert from Raploch live on television, while 7,000 people defied the rain to watch, in the open air, both orchestras together perform under the shadow of Stirling castle. |
| We understand the same number watched in Birmingham on the BBC's big outdoor screen. Footage was ultimately seen in 200 countries around the world and last week BBC Scotland broadcast a documentary about the children's journey to Olympic glory – Big Noise on the Big Stage. | We understand the same number watched in Birmingham on the BBC's big outdoor screen. Footage was ultimately seen in 200 countries around the world and last week BBC Scotland broadcast a documentary about the children's journey to Olympic glory – Big Noise on the Big Stage. |
| All children's orchestras are a good idea but Sistema orchestras have a very specific goal – to transform the lives of the players and their community. | All children's orchestras are a good idea but Sistema orchestras have a very specific goal – to transform the lives of the players and their community. |
| The social side-benefits found in most music education are amplified here so that the symphony orchestra becomes an engine for change on a very grand scale. The key is that children play together from the start and so learn cooperation. And the work is immersive, with the most advanced players attending up to four afternoons a week after school. | The social side-benefits found in most music education are amplified here so that the symphony orchestra becomes an engine for change on a very grand scale. The key is that children play together from the start and so learn cooperation. And the work is immersive, with the most advanced players attending up to four afternoons a week after school. |
| It is an extremely powerful thing for a generation to sit together in the moment and work hard to create something beautiful. String many of these moments together and we find the beauty becoming ever more intense and complex, and the bonds between the children ever stronger. | It is an extremely powerful thing for a generation to sit together in the moment and work hard to create something beautiful. String many of these moments together and we find the beauty becoming ever more intense and complex, and the bonds between the children ever stronger. |
| Independent evaluators found evidence the Raploch orchestra has had a positive impact on children's personal and social development, including increased confidence, self esteem, a sense of achievement and pride, improved social skills, team working skills and expanded social networks. | Independent evaluators found evidence the Raploch orchestra has had a positive impact on children's personal and social development, including increased confidence, self esteem, a sense of achievement and pride, improved social skills, team working skills and expanded social networks. |
| For those children with special educational needs, behaviour issues or unsettled home lives, particular benefits include a sense of belonging, improved ability to concentrate and focus on a task, a sense of responsibility and positive behaviour change. | For those children with special educational needs, behaviour issues or unsettled home lives, particular benefits include a sense of belonging, improved ability to concentrate and focus on a task, a sense of responsibility and positive behaviour change. |
| Sistema Scotland is determined to roll this out to other communities, and after the London 2012 Festival showed what the Raploch children are capable of after only four years, there is no shortage of interest. | Sistema Scotland is determined to roll this out to other communities, and after the London 2012 Festival showed what the Raploch children are capable of after only four years, there is no shortage of interest. |
| As our chairman Richard Holloway said: | As our chairman Richard Holloway said: |
| This will only mean something if it's peppering the whole country because there are communities that need this kind of intensity and transformation. So, yeah, we're going for the whole world. | This will only mean something if it's peppering the whole country because there are communities that need this kind of intensity and transformation. So, yeah, we're going for the whole world. |
| It will happen organically – one community at a time – but we believe the more children who emerge from the orchestras well-equipped for life, the more irresistible this idea becomes. | It will happen organically – one community at a time – but we believe the more children who emerge from the orchestras well-equipped for life, the more irresistible this idea becomes. |
| Every child becomes a role model in their community as soon as they play. Then that community becomes a role model for others. In Scotland we are still very much at the start of that musical and social journey. We look in awe at what the Venezuelans have achieved, and get back to rehearsing. | Every child becomes a role model in their community as soon as they play. Then that community becomes a role model for others. In Scotland we are still very much at the start of that musical and social journey. We look in awe at what the Venezuelans have achieved, and get back to rehearsing. |
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