Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Excitement ahead
New team leader tells of plans for expansion
THE newly appointed team leader of a music programme set to be launched in Dundee later this summer today told the Tele of his ambitious plans to grow the project.
Andy Thorn (pictured right) will lead the Big Noise Douglas programme which aims to bring music into the lives of hundreds of primary school children in the Douglas area of Dundee.
Today he spoke to the Tele about his ambitions for the programme, led by Sistema Scotland along with Optimistic Sound and Dundee City Council.
Big Noise Douglas will work with children in Claypotts Castle and St Pius Primary Schools and will start in the autumn with its in-school orchestra programme.
Andy, formerly a professional musician playing viola in orchestras in England, has met for the first time a handful of the 400 or so local primary children he will be working with.
He will be leading a team of music teachers who will give lessons to children in primaries in Douglas.
He said: “Initially, I will be working with children in those classes but each year we will be adding another class to the programme. So i n 2018/19, primary four pupils will be added. Then, the following year, primary five children will be added and this will continue into the future.
“We also hope that in the coming couple of years we will be able to work with adults in the area to create an adult orchestra and also work with the local nursery children to create a baby orchestra.
“This is an incredibly exciting programme that we hope will involve and benefit everyone in the community.”
Andy, who has worked with the Big Noise in Raploch, Stirling, since 2012, said he has already seen for himself the benefits the orchestra can bring to a community.
He added: “Although this is a music programme, it’s not just about the music. Yes, we are teaching children to play musical instruments but this programme is about very much more than that.
“This is about confidence-building, encouraging children to work as part of a team and about giving them aspirations.
“Some of these children might end up as musicians. We often meet very talented children, but it is about giving all children the confidence to deal with other things in life.”
Andy said that so far there had been a lot of preparation done, but now things were getting closer to actually getting off the ground.
He added: “We are interviewing for the music teachers in June so we will have them in place to come into the schools when the new term starts in August, then ready to begin teaching