CANCELLED | SEND Music Conference 2020
In light of the most recent Government advice, Sage Gateshead will be closed to the public until further notice. We’re working really hard to reschedule as many performances and events as possible, and will be in touch with customers who have tickets in due course. Please bear with us during these unprecedented times. The health and safety of audiences, musicians and staff at Sage Gateshead is our priority.
Inclusive musical journeys
Exploring how music can be used to develop social skills and learning, while supporting health and wellbeing, enabling young people to follow the most appropriate musical pathway.
A day of practical workshops run by professional musicians with expertise in a range of mainstream SEN and special schools settings. Sessions will include musical inclusion across a range of age groups, a percussion workshop with Beat Goes On and keynote speaker Phil Mullen will run seminars exploring musical inclusion.
Step 1: Book your place below.
Step 2: Complete delegate form >>
Workshops & Speakers
Key Note Speaker: Dr Phil Mullen
Phil Mullen is one of the world’s leading experts on musical inclusion and community music. Phil has worked for thirty-three years developing music with people who are socially excluded. He specializes in working with excluded children and young people at risk. Phil spent 8 years working in Northern Ireland using music as a tool for peace and reconciliation. He has run workshops and seminars in 27 countries across Europe, North and South America and Asia.
Phil has been national inclusion advisor to Sing Up and has been involved as an evaluator for the National Foundation for Youth Music’s nationwide Musical Inclusion programme. He works with Hubs, music organizations and schools around inclusion training and strategic development on inclusion.
Phil has a PHD from Winchester University and has written a number of book chapters on musical inclusion including for the Oxford Handbook of Community Music (2018).
Workshop Leader: Laura Festa, Director of Music Therapy
Laura Festa is a qualified, HCPC registered and experienced Music Therapist. Before training as a music therapist, Laura obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance and a Master’s degree in Philology and Italian Literature from Roma Tre University, Rome, combining her love for humanistic disciplines. In the sunny Sicily that is where she comes from, as a music therapist, she specialised in working with children in SEN School while running her own Music Therapy Centre, Altre Frequenze, focusing her activities on pre-natal and early years’ settings.
Laura relocated to the UK in 2014 where she explored new different music therapy fields in particular in Dementia Care. In 2018 she took the role of Director of Therapy for the North Yorkshire Music Therapy Centre that allows her to combine the development of the Charity with her clinical work with children and young adults in SEN Schools and in mixed groups for inclusive projects.
Based in North Yorkshire, that she loves to call home, Laura is very interested in community building through the use of music therapy interventions and in delivering awareness workshops and talks about music therapy. She strongly believes in sharing music therapy strategies with families, teachers, institutions and those who is directly and indirectly involved in care.
Workshop Leader: Hannah McCabe, Jessie’s Fund Musician
Jessie’s Fund helps children with additional and complex needs or serious illness to communicate by using music. Music can provide a powerful and profound way in which children can express themselves and connect with the world around them. Jessie’s Fund is a registered charity working all over the UK.
Hannah is a professional clarinettist and multi-instrumentalist, whose diverse performing career includes orchestral freelancing with Manchester Camerata, touring with Giffords Circus, performing and recording with bands including BBC Folk Award winners The Unthanks and headlining stages at festivals including WOMAD and Boomtown Fair with her Manchester-based Balkan Band ‘The Rubber Duck Orchestra’. Creativity lies at the heart of her music making. Following her training as a musician in hospitals, Hannah enjoys delivering projects for organisations such as Manchester Camerata, Clonter Opera, Opera North, and Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre. She is hugely passionate about her role as lead musician with Jessie’s Fund and the opportunity this gives her to work with special schools throughout the UK.
Percussion workshop led by Beat Goes On
Fun, creative and engaging activities suitable for all ages and experiences.
- Learn a range of accessible Afro-Brazilian rhythms and instrumental techniques
- Explore cross-curricular opportunities for learning about Afro-Brazilian culture and how it relates to the music
- Develop musical and non-musical elements including leadership and communication skills
Jo James, SEND lead practitioner for Durham Music Service
Jo is the SEND Lead for the Music service and is working together with all the Specialist schools to ensure high quality SEND music learning in all the special schools across County Durham and Darlington. She has been instrumental in developing the SEND strategy for the music service and is passionate about opening up musical opportunities for all children and young people.