News: Sound investment opens doors for York charity

More children with serious illnesses and disabilities will be able to express themselves through music thanks to a partnership between a York-based charity and a technology company based in Knaresborough.

Apollo Creative specialises in developing systems which transform body movements into sound, light, image and video, maximising the users’ abilities by detecting a wide range of gestures, allowing the system to be used for music making, sensory environments and interactive stories.

The Wakefield Music Service in West Yorkshire has now invested in Apollo’s latest equipment but, rather than disposing of their older accessible music technology kit, managers agreed to donate it to York-based Jessie’s Fund, which works with children’s hospices all over the UK.

Set up in memory of nine-year-old Jessica George - who died of a brain tumour in 1994 - the charity will choose a hospice to benefit from the donation after circulating details of the equipment to those who may be interested in giving it a new home.

Lesley & Mark with some of the donated kit

“Many of us take interacting with others for granted but, for some with speech problems or with physical disabilities, it can be extremely difficult,” said Jessie’s mum and charity founder, Lesley Schatzberger.

“For them, the world is not about doing but about having things done for them which can be massively frustrating. Having control over sound or music is extremely therapeutic as it gives them a chance to communicate and participate.”

The Apollo Ensemble equipment heading for Wakefield includes wireless games console handsets, adapted so they can be “played” as musical instruments, used to trigger sound effects or change images on display screens.

But whole orchestras, more simple sounds and even lights and images can also be conjured up by the wave or squeeze of a hand or the use of pressure pads, giving Ensemble users with limited movement similar levels of control.

Wakefield Music Services has invested in Ensemble as a powerful tool to engage young people with special needs in high-quality, accessible music making.

“We had a demonstration of the system in March and were impressed by how easy the Ensemble system is to use,” said Senior Officer for Music for Wakefield, Geraldine Gaunt. “It’s a brilliant way to make music lessons more inclusive and we’re certain it will be a valuable addition to our resources.”

Apollo’s creative director Mark Hildred added he was delighted to see Jessie’s Fund benefit from the investment in Wakefield.

“It's great when we can help two groups of children in one go. The older equipment will really benefit a hospice that has not previously had access to this kind of technology. It's a programme were hoping to extend to other organisations.”

Recycling old music technology kit for Jessie's Fund

Jessie's Fund Lesley Schatzberger (left) with Apollo's Mark Hildred

With the Apollo Ensemble equipment being used to update many locations accessible music technology equipment, the question arises of what to do with the old gear? Apollo have solved that issue by teaming up with York-based charity Jessie's Fund to pass the equipment on to children's hospices in the UK.

Recent donations by the National Centre for Early Music, iMATA and Wakefield Music Service mean that five hospices have now been kitted out with a range of equipment.

Please contact us if you have any equipment that requires a new home.

Level Playing Field in London

Today I've made the long journey down to London to display at the Level Playing Field conference in the fabulous surroundings of the Guildhall. This is an accessible music conference with talks from Share Music Sweden and Drake Music, and performances by Clarence Adoo and John Kenny, among others.

The Ensemble, and other technology, will be on display for everyone to come and use.

I've also bought down some of the work that Holly, our most recent work experience student, has done. She's been looking at accessible music all week and has produced some posters about why you would want to use a gamepad to play music.

The Big Bang Fair Yorkshire & Humber

Today we went to the Big Bang Fair at the Yorkshire Air Museum in Elvington. The event showcases the Science and Engineering projects of local secondary schools, with prizes awarded for the best in a number of categories.

Holly, on work experience with us from a school in Knaresborough, had worked with the Ensemble all week and came along to create an accessible music demo using a gamepad, sounds and lights.

The pupils picked it up really quickly and were making music with a gamepad in seconds!

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I'm just back from RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, where Corner of the World won a Silver Medal. Congratulations to Nick, Clare and all the rest of the team.