The idea
The Big Mayflower Jam will bring young people across Southampton together through music. They will create a brand-new musical celebration of the city and develop their own musical voice, generating a lasting legacy within their schools and communities.
Special "musical postcards" (short musical pieces) created by other young musicians in Southampton will be sent to our jammers to discover on the day of the performance. The postcards then go on a journey to become something bigger: the musical “jump ramp” for the Mayflower Jam itself – a massed playing event alongside musicians from the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra!
The BSO will lead our hundreds of young musicians as they play, listen, improvise, compose, and perform together, inspire each other’s musicianship, and build new connections and friends across the city. This new piece of music will tell the stories of their composers’ own journeys, exploring the ideas of belonging to a community, and building a new future together.
What we'll deliver
- Give one concert with 1000 performers from 54 schools
- Create two special teachers' packs of resources
Why it's a great idea
The Big Mayflower Jam will help us to reach our goal of ensuring all young people continue to have equal access to high quality music. It will work across the whole of Southampton inspiring young people to make music an enriching and enjoyable part of their lives.
The Jam provides a unique opportunity to use the power of music to bring together the diverse communities of Southampton whilst being part of and adding to the international cultural celebrations of Mayflower 400.
The Jam will give hundreds of young musicians a hugely inspirational musical experience, showcase their music, and demonstrate its importance: to them as young people and to the city.
Making music as a group is at the core of the project – activity proven to boost social bonding by helping participants identify collective identities and experiences, and as a result feel accepted. The Jam will affirm the value of their creative ambitions, improving social and emotional stability, focus and determination.
Steps to get it done
- BSO/Musicians booked
- Performance space booked
- School recruitment process begins
- Planning meeting with BSO
- Music packs created for schools
- PR campaign
- Concert advertising
- Concert
- Evaluation and reporting
