Playing music together with others, from childhood into adulthood, is a source of great joy for many people. As well as developing our playing ability as musicians, it also gives us a sense of community and purpose and an opportunity to socialise with others. Leisure time music making can also improve our mental well-being and provide personal solace during difficult times in our lives.
We believe in intergenerational participatory music making and have witnessed how much young people can benefit from playing alongside adults and vice versa. We teach the same repertoire across both our youth and adult ensembles so that we can perform together as one large intergenerational band at parades, festivals and events.
You are never too young or too old to pick up an instrument and start making music and we want to support and encourage as many people as possible to learn an instrument and experience the joy of playing together with others. We can provide instrumental tuition for complete beginners or those returning to an instrument they haven’t played for a number of years. Once you’ve mastered the basics you can then join our youth or adult street band ensemble.
I learnt the clarinet at school - all classical, all sheet music. And even though I've wanted to return to it (and have tried to SO many times over the years) it was only with Lara and Bright Sounds that I got to the point of being able to say I can actually play the clarinet again! It's been a safe place to develop improvisation skills, be part of a supportive group of musicians of all abilities, learn that it's OK if it goes wrong, and discover that actually some times it can go so right! I'm very grateful to the Bright Sounds community and to Lara.