New Rap and Music Production Workshops for School Holidays
As we settle into 2023, for many of us Christmas already feels like a distant memory.
Here at West Sussex Music the winter holidays were another opportunity to engage with young people and get them involved in developing their music-making.
Across four days from 19 December, our partners NextGen Music and Louie Le Vack delivered Rap & Music Production workshops to teens in Littlehampton. It was a wonderful opportunity for students to be active during school holidays and explore music further with their peers.
Helped by funding from West Sussex County Council’s HAF scheme, these workshops were free to children aged 11 – 16 in receipt of free school meals or with refugee status. Each person attending received a free hot nutritious meal for lunch and the music leaders and students sat and ate lunch together, sharing musical interests & insights, it was quite special.
Deen Nauthoa, CEO of NextGen Music shares:
“We truly believe that music education boosts a young person’s confidence and communication skills – we’ve seen it time and time again, and this workshop was another prime example of just that. Students who were a little shy to begin with, were confidently sharing and discussing their creations by just the end of the first day. Being together and collaborating with their peers in a creative environment offers children the opportunity to express themselves in a judgment free zone, and to learn how to work effectively with one another.
It was important to us to deliver the best possible experience for the children; we wanted to ensure that the students left inspired and eager to continue creating after the workshops were finished. In truth, I think the students inspired us just as much as we did them. Their approach to creativity was so unrestrained and free flowing; you could see just how much fun they were having with the process, and their focus levels were astounding, there was no stopping them!”
We sat down with Louie Le Vack and Ronnie (workshop attendee) to find out more about the Rap workshops, watch the video here.
Students were also given the opportunity to create a video to accompany the music they produced. Here’s a music video four attendees co-created, click here to watch. The shots in the video were imagined by the students, and the song and lyrics have been created and produced entirely by the students themselves.
We’re excited to be running more workshops like these over the Easter school holidays at Littlehampton, Bognor Regis and Crawley. These workshops will be free for those receiving free school meals and paid options for others interested in joining in the fun. Keep an eye on our social media platforms @WestSussexMusic as details and sign-up info will be released in February.
We would like to take this opportunity to extend a special thank you to West Sussex County Council’s Holiday Activities and Food team for supporting this workshop through the HAF scheme. You can find out more about this programme here.
