Project Conception


The initial idea for a rural outreach project came from my love of the countryside and music alike and a desire to share some of the incredible musical opportunities I have experienced in London. Since moving here I’ve been amazed at the number of concerts available that are accessible and free and it made me wonder why no-one does the same thing in rural areas. Is it the lack of “professional exposure” it brings the performers? Or the difficulty in accessing lesser-populated areas? Or maybe people won’t enjoy it as much because “they” are different to “us” city/cultured folk? Or perhaps they simply can’t afford to have many musical performances because there’s no funding for it in rural areas.
I was interested to find out if any of these ideas might be true and investigate the potential need for musical work to be done in rural areas. Humans have been involved in making music for thousands of years, it's only recently that we seem to have segregated between the privileged and talented and everyone else. Of course, musicians still need to earn a living, but if there’s an opportunity to earn something, albeit potentially lower than usual, I think it would be a good use of God's gift of music for the benefit of others.
Taking Kirby Hill, North Yorkshire as an example and through talking with my mother, I realised there are not many accessible opportunities to attend concerts nearby. The nearest Classical concert would be 6 miles away (15 minutes by car, no public transport available). When I compare that to London, where I could attend 3 free lunchtime concerts a week within a mile of each other, I realise how fortunate Londoners are.

Ripon is the closest and largest nearby classical concert scene.

 However, having researched more about Ripon’s St Cecilia Orchestra, I notice they have started holding concerts in smaller villages, around the Ripon area. This is positive as it means there are more opportunities for the elderly to engage with classical music, but there’s still another step to reach those further from a large town or city. By creating a new, unique concert style in my home village I thought we could viably assess the reception and desire for residents to access classical music in these areas.

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