Our Music Education Partners
Octagon Music Hub’s 20 funded partners reach children and young people right across Dorset and Somerset – from a baby’s first singing session to a professional recording studio for teenagers.
Browse below to see who’s working near you in your county this academic year (2026–27) and what they’re funded to do – then get in touch with them directly to find out how to get involved.
Dorset Music Service
Dorset’s own countywide music service, delivering Classroom Instrumental Learning and curriculum support into 110 primary and 24 secondary/middle schools.
The Dorset Youth Jazz Orchestra and Cluster Collaboration ensembles keep pupils playing together beyond the classroom, while dedicated SEND & inclusion work and an early years strand (Best Start in Life, Family Hubs) reach children often missed elsewhere. A post-16 careers programme with Coastlands College opens a route into the music industry beyond school.
Somerset Music
Somerset Council’s own music service, works at a different scale to every other partner. Classroom Instrumental Learning reaches around 6,330 pupils, over 128,000 individual pupil learning sessions across a Music Membership network of 97 schools.
Three county ensembles and eight regional singing festivals keep pupils playing beyond the classroom. An Open Orchestra gives SEND pupils an ensemble of their own, and early years music sessions with young children in nurseries and pre-schools support the youngest children’s musical engagement and transition in primary settings.
Actiontrack
Gamelan & Global Music Residencies in Primary, Secondary & SEND in Somerset
Immersive school-based residencies introducing children and young people to Gamelan and music from different cultures and traditions. Pupils learn through practical, collaborative music-making, developing ensemble skills, creativity and confidence while broadening their experience of music beyond the traditional curriculum.
My Tunes
One-to-one and small-group music sessions for young people attending Alternative Provision or Pupil Referral Units. Sessions are shaped around each young person’s interests, using music-making as a way to build skills, confidence, creativity and positive engagement, with opportunities to develop their own musical ideas.
On the Record
Composition and recording opportunities for young people, supporting them to develop their own music from initial ideas through to a finished recording. Young people receive creative support with writing and composition alongside access to professional recording studio time, giving them experience of the music-making and production process.
B Sharp
Singing & Songwriting
In-school singing and songwriting workshops in rural West Dorset primary and special schools, culminating in young people performing their original songs at the annual B Sharp Busking Festival. Sessions develop lyric writing, rhythm, melody, singing and performance skills, while building teachers’ confidence to support music-making in school.
Inclusive Creative Ensembles & Nurture
Four inclusive music ensembles across Lyme Regis and Bridport provide welcoming spaces for 8–18-year-olds to form bands, write and record songs, explore music technology and perform. One-to-one Creative Nurture sessions provide additional support for young people with SEND, anxiety or other barriers to joining group activity.
Music Together – Early Years
Weekly music sessions for babies and children aged 0–3 and their families in Lyme Regis and Bridport, reaching around 50 children each week. Singing, movement, sensory play and musical games support communication, early development and parent-child bonding while helping reduce isolation for families.
MusicFutures & Young Leaders
Post-16 pathways for young people interested in music and the creative industries, combining mentoring with hands-on experience in music production, live sound, events and promotion. Young Leaders also gain paid work experience, music leadership training and opportunities to help programme and deliver live events.
Babigloo
Babigloo Music for Babies
Two eight-week early years music programmes for babies aged 0–12 months and their parents and carers, delivered through Family Hubs in North Dorset. Sessions combine music-making with live musicians, supporting bonding, communication, wellbeing and early development.
Reaching Families Who Need Extra Support
Free sessions with referrals through Family Hubs, health visitors, midwives and social prescribers, helping reach families experiencing isolation, birth trauma, SEND, language barriers or other additional needs.
Baby’s First Live Concert
Each programme culminates in a special celebration bringing both classes and their extended families together with live musicians – giving babies their first experience of a live concert and connecting families through shared music-making.
Dorset Rural Music School
Our Story – A Rhythm of Life
A large-scale music programme working across primary, middle, secondary and SEND schools in Dorset. Young people explore South American and Western musical traditions through rhythm, percussion, singing, improvisation and composition, creating their own music around themes that connect with their lives and communities.
From First Experience to Deeper Music-Making
Whole-school and whole-year-group taster days introduce pupils to new instruments, musical styles and ways of making music together. Selected schools then progress into intensive weekly or fortnightly sessions, developing their musical skills and creating original performance pieces, with SEND schools prioritised for sustained engagement.
Inclusion & Access
Three SEND schools take part throughout both phases of the programme, with a mobile instrument lending library helping remove financial and practical barriers to participation. Across the programme, around 1,500 children and young people are expected to take part, including approximately 300 young people with SEND.
Symphony of Colour
The programme culminates in a regional Symphony of Colour festival, bringing participating schools together to share and perform the music they have created. Around 1,200 young people are expected to perform, with a further 400 signposted towards opportunities to continue their musical journey.
Evolve Music
Sound Lab Yeovil
An inclusive community music programme for neurodiverse young people aged 14+ with additional needs. Around 30 sessions across the year give young people a supportive space to make music using instruments, voice, digital technology and recording equipment, with activity co-created around their interests and ideas.
Inclusive & Participant-Led Music Making
Sound Lab is designed around the young people taking part, supporting them to experiment, create and develop their own music at their own pace. Sessions combine specialist community music leadership with dedicated inclusion support, helping young people build creativity, confidence, wellbeing and social connections.
Developing an Inclusive Music Workforce
SEND-specific training for freelance music leaders, developing skills and confidence in inclusive music-making. Training explores SEND, inclusive practice and trauma-informed approaches, helping practitioners adapt their work to better support children and young people with additional needs.
Guildhall Young Artists Taunton
Saturday Music & Drama Programme
Bursary places enable children and young people from Reception to Year 14 to access Guildhall Young Artists Taunton’s Saturday music and drama programme at Wellington School, supporting young musicians from low-income families who might otherwise be unable to participate.
Music from First Experiences to Advanced Study
Young people can progress through age-appropriate programmes, from Creativity Starts Here for Reception to Year 3 and Music Discovery for Years 4–6, through to music and ensemble programmes for Years 7–14. Opportunities also include individual instrumental and vocal tuition.
Removing Financial Barriers
Means-tested bursaries of up to £500 per student help meet course fees, with additional funding sought where necessary to bridge the remaining cost. Octagon Music Hub funding will support around six young people to access and progress through this high-quality music education programme.
Jackdaws
Year of Brass
A whole-school programme introducing children to brass music through digital resources, live performances and practical workshops with professional musicians from Solis Brass Trio. Schools build their musical experience across the year, culminating in large-scale performances bringing young musicians together.
OperaPLUS
An immersive introduction to opera, combining whole-school workshops and assemblies with opportunities to experience and perform alongside Jackdaws’ professional opera company. The programme helps children explore singing, storytelling, performance and the collaborative process of creating opera.
Song Story – SEND
An inclusive music and performance programme created for SEND settings. Specialist resources and in-school workshops combine music with storytelling and performance, giving children and young people opportunities to create, participate and perform in ways adapted to their individual needs, culminating in a shared celebration.
Leeds Beckett University
Music & Wellbeing Training for ELSA’s & TA’s
A pilot programme bringing Music in Citizenship Level 1 Music & Wellbeing training to Somerset. The programme supports teaching assistants, ELSAs and Somerset Music practitioners to use accessible music-making approaches to support children and young people’s wellbeing in educational settings.
Reaching Somerset’s Cold Spots
Training will be targeted towards priority areas where access to music opportunities is more limited. Alongside developing practical skills, participants will explore how music and wellbeing approaches can be adapted and embedded within the particular schools and settings where they work.
Coaching & Practical Resources
Participants receive follow-up online coaching and access to an adaptable toolkit of practical music activities, helping them put their learning into practice. Somerset Music practitioners will be involved alongside delivery, helping develop local knowledge and capacity so the approach can become sustainable beyond the initial pilot.
Live Music Now
Count Me In!
An inclusive ensemble-making programme supporting children and young people with a wide range of abilities and additional needs to make music together. Sessions create opportunities to participate, develop musical skills and experience the social and creative benefits of playing as part of an ensemble.
Musical Connections
A bespoke programme working with specialist resourced provisions in mainstream schools across Somerset and Dorset. Musicians work alongside school staff to develop inclusive music-making for autistic children and young people, building both pupil engagement and the confidence and skills of the adults supporting them.
Inclusive Music CPD
Online training for music educators, peripatetic teachers, teaching assistants and other non-music specialists. Sessions introduce practical approaches, resources and an autism toolkit to help the wider workforce create more inclusive and accessible music-making opportunities.
My Music Lessons
Rural Hybrid Music Access Pilot
A new programme bringing accessible instrumental learning to up to 20 rural primary schools. Children can begin learning through affordable lesson packages, shared instruments and equipment, with online lessons available to help maintain continuity where geography or travel makes regular access more difficult.
A Clear Progression Pathway
Young musicians can move from first experiences into group, duo, band or one-to-one lessons, supported by awards and certificates as they develop. Pupils are also signposted towards local music groups and secondary-school opportunities, helping them continue making music beyond their initial lessons.
Removing Barriers to Learning
Priority support is available for children without an instrument at home, pupils eligible for Pupil Premium or Free School Meals, children with SEND and those affected by rural isolation. The programme includes up to 60 fully subsidised continuation places for priority pupils, helping ensure cost does not prevent young people from progressing.
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra presented by the Octagon Theatre
Elevate Primary
A creative orchestral programme working with six South Somerset primary schools. Children work alongside Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra musicians to explore instruments and composition, creating and rehearsing their own song before experiencing it within a wider live orchestral programme.
KS1 Orchestral Concerts
Two large-scale live concerts at Westlands bring together around 1,600 children and teachers from 30 Somerset schools. A 14-piece BSO ensemble and presenter introduce children to the orchestra, with roaming musicians creating additional opportunities to encounter instruments and professional musicians before the performance.
Elevate GCSE
GCSE students work directly with BSO musicians to explore composition and instrumental playing, developing and recording their own original music. A dedicated KS4 concert at Westlands extends the experience to students from across Somerset, connecting curriculum learning with professional live music.
Teacher CPD
BSO contributes to a wider professional development event for up to 80 teachers, providing practical workshops alongside other leading arts organisations and helping teachers develop skills, ideas and confidence to bring high-quality creative experiences into schools.
Poole Society for Young Musicians
Lower Brass Try-Out Day
A free day introducing children aged 8–12 to trombone and lower brass. Complete beginners can try instruments with professional musicians, while existing players take part in workshops, with everyone coming together to perform in a public concert at the end of the day.
From First Experience to Regular Lessons
Up to eight young musicians can progress from the Try-Out Day into weekly small-group trombone and lower brass tuition through the Monday Night Music Academy at Parkstone Grammar School, creating a clear route from trying an instrument for the first time to sustained music-making.
Symphonic Winds
The programme also connects into PSYM’s established Symphonic Winds ensemble for more advanced young wind, brass and percussion players. The ensemble provides regular opportunities to rehearse and perform together, creating a longer-term progression route for developing young musicians.
Purbeck Youth Music
Gabrieli Roar – Dido and Aeneas
Young singers from primary and secondary schools come together with established youth choirs to perform Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at The Lighthouse, Poole. School workshops led by Gabrieli Roar and Purbeck Youth Music build singing skills and confidence towards the large-scale performance.
Live Music in Schools
Professional musicians visit Purbeck primary schools, giving children opportunities to experience high-quality live music within their own school. The programme includes performances by professional string players, connecting live performance with opportunities for children to explore and continue learning string instruments.
Ensembles & Creative Music
Ongoing opportunities include the Purbeck Trad Folk Collective, Big Band and young wind group, alongside a new Folk Fusion project encouraging young people to experiment, create and make music together. These ensembles provide routes for young musicians to develop their skills and continue playing beyond school.
Supporting Progression & Transition
Activity specifically addresses the drop-off in music-making between primary and secondary school, including a youth-ambassador-led ensemble bringing Year 5 and 6 pupils together with older musicians. Additional bursary support helps families who may otherwise struggle with the cost of continued participation.
Sonopera
Sonorities
A creative composition programme for Year 9 and 10 pupils across five Somerset secondary schools. Young people work with professional musicians over three sessions, taking musical material from a familiar song and transforming its motifs and riffs to create their own original compositions.
Developing Composition Skills
Through practical music-making, pupils explore how bass, chords, melody and other musical elements work together, building confidence in composing as they move from KS3 towards GCSE Music. The programme is designed to help make the transition into KS4 composition more accessible and engaging.
Sharing & Performance
Each school’s project culminates in an opportunity for pupils to perform and share the music they have created, with the potential for young musicians from different schools to come together for a wider collaborative ‘jam’ or sharing event.
Teacher CPD
A twilight CPD session supports secondary music teachers alongside the pupil programme, sharing practical approaches to composition that can be taken back into the classroom. Around 150 young people are expected to participate, with approximately 20 members of staff involved in professional development.
Sounds of the Streets
First Steps into Music
Accessible workshops give children, young people and their families an opportunity to experience making music together, providing an engaging introduction for those who may not already be taking part in regular music activity.
Music Workshops in Schools
At least 16 workshops will take place in primary and/or secondary schools, introducing pupils to practical, collaborative music-making and helping identify young people interested in continuing their musical journey.
New Local Ensembles
School activity will lead into the development and piloting of new band or folk ensemble opportunities in areas including Shepton Mallet/Glastonbury, Burnham/Bridgwater and Minehead/Watchet, creating clearer routes for young people to continue making music beyond their initial workshops
Take Art
Outthere
Working with Actiontrack Performance Company, Take Art will deliver free one-to-one participatory music sessions for young people who are NEET and referred through a range of partner agencies. Each session starts with the young person’s own musical interests, using a co-authored approach to build engagement, confidence and creativity. Funding will support 20 sessions.
Little People Big Ideas
The third year of a three-year early years research project exploring how creativity can be fostered within today’s early years sector. Creative practitioners work alongside children and staff in early years settings in Somerset and Dorset, using child-centred, co-created approaches across up to 20 half-day sessions.
Building Confidence Using Music in Early Years
A six-session online course supporting around 25 early years and music practitioners to develop confidence in using music within everyday practice. Participants explore songs, rhymes, musical play, child-led music-making and practical ways to embed music in their settings, with learning expected to reach more than 20 settings and around 760 children.
Building the Early Years Music Workforce
Two practitioners – one from Somerset and one from Dorset – will be supported to undertake the Level 4 Certificate for Music Educators: Early Childhood. The programme strengthens professional skills and creates a progression pathway from introductory workforce development into a recognised qualification, helping build sustainable early years music expertise across both counties.
Young People Frome
OUTPOST – Frome
Regular OUTPOST sessions at the Cheese & Grain provide a welcoming space for young people to explore music, develop their skills and make music together. Sessions are shaped around young people’s interests and provide a route into wider creative and progression opportunities.
OUTPOST – Shepton Mallet
A new outreach programme will take the OUTPOST model into Shepton Mallet, with regular sessions across the year. The programme aims to build a youth-led community of young musicians and develop a sustainable local base for music-making beyond school.
Industry Masterclasses
Young people interested in music and the creative industries can take part in an intensive Industry Masterclass programme, working directly with a professional through weekly evening sessions. Links with Strode College and other local partners help connect participants with further opportunities and progression routes.
Wessex Schools Music
Singing & Live Music
Year 4 pupils from 14 schools come together through the Singing Schools Festival, while Gabrieli Roar provides further workshops and a large-scale singing experience at Exeter Cathedral. An Instrumental Roadshow will also visit 17 schools, giving around 3,150 primary-aged children the chance to see and hear instruments played live.
First Steps into Instrumental Learning
Subsidised beginner instrumental lessons provide a route into regular music-making for Year 5 and 6 pupils, with around 80 new starters targeted. Transition workshops with Beat Goes On also use percussion to connect pupils at key points in their journey between primary, middle and secondary education.
Ensembles & Progression
Funding supports five established Wessex Schools Music ensembles alongside a new percussion ensemble, giving young musicians opportunities to continue playing together beyond lessons and school. Around 65 children and young people will participate in regular ensemble activity.
Festivals & Performance
Young musicians can perform, share their music and celebrate their achievements through the Dorchester Young Musician Festival, a new local Music for Youth heat and Wessex Arts Fest – a free family festival expected to reach around 1,000 participants.
