National Youth Arts Wales and Cardiff University School of Music
National Youth Arts Wales works with partner organisations throughout Wales to ensure that every young person has the opportunity to flourish through the arts. One of our key partners is Cardiff University’s School of Music, which offers Higher Education courses across a wide range of music genres. This Easter, they generously hosted residencies for the National Youth Orchestra of Wales, National Youth Choir of Wales and National Youth Brass Band of Wales at their facilities in Cardiff. We were also delighted to welcome work placement student Poppy Ancell to work with us, helping us prepare for those intense rehearsals.
“It’s been a privilege to host the choirs and instrumental ensembles of National Youth Arts Wales this past week and to hear their outstanding music-making filling our concert hall and rehearsal spaces.
No one should underestimate the collective commitment in Wales to embedding transformative music and arts education, with National Youth Arts Wales standing at the very forefront of this work. We hope that by experiencing our environment this week the students have gained a fresh sense of the fully realistic path that exists for them into higher education and the profession.
Speaking of which, we have also been thrilled to work with NYAW as part of our Business of Music scheme at Cardiff School of Music, which has so far given more than 250 students invaluable placement experience across the arts, music education, the commercial music industry and the charity sector as part of their degree.
Our NYAW placement student Poppy was able not just to get involved in the extensive behind-the-scenes work towards the Spring courses but also to see how, like all of NYAW’s expert tutors, you can balance a successful performing career with being an inspiring mentor to future generations.”
Dr Charles Wilson
Director of Student Professional Development, School of Music, Cardiff University
“Doing placement for the Business of Music II with NYAW was such a pleasure, and I was truly grateful for the unique opportunity it gave me to explore youth arts, as working with young people is something I’m passionate about. While my job was very admin focused, organising music for the Easter rehearsals, it gave me such a helpful insight into arts management and has inspired me to pursue it after my degree. Working in youth arts feels like making a valuable contribution to the life of young people and a way of watching them grow but in a different way to teaching, which I’m also interested in pursuing. Everyone was so welcoming and created a relaxed environment where I felt comfortable asking questions and sharing opinions.”
Poppy Ancell
Student, Cardiff University
“It was great to be able to offer Poppy a work placement as part of her music degree at Cardiff University and it came at a very opportune time for us as well. In a particularly busy period for National Youth Arts Wales, Poppy provided vital support in the lead up to and during our music ensemble rehearsals which was very much appreciated. As well as helping us prepare for the rehearsals Poppy spent time with various members of the team learning about their roles and the different elements of the organisation. She even attended a leaving do for one of the team. It was a pleasure to work with Poppy, her enthusiasm for music and her hopes for working with young people in some way in the future aligned perfectly with us, making it a very positive experience all around.”
Matthew Jones
Senior Producer and Deputy CEO, National Youth Arts Wales
We look forward to further developing our partnership with the School of Music and hopefully welcoming more of their students to enjoy a work placement with us in the future.
