
2022 News
December 2022
Bolton Benedetti Sessions: Registration Now Open
Registration is now open for the Bolton Benedetti Sessions, taking place on 3-4 February 2023 at Victoria Hall, Bolton. Click below to find out more.
December 2022
Glasgow Benedetti Sessions
The Benedetti Sessions returned to Glasgow for the first time since our launch in January 2020. On 17-18 December, we were delighted to welcome over 170 young string players, aged 6-18 and a group of instrumental teachers for a weekend packed full of creativity, rhythm, improvisation, singing and learning by ear all while exploring works by The Ayoub Sisters, Vaughan Williams, Brian Burmages, Joelle Broad and Calum Huggan.
Monday 19 December saw over 1000 primary school children from Glasgow and East Dunbartonshire come together at the Old Fruitmarket for action-packed music workshops led by Lucy Drever and Calum Huggan, before ending the sessions with a class teacher training session with Lucy.
A huge thank you to our hosts, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow Life and everyone involved in the Sessions.
December 2022
Residency Sessions with Devon and Torbay Music Education Hub
Our Residency Sessions Tour for Autumn 2022 made its final stop of the year in Devon and Torbay. We had a wonderful week visiting nine primary schools all across the area from Blackawton to Newton Abbott to Whimple, working with over 1,000 primary school children. During our time in Devon, we also held a session for primary class teachers and string teachers and the week culminated in a mass strings day for Intermediate players who learn both with the music service and locally.
The Residency Sessions return in January visiting Northamptonshire and Hounslow.
December 2022
The Big Give Christmas Challenge
Between 29 November and 5 December, The Benedetti Foundation is took part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge, raising £40,000 towards funding our Primary School Workshops as part of the 2023 Residency Sessions Tour. A huge thank you to everyone who helped us to reach our target by making a match-funded donation. We are incredibly grateful to you all. If you’d still like to make a donation to support our work, please visit our support pages.
November 2022
Ambassador Day
Throughout late October and November, our Residency Sessions visited North, South and East Ayrshire, East and Mid Lothian, Buxton, Inverclyde and Aberdeen this month, working in close partnership with the music services and other organisations including Big Noise Torry (Sistema Scotland). With our incredible teams of musicians, we have delivered:
47 primary school workshops to over 7,200 5-11 year olds and their teachers
4 strings days to over 450 young people age 7-18
classroom teacher and instrumental teacher sessions in every location, reaching over 160 teachers
October 2022
Cardiff Benedetti Sessions: Primary School Workshops at Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama
Over 1000 primary school children from 22 schools across Wales joined us at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama for Part 2 of the Cardiff Benedetti Sessions. Workshop leaders Lucy Drever and Patrick King, Ambassador Ellie and RWCMD percussion student Alex led 4 action packed workshops taking pupils on a musical exploration.
October 2022
Glasgow Benedetti Sessions
The Benedetti Sessions will return to Glasgow from 17-19 December. Hosted by our friends at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, these Sessions will feature a brand-new piece of music for mass string orchestra written by The Ayoub Sisters.
October 2022
Nicola Benedetti on BBC 4 ‘This Cultural Life’
Recently, our Founder and Artistic Director, Nicky was interviewed by John Wilson for This Cultural Life. In this clip, she discusses the work of our Foundation and the impact access to music education can have on young people.
October 2022
Baroque Virtual Sessions
We were delighted to welcome over 500 of you to the Baroque Virtual Sessions 2022. A huge thank you to Rachel Podger, Clifton Harrison, David Watkin, Carina Cosgrave, Leo Duarte, Ursula Paludan Monberg, Adrian Bending, Steven Devine and Liz Kenny who each led a 1-hour session exploring the baroque era through the eyes of their instrument.
Resources from the Baroque Sessions, including Series 2 of Discover Baroque are available to watch here.
September 2022
New Music Video Release
Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana - Mascagni arr. Holt, performed by Nicola Benedetti and the Tutors and Ambassadors at the Cardiff Benedetti Sessions.
September 2022
Residency Sessions Get Underway
The Residency Sessions for 2022-23 are underway - first stop: Cumbria. Over the week, working in partnership with Cumbria Music Hub, we visited 6 primary schools in Barrow-in-Furness and Kendal, meeting over 700 children from Reception to Year 6, delivered training for classroom teachers and instrumental teachers and held a mass strings day hosted by Trinity School in Carlisle. We are looking forward to returning to Whitehaven in December for the final day of this Residency.
July 2021
The Baroque Sessions
Baroque music is a gift to the world of music education. Throughout July, over 1000 people from 55 countries took part in these Baroque Sessions. This film is a culmination of three weeks working together in our online community.
July 2021
Trustees' Report and Financial Statements 2019-2020
We are thrilled to share our Trustees' Report and Financial Statements for our first period July 2019 - December 2020.
Please click here to read and download the report.
July 2021
Benedetti Foundation Newsletter - July 2021
June 2021
Announcing the Baroque Sessions
We are thrilled to announce the Baroque Virtual Sessions to take place between 5-25 July.
June 2021
Mini Sessions Open for Registration
May 2021
Nicola Benedetti announced as BBC Music Magazine's Personality of the Year
We're delighted to share that Nicky has been awarded BBC Music Magazine's Personality of the Year. Read all about this award in May's BBC Music Magazine.
"So this year's Music Magazine Personality of the Year award goes to someone who, over the past year, has helped keep many young players' hopes and aspirations alive with a mind-boggling array of online courses, videos and social media for budding string players. Such has been the sheer professionalism and sleekness of these offerings, one would never know they were anything other than the result of a long-planned vision online." - BBC Music Magazine, May 2021
May 2021
May 2021: New Ambassadors for 2021 Announced
The Benedetti Foundation’s Ambassador Programme has been running since the Foundation’s inception in January 2020. The Ambassadors are students or recent graduates from the UK’s conservatoires, as well as some international ambassadors from as far as New Zealand, Mexico and the USA. They are all excellent instrumentalists that have demonstrated a passion for educating. Through the Foundation’s free training programme, the Ambassadors gain experience in a supportive and safe environment in which to share ideas, learn from one another, further both practical and instrumental teaching skills, and gain greater knowledge, understanding and insight into the Foundation’s music and education communities.
The Benedetti Foundation is thrilled to announce that it has expanded its Ambassador Programme this year with the acceptance of 67 new Ambassadors for 2021 – for the first time open to all instruments, a new Teaching Ambassador Programme with 27 participants and the appointment of 13 Lead Ambassadors - who have all worked with the Foundation as ambassadors since the very first sessions and take on a mentoring and leadership role within the programme.
Congratulations to all those who have been accepted onto the programme this year.
April 2021
Nicky chats with....
During our Bullding Foundations Sessions, Nicky chatted with cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, violinists Geza Hosszu-Legocky and Rachel Podger and double bassist Carlos Henriquez about their physical and psychological appraoches to playing.
April 2021
Building Foundations: Exploring the Physicality and Psychology of Playing
From 29 March – 18 April, we delivered our first 3-week Virtual Sessions of 2021, ‘Building Foundations: Exploring the Physicality and Psychology of Playing’. With no set repertoire, these sessions were unlike anything we had delivered before. Our aim was to ignite curiosity and understanding of playing through exploring physical and psychological tasks and challenges.
We believe strongly in the addressing of our foundations, within which we encourage and try to ignite individuality and creativity. There is no one way to play, one way to make music, one interpretation, or one methodology or pedagogy. Alongside our friends, colleagues and incredible tutors, we continue to strive for collective development and the never-ending journey of discovery.
April 2021
'With Nicky' returns for Series 2
'With Nicky' is back with series 2. From 1st March 2021, Nicky returns with a new set of educational videos. Click here to view all 'With Nicky' videos.
March 2021
Benedetti Foundation Announces New Trustees
We are delighted to announce that Wynton Marsalis and Jonathan Moulds CBE have been appointed to our Board of Trustees. Both bring a wealth of experience and expertise and share our beliefs, passions and aims as a charity.
January 2021
Applications Invited for the Benedetti Foundation's Ambassador Programme for Students and Recent Graduates
January 2021
Teaching Primary Music Resources for Class Teachers Released
Teaching Primary Music (KS1 and KS2) was created by Jimmy Rotheram, primary music specialist at Feversham Primary Academy, in Bradford, along with a number of collaborators and edited and developed by the Benedetti Foundation. It is a resource designed primarily for teachers working in KS1 and KS2 in England. For a full list of contributors, please see the final page of the resource books.
Created in response to the Covid-19 crisis to support primary classroom teachers, who are non-specialist musicians, bring music into the primary classroom on the return to school, we hope these activities will enable all teachers, teaching assistants, or those responsible for delivering music in the primary setting build their confidence and skills to teach this subject regularly and embed it within the school day.
The resources are designed to be accessible, easy to use and deliver a high-quality music offer to children despite the current COVID-19 restrictions. The videos have been created so that they lead the activity in the classroom, but once teachers have viewed them a few times and built some confidence they can have a go at leading it themselves.
The resources can be used in whichever way best suits your setting and further resources can be found from all the contributors to these books.
January 2021
London Sessions Documentary Released
One year on from our London Sessions, we are delighted to share with you our documentary from the wonderful weekend spent at the Southbank Centre in January 2020.
Watch this short film presented by Jess Gillam:
January 2021
Benedetti Foundation Newsletter January 2021
Please click here to read the latest news from the Benedetti Foundation