Fringe on Campus 2009 – “Music is For Everyone!”

Renowned UK Music Educator staged

Extra-ordinary Community Music Workshops in Shanghai

“Fringe on Campus” (FOC) is a long-term outreach program organized by Fringe Shanghai. By offering arts education opportunities as well as arts-related information and activities, it aims to broaden the artistic vision of young people in Shanghai.

The theme for Fringe on Campus in 2009 was “Music is For Everyone!” We invited distinguished British Community Music expert Peter Moser to bring to Shanghai a series of creative music activities tailored for teachers and students from 31 October to 7 November 2009.

Campus Tour (2-6 November)

From 2 to 6 November, Peter Moser visited eight high school and university campuses. Through lively demonstrations, interactive activities, and presentations on the development of community music in the UK, Peter enabled the participating students to enjoy and create music in a new way.

“I wish that this “Music is for Everyone!” activity could be extended to all schools.” – Wenjie Cheng (a student from Shanghai Fuxing Senior High School)

“Train-the-Trainers” Workshop (31 October, 1 November)

This one-day workshop investigated a range of practical techniques and musical games to use with young people in primary and secondary schools to help them to create their own music and songs. This workshop was inspired by the creative music making which has developed in the UK in response to the composition modules in the British school curriculum. It proved to be a highly motivating and practical workshop for music and drama teachers and teachers to-be.

“Be a Leader of Band” Workshop (7 November)

This was tailored for band and orchestra players who aspire to become music leaders. Through improvisation and interactive games, participants learnt the important techniques of creating new music, composing, as well as the essential know-how required for successfully leading a band or orchestra.

Community Visit (8 November)

Grandmas and Grandpas had a lot of fun making music, too! On 8 November, Peter Moser conducted a workshop for more than 100 seniors at Changning District’s Hongqiao Community Center. The smiling folks collectively created music using all sorts of “percussion instruments” (guess what they were!). This was a great occasion for encouraging interaction and communication among residents in a community. “It was great! We would love to see more community cultural events like this in our district!” said the very happy Grandmas and Grandpas.

Artist Peter Moser

Renowned British musician, Peter Moser, is a composer, performer, teacher and producer. Winner of the Arts Council England ART06 award for work in Music Education, he has been the Artistic Director of More Music in Morecambe (www.moremusic.org.uk) for the past 15 years after he retired from the post of Musical Director of Welfare State International.

Peter is a multi-instrumentalist and teaches percussion, voice, brass and songwriting, as well as the art of running workshops. He has recently co-edited a book Community Music: A Handbook, that covers a range of music and music workshop issues and is aimed at inspiring music-leaders and prospective music-leaders.

The Shanghai visit of Peter Moser is supported by China – UK Connections through Culture. China —UK Connections through Culture is a joint initiative between the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the British Council with support from the Scottish Government and Welsh Assembly Government.

The Fringe on Campus 2009 activities form part of Peter’s research project for the Shanghai Expo 2010.

Campus Tour Participating Schools