It was an absolute pleasure to celebrate the successes of our young musicians as part of our Winter Concerts in December – a livestreamed series of concerts for families and supporters to watch from home and for students in the classroom.

With around 750 participants garnering nearly 2,000 views across the series, our children’s music could be experienced far and wide. One parent described their highlight of the series as “…seeing how, despite all the difficulties this year, the Music Masters team continue to keep the children motivated, learning and showcasing their work.”

Little did any of us know that, just weeks away, was another national lockdown resulting in the closure of our schools across the country. Our violin and cello teachers would return from their well-deserved break to discover that they won’t see their students in person until at least mid-February.

The good news – we had faced this before. We had learned so much from our experiences of online learning in 2020 and, as an organisation and team of individuals, we were much better equipped and skilled to handle online delivery this time round.

However, as well as persistent issues around shared technology at home, challenges in communication, and developing skills and techniques around motivating students online, this time we face new challenges. The days are short, dark and a little gloomy. Schools and music organisations are all working hard to create many incredible online opportunities, which can be overwhelming for young and demotivated students.

It is with this mindset that our teaching team is focusing on what is important – creating musical moments in our children’s weeks that spark joy and connection with each other. We are bringing group activity back to the centre of our online learning model, so our students can see and work with each other more while at home. It also the reason why our Friday Live! series returns for weekly fun music-making activities through Zoom, to boost interaction with each other while ensemble playing isn’t possible.

We aim to reach as many of our students as possible during this time at home. A great challenge, but one which we hope to achieve with a structure of supportive schools, hard-working teachers and an invaluable administrative team.

There are certainly difficult times ahead, but we can’t wait to see our students back in school as soon as possible, so that they can fill our school corridors with music once again.