As a Rural Music School, we reach out across the county of Dorset, engaging young musicians and school pupils from Early Years through to Sixth form. We enjoy developing themed cross-curricular projects for schools, providing our musicians to work with pupils on all kinds of topics that support classroom learning. We understand that school staff are busy people and we provide strong, well coordinated timelines complete with ready made resources.
We invite schools to let their imaginations fly, sharing their requests with us so that we can develop a vibrant creative network through music that supports learning, team building, social skills and a general feel good factor!
In 2024, with the generous support of the Mansel-Pleydell Trust, the Semma Fund, Wimborne Rotary Club, and our fantastic Sponsor, we were able to reach over 4,500 school pupils with our pilot Brazilian Percussion workshops for schools. In May 2024, we launched our new project, The Rhythm of Life®, under the brilliant direction of Percussionist, Felix Gibbons, and our Director, Ellen Marsden. Felix brings a wealth of expertise to this ground breaking project, having lived and performed in Brazil for over eleven years. From her extensive orchestral experience, Ellen Marsden provides a Classical perspective for workshops so that we create a broad Foundation of early training to pupils, many who have never had the opportunity to dip into practical musicianship or perform in front of an audience. We emphasise that The Rhythm of Life project is absolutely about supporting the Health and Wellbeing of young people. These sessions are heavily subsidised and aim to reach schools with ever decreasing budgets to support all the fundamental soft skills that are so important for development …. our sessions support communication skills, listening, focus, coordination, self-esteem and team building. We also look at the Science of Sound and cross curricular subjects such as Geography and History.
We are immensely grateful for all the support we have received for this new and dynamic project, and we are thrilled to now be working through the school year providing The Rhythm of Life to schools across Dorset, please enquire for details by email.
In Autumn 2025, Baroque Academy will return to schools under the Direction of our Baroque Violinist and Musicologist, Emma-Marie Kabanova. With her brilliant Edutainment sessions, Emma-Marie provides inspirational and thought provoking class lessons, performing Baroque Repertoire and telling the story of the foundation of Western Classical Music through superb powerpoint presentations and inspirational practical workshops.
Please email Ellen if you would like to know more about any of these schools courses, they are a wonderful and creative introduction to class Music.
We are so happy with the success of our first Fiddles and Whistles programme !
Early in the Spring of 2024, eight talented and committed pupils from Blandford School dipped their toes into the world of Folk instrumental playing.
Working twice weekly with Fiddler Colin Thompson, and Whistle player, Alastair Simpson, our young musicians excelled in learning Folk tunes from scratch, performing brilliantly in our joint schools concert in the Parish Church at the close of the Spring term, alongside their mentors, Alastair and Colin, with Ruth Thompson and our Patron, Tim Laycock.
Congratulations to our young players, you are all amazing !
With sincere thanks to our professional team and the grant from Dorset Council that made this possible.
Storytelling is a powerful way to raise awareness of our local Heritage.
We, at the Dorset Rural Music School, feel it is important for young people to understand more of their roots, and what better way to begin than with Tim Laycock and the Great Fire of Blandford ….. a true story told by Tim with musical punctuation.
This element of the Dorset Folk Project was piloted with pupils in participating schools throughout the Spring term of 2024, it has proved to be extremely popular and effective as a route for learning.
We are hugely grateful to Dorset Council for their funding of this project and we look forward to visiting schools regularly throughout the forthcoming year.
We are particularly grateful to Head Teacher, James Law, for all his support and piloting at Milldown School, we continue to roll out new initiatives involving over thirty schools across the county.
We are proud of our inspirational Ambassadors!
Mentored by Director Ellen Marsden, our Ambassadors are talented young musicians who visit schools as performers, playing in classrooms and assemblies to inspire pupils and talk with them about what it’s like to play an instrument, their aspirations and their musical journeys.
Our pioneers are Ukrainian Pianist, Denys Voitsekhovskyi (19) Oboist, Ella Ward (19) and Singer, Grace Seeley (19).
We wish Ella every good luck as she begins her studies at university.
Please take time to watch and listen to a very special concert performance, given by Denys in November 2022 in the home of his wonderful English hosts. Denys arrived in the summer of 2022 not speaking a word of English.
Less than six months later he presented his recital and shared with us his musical story.
Denys continues his studies at Trinity Laban,London,
Congratulations Denys, we are so proud of you!
We welcome all schools to sign up to meet our Young Ambassadors, please contact Director Ellen Marsden for further information.
This exciting project has been a truly wonderful way to bring together rural village schools through the Folk Songs and traditions of our county, highlighting our local Heritage and connections to the stunning Dorset landscape. Pupils discovered the poetry, inspiration and rich harmonies that characterise Dorset’s Folk scene, as well as exploring the Dorset dialect.
A powerful team building initiative, this project drew small village school communities together through song. Children developed their singing voices, focusing upon a shared performing goal, learning more about their unique environment and celebrating with a superb performance in Blandford Parish Church at the close of the Spring term, 2024.
Following an extraordinary response we are working to further develop this project during 2025.
Participating schools received weekly visits from our Patron, Tim Laycock, over a six week timeline.
Each school learnt the same Folksongs in preparation for our fabulous Rural Village Schools Choir performance in Blandford Parish Church on 22nd March 2024.
We also welcomed into this project the children of the Gurkha Junkiri class who shared a very beautiful traditional song from their cultural roots.
The Choir performed with Tim Laycock and Colin Thompson, to an audience of school family members, celebrating this special event on 22nd March 2024 in Blandford Parish Church.
We were all blown away with the singing of the Choir, who sang some pretty complicated lyrics at times without forgetting a word !
This project was generously funded by the D’Oyly Carte Foundation to whom we are extremely grateful
Prior to taking up her post with the Dorset Rural Music School, our Director, Ellen Marsden (formerly Velázquez) developed many large-scale projects in collaboration with other organisations and schools.
Watch these short films to get an idea of what we have in store for the future with DRMS…
Strike a Chord (Octagon Theatre 2016
A major project involving nine Yeovil schools, working with Conductor Charles Hazlewood, Actor Mike Shepherd, Composer Paul Patterson and the Philharmonia Orchestra, Strike a Chord introduced pupils to the power of the Symphony Orchestra through the orchestration of Roald Dahl’s iconic Little Red Riding Hood.
The Bluebell Day Out (Emerald Ant: 2020)
Ellen Has been the Musical Director of the fabulous Arts organisation, Emerald Ant, since 2019, when she first worked with Sarah Butterworth, the organisation’s Creative Director and Founder.
Following the lockdowns, their first socially distanced project was a Promenade performance through a beautiful bluebell wood.
The promenade visited a series of Tableaux, punctuated with contrasting music, from Pipes to Jazz Saxophone, Percussion, Hurdy Gurdy and the Bournemouth Symphonic Brass Quintet…in Concert Dress!
Magnificent Mills (Emerald Ant: 2021)
Working with Ensemble Bash, William Barnes, Yewstock, Allenbourne and Beaucroft schools, the project explored the history of Sturminster and Walford Mills.
Swanskin Sea Farers (Emerald Ant: 2022)
Emerald Ant’s Swanskin Project, with Sturminster High School, was an opportunity to create a film score for a screenplay created with shadow puppets by pupils with Sarah Butterworth.
Recorded and produced by Tom Hughes, working with members of the New Scorpion Band and our Patron, Tim Laycock, the film tells the story of the Swanskin fabric made at Sturminster Mill and the migration of workers from Sturminster to Newfoundland in the 1600’s.
The film was screened at the Mill one beautiful July evening in 2022.
The Close
Blandford Forum
Dorset
DT11 7HA
drmsblandford@gmail.com
accounts: financedrms@gmail.com
Tel. 01258 452511
Mob. 07966 513381
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Weekdays: 9.30am- 8pm
Saturdays: 9.30am-1.30pm
Office ‘drop in’ manager : Justine Baker term time : Tues, Wed, Fri – 3.30pm – 6.30pm
