Brightside Music CIC
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Brightside Music CIC take interactive, live music into various settings in order to promote creativity, communication and wellbeing.
Having been aware of each other for several years, Aisling and Becky finally met through an apprenticeship provided by Opus Music CIC in the midlands. Both qualified teachers (Aisling in primary and Becky in secondary music), each musician brings diverse musical influences to the partnership. In 2016, Brightside incorporated and received funding to begin work in Leeds Children’s Hospital, where they have been practising ever since. Since then, they have run long-term projects in a number of hospitals including those in Sheffield and York, as well as offering CPD to adults working with young people in challenging situations.
Brightside visit settings as a duo playing violin, ukulele, clarinet and singing with a repertoire including folk music, nursery rhymes and well-known songs and tunes from a range of styles and eras. Participation is encouraged, whether this is dancing, singing along, body percussion or just sitting back and listening. Where appropriate, accessible percussion instruments are offered for participants to join in with the music-making. Offers of participation are celebrated, however small. Each session is adaptable and tailored to the interest and ability of those taking part.
Here are some examples of our participant-led approach in action:
As an organisation we do not currently work in schools, but we both come from a background in teaching. We believe that the approach we have used in hospital settings can be adapted to running small group music workshops with young people in order to promote confidence, communication and wellbeing. We work with all ages from early years to teens, and are particularly interested in working with children and young people who may find it hard to engage in school or who do not usually have the opportunities to participate in musical activities. We are also happy to offer workshops with staff to help them use music as a tool for communication, and have recently been working with staff at Sheffield Children’s Hospital on using the ukulele in their setting.
We could offer CPD/staff workshops over Zoom if required, however we feel that in-person sessions are better for younger participants.
