North Tyneside Music Celebrates Another Year of Partnership and Musical Opportunity in 2025-26
North Tyneside Music is celebrating another highly successful year of music-making, partnership working and innovation, with thousands of children and young people benefiting from high-quality musical opportunities during 2025-26.
Across the year, North Tyneside Music directly supported 90% of schools and education settings, with more than 10,000 pupils engaged in whole-class music lessons. The service provided additional performance opportunities to over 2,400 children and young people, supplied hundreds of new instruments to schools and continued to develop innovative partnerships to create new pathways for young people across the region.
Music-making continued to flourish across the borough, with 25 central ensembles and choirs and a further 50 school-based groups led by North Tyneside Music tutors, giving 2,463 children and young people a regular opportunity to develop their musical skills, confidence and creativity.
Investing in Access and Inclusion
Ensuring every child can access and benefit from music remains a key priority.
Following a borough-wide needs analysis, and with the support of the DfE’s Capital investment for Music Hubs, North Tyneside Music invested in schools through the purchase of over 400 new instruments and pieces of specialist equipment, including adaptive instruments to support inclusive music-making. Alongside this, more than 12,000 instruments were loaned to schools and young people throughout the year, helping to remove barriers to participation and ensuring access to high-quality musical experiences.
The service was also proud to become an Ambassador Hub for Young Sounds UK, securing funding for instrumental lessons and mentoring support for young musicians facing financial barriers. The programme is helping talented young people continue their musical journeys regardless of circumstance.
Looking ahead, funding has also been secured for a pioneering Music Therapy Pilot, due to launch in 2026-27 across primary, secondary and SEND settings in partnership with local specialist provider, Kindling Therapies.
Bringing Live Music and Cultural Experiences to Young People
2025-26 also saw North Tyneside Music become a partner for Live Music Now's Musical Mondays programme, providing live-streamed performances to primary schools and SEND settings. Initially piloted for North Tyneside schools, the partnership was then extended to benefit settings across the wider North East.
Children and young people also experienced the magic of live performance through a touring production of The Rain Show, delivered in partnership with Baraka Opera (Kenya) and Tête à Tête Opera. The production reached more than 600 primary-aged pupils, many of whom had little or no previous access to professional live performance opportunities.
Across the year, North Tyneside Music also facilitated an additional 17 live performances in schools,.
The service also provided 27 performance opportunities for more than 2,450 children and young people, culminating in a programme of inspiring concerts, showcases and singing events. A particular highlight was the delivery of seven large-scale singing events at Playhouse Whitley Bay, bringing together over 2,400 children and young people from across the borough to perform, collaborate and celebrate their musical achievements.
Supporting Schools and Teachers
Alongside direct delivery, North Tyneside Music has continued to strengthen music education across the borough through support for schools and professional development opportunities.
During 2025-26, 129 teachers from primary, secondary and SEND specialist settings accessed training and professional learning opportunities, helping to build confidence, expertise and sustainability within school music provision.
The service also further developed it’s partnership with Great North SCITT, with plans in the pipeline to contribute to the development and delivery of a new Primary Music Initial Teacher Training pathway from September 2027, helping to support the next generation of music educators.
Amplifying Youth Voice and Creating New Pathways
Ensuring young people have a meaningful voice in shaping music education remains central to North Tyneside Music's work.
This year, the service supported to develop North Tyneside Local Cultural Education Partnership’s Youth Voice Strategy, helping to align local priorities with the wider strategic work of the North East Music Hub and ensuring young people's perspectives are reflected in future planning and provision.
Young musicians were also supported to explore future careers and aspirations through Becoming the Artist, a 12-week online development programme for secondary-aged musicians. Featuring industry guest speakers, collaborative songwriting opportunities and a final performance event, the programme encouraged participants to explore the wide range of career pathways available within the music sector.
For older young people, North Tyneside Music’s partnership with Traxx Studios led to the development of the Evolution Project, supporting young adults aged 18-25 who have previously engaged with North Tyneside Music and are beginning to navigate early career opportunities within music and the creative industries.
Strengthening Partnerships for Greater Impact
Collaboration has been a defining feature of the year, with North Tyneside Music developing and contributing to five new Cultural Education Partnership projects designed to broaden opportunities for children and young people.
One of these initiatives is Safe Stage, a collaborative project involving Music Connects Sunderland, Young Sounds UK and North Shields Cultural Quarter, supported through NEMSA funding. One key outcome of the project will be to develop digital resources focused on wellbeing, safeguarding and navigating the realities of the music industry, creating valuable resources for young people, schools and community music organisations.
Meanwhile, the Sounding Out project has continued to provide weekly music-making opportunities in the north-west of the borough, working with community partners to ensure young people facing demographic and geographical barriers have access to creative experiences close to home.
Looking Ahead
The achievements of 2025-26 demonstrate the power of partnership, innovation and our shared commitment to ensuring that every child and young person can access meaningful musical opportunities.
From supporting thousands of learners, training teachers, investing in resources and amplifying youth voice, to creating new industry partnerships and progression pathways, North Tyneside Music continues to strengthen the musical landscape across the borough and beyond.
As the service looks ahead to the rest of 2026-27, it remains committed to working alongside schools, families, cultural organisations, industry partners and young people to ensure that music continues to inspire, connect and transform lives across North Tyneside. 🎵
