Orchestras for All: Redefining Inclusivity 

Author: Katie Villa, Clore Leadership Fellow and Artistic Director of Quirk Theatre

Orchestras for All exists to fill a gap in music education. With its deep commitment to creative inclusivity, Katie Villa thinks it has a powerful impact.

Orchestras for All (OFA) is the only non-auditioned national youth orchestra in the country, breaking down barriers to give all young people the life-changing experience of making music together. 

 Described as a ‘national treasure’ by James Murphy, CEO of The Royal Philharmonic Society, this small, unstoppable organisation is ripping up the archaic orchestral rulebook and shaking the foundations of ensemble music making. The ripples are being felt right across the music sector, with established orchestral giants looking to this radically inclusive, grassroots organisation to lead the way. 

Theirs is a holistic approach, both in terms of supporting the many young people they engage with each year, but also in how their programme is shaped. At the heart of OFA’s work is National Orchestra For all (NOFA), made up of around 100 young people aged between 11 and 19 who, importantly, wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to play in a national orchestra. 

But OFA also reaches beyond this ensemble with Modulo, supporting music leaders across the country to set up inclusive ‘Modulo’ ensembles in their own schools, while its Music Leadership Training programme equips music leaders with tools and inclusive strategies to affect change in their own communities. 

OFA’s Executive Director, Nick Thorne, said: “OFA isn’t just meeting an urgent need – it’s aiming to transform the environment to the point where it is no longer needed. OFA exists to fill a gap in music education – specifically for those young people, schools and teachers who fall through the gaps and offers support to those most in need. We hope for a future where we aren’t needed anymore but for now, there’s a lot more work to be done to break down the barriers to music participation that so many face.”

I’ve been lucky enough to spend a few months with Orchestras for All on a secondment as part of a Clore Leadership Fellowship, and the team’s commitment to joyful inclusivity has made a deep impact. But many in the OFA leadership team will resist calling themselves fully inclusive, arguing that 100 per cent inclusivity doesn’t exist. Instead, they work tirelessly (and joyfully) to individually meet the needs of every new participant, and this is a constant, shifting practice. As OFA’s Head of Programmes and Partnerships, Ellie Dunachie, explains: “There will always be something you haven’t anticipated. Our job is to always remain flexible.”

As one parent to a NOFA member likes to put it: “They see you as you and meet you where you are.”

At a NOFA residential, this can mean many things. A 28-strong wellbeing team was weaving their magic when I visited Royal Birmingham Conservatoire this April, giving one-to-one or small group support to the 100 young people who were in attendance. This bespoke support can be incredibly wide-ranging, from help with accessibility and scheduling to ordering in a specific branded pizza to ensure that every child gets to be creative on a happily full stomach. 

And it’s not just the on-the-ground support staff working in this way – inclusivity is embedded at every level. OFA welcomes children of any level of ability, on any instrument, which creates a beautifully dynamic, boundary-bending orchestra. But the work that goes into ensuring any child on any instrument can play the ambitious music (often chosen by the young people themselves) is genuinely awe-inspiring. 

Every piece of music prepared for NOFA is orchestrated in direct response to the needs of that orchestral cohort, with every child’s needs kept in mind. Need that violin part written in braille for a brilliant, blind violinist? Sure thing! A lower brass part adapted for a new player who plays with one hand? No problemo! 

This creative dynamism, the commitment to making the seemingly impossible, possible, allows young people with multiple and often deeply complex barriers to music making the opportunity to be part of something truly incredible. OFA’s Artistic Director, Emma Oliver-Trend, said: “The orchestral sound of OFA resonates inclusivity. The sound is bright and colourful as we bring together a wide range of instruments and musical experiences.

“But this is not an artistic payoff – OFA are striving for musical excellence just as much as anyone else, and OFA’s young musicians are building something brilliant together!”

Inclusivity doesn’t have to equal compromised artistic output; inclusivity just comes first, ensuring that everyone has everything they need to flourish. At OFA, they encourage the young people to aim high, support them to strive for their best, allowing young people to feel the joy of being part of something that sounds utterly amazing and creating a feedback loop of wellbeing. 

Wellbeing and excellence are completely symbiotic at OFA – and the results speak for themselves. A young participant told me that NOFA residentials were “the one place I can really be myself”. A parent of a participating child said: “Four days in August changed everything for my son – it saved my son’s life”.

OFA’s Executive Director, Nick Thorne, said: “Young people and alums of our programmes sit throughout our organisation from the Board right through to our team, freelancers and young people within our programmes – we offer them ownership, decision-making power and true collaboration with our team to make the most meaningful impact on young people we support”. 

An Orchestral Tutor at NOFA described it as “youth led but adult held”, a complex but lightly held support structure that gives the young people just the right amount of responsibility and challenge to flourish”. 

OFA seems to be doing things that other organisations would say are impossible. Sitting in that concert hall, tears flowing down my face, a nearby parent leaned over to me and asked: “Which one is yours?”. “Oh, none of them,” I answered, and we went on to talk about her son, who was enthusiastically playing percussion in the back row. 

But really the answer was ‘all of them!’ No child is left behind here. Every child is given the space to shine.

Written for Orchestras for All and later published by Arts Professional: https://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/magazine/article/orchestras-all-redefining-inclusivity