The winners of this year’s Music & Drama Education Awards have been announced, with community operas, healthcare-based music projects and inclusive theatremaking leading the way across all categories.
The Music & Drama Education Awards celebrate the work of organisations, initiatives, charities, schools and individuals making innovative work and helping make music and drama education as inclusive, progressive and dynamic as possible.
Collaborative projects performed particularly well at this year’s awards, with several musical organisations applauded for their work in the healthcare sector. Live Music Now’s pioneering Lullaby Project was given a high commendation in the Excellence in Primary/Early Years category, pairing new mothers with musicians to write a lullaby for their babies. Music for Good’s ‘Music Prescribed for Wellbeing in a GP Surgery’ won the Rocksteady Award for Progressive and Inclusive Music Education meanwhile, exciting the judges by bringing music into a space where it doesn’t usually belong.
Schools and individual teachers and educators were championed for their commitment to students’ learning, engagement of previously disinterested pupils and development of inclusive projects, reaching out into the community to create music and theatre across boundaries.
Awards were also given personally by the editors of Music Teacher and Drama & Theatre magazines directly, each to an individual or organisation of their choosing. Harriet Clifford, former editor of Music Teacher, gave her editor’s award to Stephen O’Regan, for the Ukraine Music Hub, an organisation set up to provide one-to-one music tuition to Ukrainians who have recently arrived in the UK. Drama & Theatre’s editor Freya Parr paid tribute to Vamos Theatre, the UK’s leading full mask theatre company, which has helped increase access to theatre, particularly for those with learning difficulties, sensory issues and audio impairments.
The winners were announced at a live ceremony in London presented by Classic FM presenter Aled Jones.
The winners were chosen from a pre-announced shortlist, with several organisations and initiatives given high commendations for their work.
The jury was chaired by Harriet Richards and Freya Parr, editors of Music Teacher and Drama & Theatre magazines respectively, and was made up of a range of leading voices from the worlds of music and drama education. The music categories were judged by Rose Delcour-Min, education and equalities officer at the Musicians’ Union; Steven Bryant, head of music at 2022 Best Music Department winner Ullswater Community College; Hannah Fouracre, director of music education at Arts Council England; violinist and educator Mahaliah Edwards; and Rachel Hawker, director of education at Rocksteady Music School.
The full list of winners:
Outstanding Musical Initiative
Winner: Opera North, for Opera North Big Sing: The Water Diviner’s Tale
Highly commended: Surrey Music Hub, for Music Connects
Outstanding Music Education Resource
Winner: Out of the Ark Music, for Sparkyard
Excellence in SEND (Music & Drama)
Winner: West Midlands Inclusive Choir
Excellence in Musical Theatre
Winner: Garsington Opera, for ‘Dalia’
Excellence in Primary/Early years (Music & Drama)
Winner: Nate Holder, Helen MacGregor, and Collins Music, for ‘Listen and Celebrate’
Highly commended: Live Music Now, for Lullaby Project
Outstanding School Music Department
Winner: Nelson Primary School, Newham
Highly commended: The Bourne Academy, Bournemouth
Francesca Hanley Inspiration Award
Winner: Rebecca Beavis
Highly commended: Gillian Mott
Instrumental/Vocal Teacher of the Year
Winner: Daniel Johnston
The Rocksteady Award for Progressive and Inclusive Music Education
Winner: Music for Good, for 'Music Prescribed for Wellbeing in a GP surgery' project
Drama Inspiration Award
Winner: Nina Lemon
Highly commended: Tommy Robinson
Outstanding Drama Education Resource
Winner: We Teach Drama, for ‘Think Like a Lighting Designer’
Outstanding Drama Initiative
Winner: London Bubble Theatre, for ‘Playing Safe’
Outstanding School Drama Department
Winner: St Mary’s College, Hull
Lifetime Achievement Award
Winner: Norton York
Lifetime Achievement Memorial Prize
Winner: John Thomson
Music Teacher Magazine Editor’s Award
Winner: Stephen O’Regan, for the Ukraine Music Hub
Drama & Theatre Magazine Editor’s Award
Winner: Vamos Theatre
