Revd Jan Gould (centre) with producer Karen Walker and presenter Roy Jenkins
The moving story of how one vicar’s vision to transform children’s lives through orchestral music has won a prestigious national radio award.
The Revd Jan Gould’s determination to give children on a city estate hope and ambition by teaching them music and setting up an orchestra was the subject of a BBC Radio Wales programme which won the award.
The programme, “All Things Considered – Making Music Changing Lives”, was named Best Easter programme in the Jerusalem Awards. It was presented by Roy Jenkins and produced by Karen Walker of the Religious Programmes department at BBC Wales.
Judges for the Awards, which encourage, promote and reward Christian broadcasting, described the programme as “moving and engaging”.
It focussed on the project Making Music Changing Lives which operates from the hall of the Church of the Resurrection, in Ely, the Cardiff estate which regularly features in tables of multiple deprivation.
The project was the idea of Jan Gould, a professional viola player before she trained for the priesthood, who was inspired by the El Sistema project in Venezuela which began by giving violin lessons to street children. Jan felt if it could work in Venezuela, then it could work in Ely too.
From small beginnings, with Jan teaching strings to a handful of children three years ago, the project now sees about 70 primary school pupils a week tackling a variety of instruments who would not otherwise be able to afford music lessons. They also learn music appreciation, visit the opera, and how to be part of an orchestra. Many of the children were witness to the hit-and-run incidents which made the national headlines a year ago in October 2012, and it was then that the project proved to be more than the sum of its parts.
Set against the background of preparations for their Easter Concert, and with funding running out, Jan Gould shared her story of personal struggle and explained how the Making Music Changing Lives project was part of the ongoing Resurrection story of new life and new beginnings.
Producer Karen Walker, who is donating the £2,000 prize money for the award to the project, said, “It was a moving experience and a privilege to learn about the work that Jan is doing with ‘Making Music Changing Lives’. Whilst recording I spent many hours observing the children interacting with their teachers and mentors as they learned about the world of music. They were full of beans and totally engaged when members of the Welsh National Opera taught them scenes from the opera Madame Butterfly and I watched their earnest concentration whilst learning how to read and write music and playing their musical instruments. And I was moved to see the pride and joy in their faces as they performed together in a concert in front of their parents.
“It’s an honour and a privilege to have our work acknowledged at the Jerusalem Awards, but I am particularly pleased for Jan and the Making Music Changing Lives project.”
Jan said, “Everyone at Making Music Changing Lives is absolutely thrilled at the news that the ‘All things Considered’ programme about us has won the Jerusalem Trust Award. We all, children and teachers, had great fun working with Karen Walker over the months it took to make the programme, and were really pleased with the end result of all that work. Hopefully this award will increase our public profile and also give more weight to any future funding applications we submit. We are grateful to Karen for her creativity in producing the programme, and also to the other organisations who work with the Church of the Resurrection, Ely in making this project possible – the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Welsh National Opera and Ely & Caerau Communities First and the Community Foundation in Wales.”
