IMPULSE
IMPULSE Outreach Training is a unique, pupil-led programme available to sixth form students in Year 12 and 13. Pupils are encouraged to create and form their own projects in small groups, coming together in larger ensembles for school visits and national/international touring programmes. They also organise community concerts, and musical presentations for school assemblies.
IMPULSE has received a number of national awards and commendations from distinguished organisations, including the Royal Society of Arts, the Diana Awards, Music Manifesto and the National teaching Awards to name but a few.
Young musicians involved in IMPULSE learn management, presentation and leadership skills. They are expected to work closely as members of a team, but to each create a strong personal profile at the same time. They learn to compose, arrange and present music to different audiences, and to become mentors for less experienced musicians.
IMPULSE is celebrating its 10th Anniversary this year. Over 200 young musicians have now been trained at the Purcell School and many of these are able to develop their leadership skills further when they move on the music conservatoires and universities.
IMPULSE has received a number of national awards and commendations from distinguished organisations, including the Royal Society of Arts, the Diana Awards, Music Manifesto and the National teaching Awards to name but a few.
Young musicians involved in IMPULSE learn management, presentation and leadership skills. They are expected to work closely as members of a team, but to each create a strong personal profile at the same time. They learn to compose, arrange and present music to different audiences, and to become mentors for less experienced musicians.
IMPULSE is celebrating its 10th Anniversary this year. Over 200 young musicians have now been trained at the Purcell School and many of these are able to develop their leadership skills further when they move on the music conservatoires and universities.
Opportunities for schools and communities
- IMPULSE to perform in a school assembly.
- IMPULSE to run a creative music workshop with a whole class of children.
- IMPULSE performs in a local community event.
- IMPULSE performs in a care home or sheltered housing scheme.
- IMPULSE organises a musical event for a particular occasion.
- IMPULSE performs music composed by GCSE and A Level pupils.
- IMPULSE to support ceremonies and special functions in the community.
Please contact the IMPULSE Manager, Harriet Rayfield to discuss any of the options above, or to make suggestions of your own.
PLEASE NOTE – these busy young musicians are not able to support all requests, because they run the outreach programmes in their limited spare time, but they are very keen indeed and will do their best to support as many organisations as possible.
Further information
IMPULSE schools who would like to create their own outreach programmes will be able to get help, support and advice from the Purcell School. Please contact the IMPULSE Manager, Harriet Rayfield to find out more.
If you are able to help us with our work and sponsor IMPULSE, we shall be delighted! Please contact Alison Cox OBE, IMPULSE Outreach Co-Founder and Director.
If you are able to help us with our work and sponsor IMPULSE, we shall be delighted! Please contact Alison Cox OBE, IMPULSE Outreach Co-Founder and Director.
IMPULSE Outreach Tour to Norfolk - June 2015
The Purcell School’s IMPULSE Outreach Group travelled to Norfolk on Thursday 18th June and ran community outreach projects in primary schools and community concerts in local churches. Those involved in this project, all from Year 12 were Matthew Higham and Georgia Peters (Pupil-Directors) Caitlin Heathcote, Olaya Garcia Alvarez, Millie Ashton, Rachael Hannigan and Emily Christian (Concert Managers), Izzie Sher, Tom Sparkes, Young Jun Lee and Hanna Mbuya (school workshop managers) plus Will Fowler and Patriks Skabardis who helped pull together songs and djembe pieces for large group performances.
Staff members overseeing the trip were David Thomas, Lily Caunt and Alison Cox.
Thursday June 18th – we drove to Norfolk in the school minibus and presented a lively afternoon workshop and school assembly at Swaffham C of E Primary School. The children have all written to us saying how much they loved the music and how they would now like to learn an instrument and come to the Purcell School.
We had a wonderful fish-and-chip supper at the famous Drifters and stayed overnight at the Yorke Trust, which offered us excellent, affordable musician-friendly accommodation. The Yorke Trust is run by double bass-playing legend Rodney Slatford OBE
Friday June 19th – IMPULSE spent the day at Burnham Market Primary School, running workshops in the morning, and adding instrumental accompaniments to songs and djembe performances in the afternoon. At the end of the day, we performed everything to the whole school, teachers, parents, friends and Yorke Trust board members.
Here is a quote from Dawn Wakefield, a Norfolk-based music teacher….
'Just had some brilliant feedback about your IMPULSE Outreach visit to Burnham Market School. I was giving a piano lesson to an adult whose daughter is in the class you worked with, and she said she had never seen her daughter come home with such a huge beaming smile and since then she has been playing her treble recorder all weekend. The mother who is also a classroom assistant at the school commented on how great it was to see ALL the children in the class so totally actively engaged and enthralled...when many of them are not greatly enthusiastic generally. She was hugely impressed and says many of the children are now inspired to take up instruments for the first time. What you all do is just amazingly fantastic! Thank you so much. I really appreciate you bringing such great music and enthusiasm to children who would never normally have all this.'
Saturday 20th June – we travelled to Norwich to work with the Norfolk Centre for Young Musicians. First, Alison Cox ran a composition/improvisation session for about 60 young musicians, including everyone in the Purcell School IMPULSE group. This involved whole group work and further development in small ensembles. It helped break the ice and enable everyone to get to know each other. After this, all the IMPULSE members went to assist NCYM tutors in string, woodwind, vocal, brass and percussion groups. Some of these groups performed outside at the end of the session.
In the evening, we gave our first community concert to a packed audience in Christ Church, Fulmodeston. This lovely, welcoming community all pulled together not only to give us a fantastic reception and an encore, but also a massive, delicious supper afterwards at the home of Stephen Miles and Alan Heath. The pupils quickly discovered Alan’s harmonium and after supper everyone clustered around it to sing the evening away!
Sunday 21st June – Exhausted! We all had a badly-needed lie-in at the Yorke Trust. In the afternoon, we drove to All Saints Church, Bale, and met up with Stephen Miles, who gave us for lunch all the remnants of the previous night’s feast, served from the back of his car. We sat on gravestones in the warm sunshine, amongst all the dog-daisies and poppies and tucked in.
Our final community Concert, hosted by Alan and Margaret Sankey and the Bale community was also full to capacity, greatly enjoyed, and highly successful. Izzie’s arrangement ‘The Great Escape to Norfolk’ deserves a special mention – arranged for the whole group to play and enjoyed greatly in all the schools and concerts. Another piece which was highly accomplished, specially composed for the group and greatly enjoyed was ‘The Cherry Trees’ by Tom Sparkes, a tribute to the First World War. This piece received its World Premiere in Fulmodeston.
Georgie Peters, IMPULSE Pupil-Manager, said of the trip. “The past 4 days have been the most eye-opening and enlightening few days I've had in such a long time. We will all treasure Norfolk 2015 as an amazing memory forever. I feel totally and utterly inspired and I would even go as far as saying I've developed and grown as a person (maybe it was Jonathan's fish and chips)?? You were all such a lovely group of people to be surrounded by and I am so grateful to everyone for making this experience so amazing. Totally overwhelmed and the happiest I've been in a long time! Well performed, boys and gals!
Staff members overseeing the trip were David Thomas, Lily Caunt and Alison Cox.
Thursday June 18th – we drove to Norfolk in the school minibus and presented a lively afternoon workshop and school assembly at Swaffham C of E Primary School. The children have all written to us saying how much they loved the music and how they would now like to learn an instrument and come to the Purcell School.
We had a wonderful fish-and-chip supper at the famous Drifters and stayed overnight at the Yorke Trust, which offered us excellent, affordable musician-friendly accommodation. The Yorke Trust is run by double bass-playing legend Rodney Slatford OBE
Friday June 19th – IMPULSE spent the day at Burnham Market Primary School, running workshops in the morning, and adding instrumental accompaniments to songs and djembe performances in the afternoon. At the end of the day, we performed everything to the whole school, teachers, parents, friends and Yorke Trust board members.
Here is a quote from Dawn Wakefield, a Norfolk-based music teacher….
'Just had some brilliant feedback about your IMPULSE Outreach visit to Burnham Market School. I was giving a piano lesson to an adult whose daughter is in the class you worked with, and she said she had never seen her daughter come home with such a huge beaming smile and since then she has been playing her treble recorder all weekend. The mother who is also a classroom assistant at the school commented on how great it was to see ALL the children in the class so totally actively engaged and enthralled...when many of them are not greatly enthusiastic generally. She was hugely impressed and says many of the children are now inspired to take up instruments for the first time. What you all do is just amazingly fantastic! Thank you so much. I really appreciate you bringing such great music and enthusiasm to children who would never normally have all this.'
Saturday 20th June – we travelled to Norwich to work with the Norfolk Centre for Young Musicians. First, Alison Cox ran a composition/improvisation session for about 60 young musicians, including everyone in the Purcell School IMPULSE group. This involved whole group work and further development in small ensembles. It helped break the ice and enable everyone to get to know each other. After this, all the IMPULSE members went to assist NCYM tutors in string, woodwind, vocal, brass and percussion groups. Some of these groups performed outside at the end of the session.
In the evening, we gave our first community concert to a packed audience in Christ Church, Fulmodeston. This lovely, welcoming community all pulled together not only to give us a fantastic reception and an encore, but also a massive, delicious supper afterwards at the home of Stephen Miles and Alan Heath. The pupils quickly discovered Alan’s harmonium and after supper everyone clustered around it to sing the evening away!
Sunday 21st June – Exhausted! We all had a badly-needed lie-in at the Yorke Trust. In the afternoon, we drove to All Saints Church, Bale, and met up with Stephen Miles, who gave us for lunch all the remnants of the previous night’s feast, served from the back of his car. We sat on gravestones in the warm sunshine, amongst all the dog-daisies and poppies and tucked in.
Our final community Concert, hosted by Alan and Margaret Sankey and the Bale community was also full to capacity, greatly enjoyed, and highly successful. Izzie’s arrangement ‘The Great Escape to Norfolk’ deserves a special mention – arranged for the whole group to play and enjoyed greatly in all the schools and concerts. Another piece which was highly accomplished, specially composed for the group and greatly enjoyed was ‘The Cherry Trees’ by Tom Sparkes, a tribute to the First World War. This piece received its World Premiere in Fulmodeston.
Georgie Peters, IMPULSE Pupil-Manager, said of the trip. “The past 4 days have been the most eye-opening and enlightening few days I've had in such a long time. We will all treasure Norfolk 2015 as an amazing memory forever. I feel totally and utterly inspired and I would even go as far as saying I've developed and grown as a person (maybe it was Jonathan's fish and chips)?? You were all such a lovely group of people to be surrounded by and I am so grateful to everyone for making this experience so amazing. Totally overwhelmed and the happiest I've been in a long time! Well performed, boys and gals!
2014 Project: ‘Shapes & Satellites’ – new music by Micachu and young composers
Micachu, described by the Southbank Centre as ‘one of one of the most original, challenging and unique new artists in the country’ returned to her alma mater, The Purcell School to compose a dazzling new community work as the focal point of an outreach tour to Norfolk in June 2014. A lively group of young composers worked with Micachu to create a ‘satellite’ response to her piece.
Talented IMPULSE musicians from Years 12 and 13 at The Purcell School formed a collaboration with Micachu and the young composers, and took their ideas into North Norfolk’s schools and communities, encouraging other young people to respond to, create and perform their own music in a variety of ways.
The Purcell School gratefully acknowledges financial support from the PRS for Music Foundation which enabled them to run this exciting project. IMPULSE's Creative Director Alison Cox says: “this funding will open up a wealth of opportunities for even more children to benefit from creative musical expertise and enjoy working with talented young Purcellians!”
IMPULSE FACT: The unique pupil-led outreach programme IMPULSE was created in 2004 by Micachu and Mercury-nominated jazz pianist, Kit Downes, when they were both just 17 years old. Since this time, generations of enterprising Purcell School pupils have organised their own IMPULSE projects all over the UK and overseas. They have won local and national awards and inspired thousands of children by performing in school assemblies, running their own creative workshops and community concerts.
Talented IMPULSE musicians from Years 12 and 13 at The Purcell School formed a collaboration with Micachu and the young composers, and took their ideas into North Norfolk’s schools and communities, encouraging other young people to respond to, create and perform their own music in a variety of ways.
The Purcell School gratefully acknowledges financial support from the PRS for Music Foundation which enabled them to run this exciting project. IMPULSE's Creative Director Alison Cox says: “this funding will open up a wealth of opportunities for even more children to benefit from creative musical expertise and enjoy working with talented young Purcellians!”
IMPULSE FACT: The unique pupil-led outreach programme IMPULSE was created in 2004 by Micachu and Mercury-nominated jazz pianist, Kit Downes, when they were both just 17 years old. Since this time, generations of enterprising Purcell School pupils have organised their own IMPULSE projects all over the UK and overseas. They have won local and national awards and inspired thousands of children by performing in school assemblies, running their own creative workshops and community concerts.
