For more than 40 years, Oldham Council’s Music Service and Music Centre have provided the opportunity for thousands of Oldham’s children and young people to receive instrumental and vocal tuition in schools and to meet together, outside school time, to play and sing in various ensembles. There is no doubt that the students who attend the various ensembles and groups on most nights of the week during term time are reaping the benefits of this approach.

For the majority of children attending the Music Centre, this has been the beginning of a lifetime of enjoying music as a satisfying hobby, whilst for some it has been the start of a professional career in music. Whichever path has been chosen, the aim has always been the same - to give as many children and young people as possible a joy of music and the opportunity to develop their musical skills to the highest possible standard. There has been a tradition of ensemble tours abroad and this year we cracked the Big Apple.

The pupils taking part were drawn from the various Music Centre bands, orchestras and ensembles and the American public were treated to concerts with a full range of musical styles during which our young musicians were flying the flag for Oldham and the UK. The range of players taking part enabled the Music Centre staff to form a brass band, a wind band and an orchestra, conducted by Jonathan Leedale, Roger Meaden and Gerard Booth respectively.

Gerard Booth, organiser of the tour and Head of the Orchestral Wind Department at the Music Centre, first came up with the idea of a New York trip in early 2007. Gerard explained, ‘A group of Music Centre students visited Boston in 1993 and, following a visit to Prague and a tour of Germany in 2005, I personally felt the time was now right for us to return to the USA and offer our talented youngsters an overseas trip they would never forget’.

This proposal was fully supported by Oldham Council and the Oldham Music Centre’s Director of Music, Dr. Eileen Bentley MBE. Having undertaken numerous overseas tours over the years, especially to Europe, Gerard initially chose New York for its ‘wow factor’ and, as it turned out, the city certainly provided a thrilling experience for the young people.

One immediate challenge, however, was to keep costs down to a minimum in order to make the trip as affordable as possible to every student attending the Music Centre. A 12-month fundraising campaign was launched in July 2007 and thanks to generous sponsors, local businesses, Music Centre staff, parents and the students themselves, a massive £17,000 was raised. A special word of thanks must also be given to the Walton Trust for their superb monetary support to the venture - Sir William, of course, was born and bred in Oldham and the Trust, especially Lady Walton, was very keen to help out.

On arrival in New York, following first a mammoth coach journey from Oldham to London and then a flight from Gatwick to JFK, the group were based at the International Youth Hostel close to Central Park. Admittedly, the staff had a few concerns about the potential experience to be had by living in a Youth Hostel for nine days - the very term ‘Youth Hostel’ conjures up in many minds a less than luxurious existence, but this particular hostel was a high-quality affair with excellent facilities and friendly, obliging staff. Jet lag failed to kick in and the main issue during the week was to get the excited youngsters to bed before midnight. On their return each evening, they were always buzzing about the day’s experiences: concerts, a visit to see ‘Wicked’ on Broadway, the baseball match at Shea Stadium, meals in American themed restaurants, shopping on 5th Avenue and just the general banter and interaction that is always a feature of taking groups of young people on tour.

For many of the young musicians taking part, the New York trip really was a life changing experience. Listening to their ongoing positive comments during the tour was very satisfying for the staff, who had worked so hard to make the trip a success. Many of these children had never set foot out of the UK before so the level of enthusiasm and excitement was intense.

Playing concerts at three attractive but totally different venues had enormous appeal but the tour wasn’t just about music. Seeing another culture and working together as a team for a jam-packed week of sightseeing, music making, rehearsals and just having a good time made the whole enterprise very worthwhile. The young people enjoyed America and the American public enjoyed hearing the talented musicians perform.

Having returned triumphantly to Oldham, all the talk now is about where we should go next time, but that’s another story!

www.oldham.gov.uk/community/music-service.htm