History

The EA Music Service has been in existence for over 50 years and has extensive experience in delivering inclusive music education across Northern Ireland. 

1978 Concert

Its current strategic goals are

  • provide access and inclusion for every child to the world of music making;
  • provide relevant, effective, and accessible progression routes for children and young people into the world of music and the creative industries;
  • expand current Music Service provision catering for the musical needs of ALL pupils

The Education Authority replaced five Education and Library Boards (ELB) on 1 April 2015.

Each ELB was an autonomous entity with a Music Service that provided instrumental tuition for children and young people.  Following a selection process, pupils were taught in small groups or on a one-to-one basis by a team of locally based instrumental tutors.  Those that reached an appropriate level of skill were invited to join the particular Music Service’s performance ensembles.  Activity was co-ordinated by a Senior Tutor/Manager, reporting to a Head of Service.  Within this broad framework, however, practices and structures differed from board to board.

The Music Service has undertaken a review which, at the time of writing, is awaiting internal approval delayed by the Covid-19 crisis.  This is the first step in the remodelling of the Music Service.  The aim is to:

  • continue to provide excellence in terms of teaching and learning
  • offer a greater breadth of musical choice to learners at all stages of development, appropriate to local needs
  • promote life-long learning
  • build on its long-established cross-community dimension of music education to provide unique and meaningful opportunities to all those from diverse backgrounds and cultural traditions.
  • work in partnership with others to deliver and expand provision
  • provide sustainable, clear pathways to deliver maximum positive impact on the lives of children, young people, adults, and the wider community
  • plant the seeds of new artistic, cultural, and economic growth.

In 2023/24 we were involved with

Students

23811

Ensembles

59

Schools

671

Tutors

268