History
EA Music has been in existence for over 70 years and has extensive experience in delivering inclusive music education across Northern Ireland.
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 Education Authority Music Service has undertaken a transformation process. This is the first step in the remodelling of the Music Service. Rebranded as EA Music in 2025, 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.