Introduction by our Project Director

Welcome to the Rhythmix website.

rhythmix homepage

Rhythmix is a youth music project taking place across the South East region of the United Kingdom, staging music workshops for young people. From DJ to Samba, Rock to World, if you want to be involved with music we want to help you to create your own sounds and style. On this website you can read all about our previous activities and keep up to date with projects currently taking place in your region. You can contact us and leave messages for other young musicians.

Rhythmix is a programme of music activities conceived and designed by a consortium of the LEA Music Services for Brighton & Hove, East Sussex, Medway and Surrey. It was founded in 2000 by the heads of each service with the intention of reaching out to young people not currently engaging with the opportunities already offered by those Music Services.

After a successful first year Rhythmix was delighted to be approached by the National Foundation for Youth Music to create a Youth Music Action Zone (YMAZ) across the four regions. Together with partnership funding from each of the Local Education Authorities and much needed financial support from South East Arts to purchase equipment, the creation of the YMAZ saw a huge increase in the range and number of activities we were able to achieve.

Over the next few pages you can read about what we set out to do, how it was received by young people and the professionals around them, and how once again the project has managed to far exceed our expectations and plans.

Managing a project of this size simply cannot be achieved without support from all involved. I would like first of all to thank each of the management team, Peter Chivers, Tony Biggin, Keith Willis, and Graham Standley for their continued support and dedication to the project.

I would like to register our thanks to the leaders of the community music groups who provided the bulk of the hands on work; Emma Dickson for Audio Active, Olly MacDonald for Red Zebra, Steve Carley for The Beat Project, Phil Mullen for Sound People and Kerry Kalokoh for Music for Change. Their staff have once again excelled themselves on our behalf and it is only lack of space that prevents me from mentioning them all personally. I also wish to thank our independent workshop providers: Ian Barnett (Live in the Valley), Carol Prior, Vincent Salzfaas and Jo White.

This year I have again been able to enjoy excellent support from the Rhythmix staff who have kept the project on track through some very challenging times. I also need to thank all the support staff on the ground, from Teachers to Youth Workers, Arts Development Officers to Crime Reduction Officers, who enable our projects to succeed.

We are very indebted to our funders, National Foundation for Youth Music and South East Arts, not only for their financial support but also for the day-to-day support we receive from their staff. Very often in arts funding there is a hands-off approach after the initial funding is agreed, but we have formed a real partnership with our funding organisations and are grateful for their input.

Finally, there is one very important and special group of people that deserve the biggest thanks of all, the young people who took part in the workshops. I continue to be amazed at the breadth and quality of the music they create. A project of this size can sometimes lose sight of what it is trying to achieve, but the enthusiasm and commitment our young people bring to the project reminds everybody involved every day exactly why we do it.

Rhythmix is part of the Youth Music Action Zone programme funded by Youth Music. Read all about Youth Music and the YMAZ programme on their website: www.youthmusic.org.uk

Rhythmix is also supported by Best UK Web Hosting where you can find a lot of helpful information.