Watch the Mayor’s Music Awards celebrate some of Hackney’s best young musical talent
Some of the brightest young musicians in Hackney came together this week to display their talents at the Mayor’s Music Awards (MMA) prize giving ceremony at Hackney Town Hall.
The annual awards, set up by the former Mayor of Hackney and now championed by current Mayor Philip Glanville, celebrates high quality music making programmes in schools and the musical achievements of some of the most promising young musicians in the borough.
A live recording of performances from former MMA winners and an interview with the very first MMA pupil award winner in 2013, Aanu Sodipe, and the Mayor’s presentation of the awards for the academic year 2021-2022, is available to watch here.
The winners of this year’s awards were:
Excellence in Music Education Practice
Primary:
- Rushmore Primary School
Secondary:
- The Bridge Academy
Instrument Fund for Ensemble Development
Primary:
- Daubeney Primary School
- St John the Baptist CE Primary School
Secondary:
- City of London Academy, Shoreditch Park
Pupil Award for Musical Achievement in Instrumental Learning:
- Daubeney Primary School - Rachel Alves, Piano
- Mandeville - Josiah Furlonge, Percussion
- Clapton Girls Academy - Jenny Xue, Violin
- The City Academy, Hackney - David Ilesemi, Percussion
Geoff Taylor Special Project Award (SEND):
- Ickburgh School
Geoff Taylor SEND Pupil Award:
- Ickburgh School - David Oyebanjo, Bass Guitar
It’s fantastic to be able to share the incredible talents of our borough’s gifted young musicians with all our residents. Hackney is proud to continue to support young people in pursuing their dreams and fulfilling their passion for music, by providing essential financial assistance through funding lessons, instruments and competitions. I congratulate all our amazing nominees for their hard work and dedication and thank them for sharing their music with us.
We were delighted to win the Geoff Taylor award and an Individual Pupil Award for Musical Achievement. Music is not just a source of joy and pleasure for our school community, but is woven into the fabric of every day. Music is the way many of our pupils understand and recognise different places and activities, and helps them to feel confident and secure in approaching change. For some of our pupils it is a significant part of how they communicate and express themselves. Our winning pupil is a young man who gives and gains such joy from his music, and the funding for further individual music lessons to help this continue to flower is invaluable. To have these achievements recognised in the Mayor's Music Awards was fantastic, and we felt especially privileged to be the first recipients of awards named in honour of Geoff Taylor.
I was so honoured and just so happy to see that the awards are still going on, and that Hackney is prioritising the celebration of young musical talent. It really warmed my heart to be there.
Residents will have another opportunity to see the talented young musicians perform this July at the annual Schools Music & Dance Festival at the Round Chapel in Clapton, and in the Autumn in the annual Music Service Gala held at Hackney Empire.
For more information about the Mayor’s Music Awards or the Music Service Gala, please contact: musicservice@hackney.gov.uk