ABRSM Publishing wins Innovation award
ABRSM Publishing is delighted to announce that it has won for the second year running the Award for Innovation in Printed Music Publishing at the Music Industries Association (MIA) annual awards ceremony held at The Savoy, London, on 14 September.
The prize was awarded for the Music Medals Repertoire Sessions, which were held in support of Music Medals, the innovative new assessment scheme launched last year by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music.
Music Medals aim to inspire and motivate pupils to fulfil their musical ambitions and reward their achievements. Reflecting the full range of musical achievement in the early stages of learning, Music Medals are awarded in five ascending categories – Copper, Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Although assessed in a group, only one member of the group is assessed per Medal.
During the Music Medals repertoire sessions a specialist presenter gave an overview of the publications – volumes of Ensemble Pieces and Options Practice Books for a variety of instruments at each level – and their relation to current teaching practices, as well as to the Music Medals assessments. Teachers discussed points of interest found within the pieces, and more general teaching matters, and had the unique opportunity of playing through pieces from the Ensemble books and discussing with their colleagues teaching issues that had arisen.
Sessions have now taken place, in conjunction with local music services, in Hertfordshire, Dorset, Bath and North East Somerset with more planned for the future. At each session a music retailer was present, enabling teachers to purchase publications on the day.
The sessions not only served to raise awareness and understanding of the Music Medals publications and assessments, but also facilitated thought and debate on the process of group instrument tuition, an area of UK music education that has seen dramatic growth in importance over recent years.
Music Medals has a dedicated website at www.musicmedals.org.