Playground Proms, the initiative that brings classical music directly to children via interactive workshops in their school playgrounds has today announced its biggest tour yet. Now in its fifth year, the project was created by comedy string quartet Graffiti Classics in 2021 as a way to perform during Covid-19 restrictions and has grown year on year. The workshops combine Graffiti Classics’ renowned virtuosic musicianship with their trademark humour, educating children through collaborative performances that enable them to explore and develop their own musicality. Though workshops are mainly targeted at 5–11-year-olds (Key Stages 1&2), the whole school are welcome to attend, and a resource pack is available to all schools participating.
Thanks to a grant from Arts Council England, Playground Proms will expand their reach even further in 2025. This funding will help support the tour’s growth, making it possible for the initiative to connect with more than 73,000 children and communities across the UK. This year there will be fifteen stops organised in collaboration with the local council’s Music Hubs which gives children and young people in the area access to music. These fifteen stops will cover nine areas of the UK; Cumbria, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, London, North Somerset, Lancashire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Portsmouth.
Since 2021 Playground Proms have reached nearly 50,000 children in 160 schools in a dozen areas of the UK and Ireland. The first performances took place in Barrow-in-Furness in 2021 as part of a pilot project in collaboration with the Cumbria Music Hub, which gives children and young people in the area access to music. They were so popular they were followed by two-week projects in Cumberland and Ireland in 2022, more dates in Ireland in 2023 and visits to eight areas of the UK last year. Last year they played to 20,000 children and staff in 76 schools in eight regions.
An online resource pack is available in advance for teachers and students and there are also Continued Professional Development (CPD) sessions a week prior to the main Playground Proms’ visits where there’s a general introduction to the project and the Dalcroze Eurythmics method of responding to music through movement, delivered by leading experts from Dalcroze UK. The Playground Proms workshops include:
- An introduction to musical terms, rhythm, conducting and composition
- Performances of some of the most iconic classical music including works from BBC’s Ten Pieces and the DfE’s Model Music Curriculum presented in Graffiti Classics’ unique style
- Strands of the current music curriculum including information about musical terms and instruments
- The chance for the children to take to the stage and perform the second verse of the Playground Proms anthem which they will have written in the weeks running up to the workshops
Cathal Ó Dúill from Playground Proms said, “We’re thrilled to be back, bigger and better than ever in 2025! The positive feedback from last year has been overwhelming, and we are proud of what we are building with the help of Arts Council England as well all our music hub partners and other generous donations. It is a privilege to travel the country and spread the joy of classical music to children in this way.’’
Graffiti Classics, founded in 1997 by Irishman Cathal Ó Dúill, started out as a street performance group in Covent Garden. Cathal’s vision was to make classical music fun and accessible for all. He was joined by talented graduates from top musical conservatories, including the Guildhall School of Music and the Royal College of Music, who shared his vision. Having honed their craft on the streets of London, Graffiti Classics have since developed a world-class show that offers an exciting alternative to traditional classical concerts. The band have performed globally, from festivals and cruise ships to hospitals, schools, and corporate events. Playground Proms build on Graffiti Classics’ long-standing commitment to educational performances, blending humour and virtuosic arrangements to make classical music fun for all.
