Schools across Abingdon were ringing with music this week, as thousands of children took part in the annual Music Flood Week (22–26 September).

Founded in 2021, Music Flood brings together primary and secondary schools to ensure every child has access to inspiring musical opportunities – from singing and performing in concerts, to learning an instrument, taking part in workshops, and experiencing live music from professional performers. This unique partnership is led by Radley College alongside Abingdon Music Centre, Thames Vale Youth Orchestra, Larkmead School, John Mason School, Europa School, and 16 local primaries. Its aim is simple: Music in every school, every day.
During the week, over 80 pupils from Radley College, together with students from Larkmead and John Mason schools, visited 16 local primary schools – reaching thousands of children through 65 separate events, including:

  • Music assemblies inspiring children to start an instrument
  • Singing workshops
  • Massed orchestral experiences
  • Music therapy sessions
  • Teacher training
  • Playground busking

The week culminated in a mass celebration event on Thursday 26 September at 10.30am in Abingdon Market Place, with more than 500 children performing alongside Music Flood’s musicians-in-residence Doikayt, a renowned klezmer ensemble, in an hour of singing, dancing and music. Doikayt, together with pupils from Radley College and Larkmead School, also busked around Abingdon, visited local primaries, and performed a public concert at Radley College on Thursday, 25 September.

Local schools have praised Music Flood for the way it inspires pupils:

  • “An essential part of the enrichment within our curriculum.” – Radley Primary School
  • “Immersion in music, experiencing musicians and seeing they can do it too.” – Carswell Primary School
  •  “For the children to see the musical abilities of older children and to be inspired by them.” – Long Furlong Primary School
  •  “Presenting children with the idea that learning an instrument is an opportunity open to them.” – Wootton St Peter’s CofE Primary School

At Caldecott Primary School, the number of children learning instruments has doubled, the orchestra has tripled in size, and songs learned during Music Flood “echoed through the school for weeks.”

Music Flood is more than a week! In the past year alone, as part of the partnership, Abingdon pupils have:

  • Performed with the Gabrieli Consort in Coventry Cathedral
  • Travelled to Birmingham Symphony Hall and Oxford Town Hall with the Mighty Orchestra
  • Led a carol service at St Helen’s Church, Abingdon
  • Taken part in massed singing, improvisation workshops, and professional musician visits
  • Benefited from joint curriculum planning and teacher training in vocal leadership

Music Flood also continues throughout the year with the Mighty Orchestra Project, run in partnership with Radley College, Abingdon Music Centre and Thames Vale Youth Orchestra (TVYO). This brings together hundreds of young musicians, from beginners to advanced, to perform in massed orchestras. In July, 300 young musicians performed at Birmingham Symphony Hall for the National Festival of Music for Youth. This September saw the launch of the new Thames Vale Intermediate Orchestra (TVIO), offering a pathway for young musicians inspired by Mighty Orchestra workshops to join a weekly ensemble.