Multicultural Music Making (MMM) is a community music education programme for young people in the West Midlands, launched in 2015. MMM works in partnership with primary and secondary schools to support small groups of Key Stage 2 and 3 students to work with professional musicians to learn and share a range of international repertoire, compose original work, and engage critically with traditional and contemporary sounds. The choice of material is primarily based on the cultural heritages of participants as MMM connects with familial geographies and sound-worlds to better understand the global journeys of people, instruments, stories and songs. MMM offers training and consultation for musicians, teachers and organisations seeking to develop skills in participant-led intercultural music-making. MMM is a partnership between music facilitator and researcher, Natalie Mason, and Friction Arts.
For more than 30 years, Friction Arts has produced an ambitious programme of creative work, often in partnership or collaboration with artists from a range of disciplines. Friction is responsive to the people they work with, the project, and need. They are known for innovative creative approaches to arts projects that help people develop their selves, their lives and their careers. As a non-profit organisation, Friction aims to create a world where creativity and equality are flourishing, providing a safe space for people, young and old, to explore the world, and their place in it.
As a new partner of the hub, MMM will offer participant-led intercultural music-making workshops to schools in Birmingham. Their aim is to broaden the hub’s offer with additional international (world) music opportunities for pupils. In the future they will also be offering training and CPD opportunities in MMM’s culturally responsive approach. The addition of the MMM / Friction Arts team to the hub also creates new opportunities for Birmingham schools to connect with Friction Arts’ other activities across the arts and around the city.