Every year Action for Children’s Arts host The JM Barrie Awards to celebrate those who give their time and talent to arts for children, 0-12yrs. This year’s ‘Lifetime’s Achievement in Children’s Arts Award’, goes to the author, Sir Philip Pullman CBE; and ‘The Special Contribution Award’, goes to,  ‘Breathe Arts Health Research’ for its programme, ‘Breathe Magic’ which takes magicians into children’s hospital wards and uses magic to aid their recovery.

Three further organisations are presented with the ACA Member’s Awards, and we are delighted to announce that Leeds Lieder Education Programme has been chosen as a recipient of an ACA Member’s Award 2019. The award honours our “Discovering Lieder” programme for Primary school children. Our nominee very kindly said- “They are bringing classical song to over 1000 primary school children in Leeds!  It’s amazing what they do”.

Discovering Lieder introduces primary school children to the unamplified human voice and all of its capabilities, inviting them into the wonderful world of stories and characters found in art song.

The Project runs for one intensive week in March when each primary school is visited for one hour by our team. During this hour the children explore the joys of attending a concert of Art Song and the artists help to present Lieder as a fun and relevant artform, full of characters and stories, that can excite the imagination and stimulate the mind. On the final day children aged 9-11 from 10 schools across the Leeds area fill into the Town Hall and are treated to a concert of Lieder.

The Discovering Lieder project will return next year. If you’re interested in taking part in future projects, please get in touch!  You can contact Rebecca Emery, the Festival Administrator by phone: 0113 234 6956 (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, voice mail at other times) or by email to: info@leedslieder.org.uk.