Pagoda Arts becomes an ACE National Youth Music Organisation

Liverpool’s Pagoda Arts has been named as a new National Youth Music Organisation by the Arts Council and Department of Education.

The Henry Street-based organisation is one of eight new additions to the scheme which is funded through the Arts Council’s 2023-26 investment programme.

And it joins the city’s Milap Festival Trust which is already an NYMO, along with other newcomers including the National Children’s Orchestra of Great Britain, National Youth Folk Ensemble and Orchestras for All, more than doubling the nationwide total to 15.

National Youth Music Organisations provide opportunities for thousands of young people across the country to take part in making, performing and enjoying music, offering large-scale, inclusive performances, music programmes, residencies, summer schools and workshops, and helping to develop their skills, experience, and knowledge of music.

Pagoda Arts has more than 40 years’ experience developing high quality activities and teaching young people about Chinese arts and music. It runs the Pagoda Chinese Youth Orchestra.

Arts Council chief executive Darren Henley said: “Music in all its forms has huge benefits for young people.

“The organisations joining the programme will provide thousands more young people with the chance to experience the joys music can create, and to learn skills that will stay with them throughout their lives, whether that means making music for fun or pursuing a career as a professional musician.”

Image: Pagoda Arts becomes a NYMO like Music For Youth (pictured) © Alick Cotterill