International Outreach
EMAE aims to reach out to underprivileged musicians and their audiences across the Global South.
We currently work with several partner organizations both in Kenya and in Cuba.
Cuba
The EMAE director and tutors have travelled to Cuba to train early music specialists and give public concerts, spending a month between the historic city of Bayamo and the capital city of Havana, and taking part in two prestigious music festivals: the Festival Internacional de Música Antigua San Salvador de Bayamo and Habana Clasica.
They have since established ongoing relationships with such Cuban cultural leaders as Dr Miriam Escudero, Director of the Gabinete de Patrimonio Musical Esteban Salas of the St Jerome College, Havana University, and Yunexy Arjona Cisnero, Director of the Conjunto de Música Antigua Exsulten from Bayamo. Together, they aim at bridging the gap between the early music scene in the UK and in Cuba by offering postgraduate education in early music and by enhancing the scope of Cuban early music festivals.
Kenya
The EMAE director and tutors have travelled to the capital city of Kenya, Nairobi, to give public concerts and train aspiring musicians. They have performed at the British High Commissioner Residence and at the Franciscan Friary, taught technique and ensemble music to some twenty string players (violins, violas, cellos and double bass) from the Korogocho informal settlement enrolled in the Ghetto Classics programme of The Art of Music Foundation, and coached the talented choristers and leaders of St Paul's Chapel, University of Nairobi, on the historically informed performance of excerpts from Handel’s Messiah.
There are ongoing plans to improve the quality of music provision within higher-education settings in Nairobi in collaboration with Tangaza University College. The aim is to revise their foundation degrees in music and bring them in line with international standards, and include elements of social transformation to reach out to the children and the communities of the informal settlements.
