Published 26th Jun 2023, 06:00 BST

Now, with a charitable foundation formed under the legacy of a much-loved Minster composer, hundreds of Yorkshire schoolchildren have tried their hand at music-making.

A special celebration has been held at York Minster's Chapter House and York St John University's Creative Centre, attended by 300 primary school children.

Cathy Grant, of the Richard Shephard Music Foundation, said the hope was to celebrate children's natural talents, supporting their wellbeing and raising musical aspirations.

Children taking part in the celebration of music with the Richard Shephard Music Foundation. Image: Duncan Lomax, Ravage Productions

Children took a "trip around the world," she outlined, experiencing English folk music, Caribbean percussion and the Javanese Gamelan, before singing, playing instruments, and composing their own music.

"It was a wonderful, very musical day," she said. "What drives us forward is the ambition that every child should have music in their lives. It shouldn’t be for the privileged few.

"We are seeking to remove the geographical and financial barriers to a high quality music education. So that every child can experience the great many educational, health and wellbeing benefits it can bring."

The late Dr Richard Shephard, a former head of music at York Minster and headmaster of the Minster School, believed passionately in the power of music to shape lives and inspire.

Children from Ainderby Steeple CofE Primary School, Morton-on-Swale, playing the Javanese Gamelan at York St John University. Image: Duncan Lomax, Ravage Productions.

At the Minster School his work had been in inspiring pupils to develop their musical talent and to give them the confidence to c ontinue, and his dream for the foundation was that it might reach those children who might not have the same privilege and opportunity.

Now the foundation, in his memory, subsidises weekly music lessons in schools for 5,000 children, with this second annual Make Music Day as a chance to express themselves.

Among those in attendance were pupils from Scarborough's St George's, York's Badger Hill and Clifton Green, as well as from primaries in Middleham and Ainderby Steeple.

It was also a chance for the foundation's supporters to see its impact since its launch in 2021, and Ms Grant said there were ambitious plans to extend its reach.

Over the next three years, she said, the foundation hopes to allow over 10,000 young people to receive a music lesson in school each week, with the opportunity to join a choir, attend a holiday club, or take up an instrument.

It can be easy to get lost in the "swathes" of research around the physical and wellbeing benefits of a musical education, Ms Grant said, but essentially it's "good for the soul".

"And what’s not to like about schools being full of music and singing?," she added.

Schools filling with music under the legacy of late York Minster composer Dr Richard Shephard