Help make pupils' Derbyshire song and video a hit

Hundreds of schoolchildren from across Derbyshire are hoping a song they recorded together could storm the download charts, while also raising money to support music education.

'The Best That You Can Be − A Song For Derbyshire', written by composers Dan Whibley and James Manson to lyrics suggested by schoolchildren, is sung by 1,700 pupils from 46 schools and three area music centres. 

The music was played by members of the Derbyshire City and County Youth Orchestra and Youth Wind Band, and the song has been accompanied by a video filmed at 32 locations across the county and city, including Crich Tramway Village, the Chatsworth Estate and Pride Park stadium, and starring many of the pupils whose voices feature on the song. 

The video and song are now available on the music video sharing site Vimeo and can be watched and heard in full when downloaded for just £1.49.

The whole project has been put together by the Derbyshire Music Education Hub, which was set up with the backing of both Derbyshire County Council and Derby City Council to give children the chance to learn and make music by providing high-quality teaching.

Councillor Alex Dale, our Cabinet Member for Young People, said:

"This is such a brilliant and inspiring song and a fantastic project all round. It requires a huge degree of organisation to bring together so many pupils from across different parts of the county and city. 

"It would be wonderful if as many people as possible could download the video and see and hear for themselves just how talented the children are and how valuable the work of the Hub is to them."

Each download raises money to help fund the work of the Hub, which is also supported by many of the major arts organisations in Derby and Derbyshire, including Buxton Festival, Derby Jazz, Sinfonia Viva and the various music centres based in different locations across the county and city.

Cllr Dale added:

"'The Best That You Can Be' is such a powerful message for all our young people and to have it conveyed in this way is a great way of reaching all children and their families. You can see the confidence it inspires in the faces of the children who appear in the video. It also says so much about the key aim of the Hub to provide the highest standards of music education."

http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/council/news_events/news-updates/2018/janua...