ECCO: The Ethnic Contemporary Classical Orchestra
ECCO is a project by Musiko Musika, aimed at creating inclusive and culturally diverse music ensembles.
The development of the Ethnic Contemporary Classical Orchestra (ECCO) responded to the need for progression and development opportunities for ensemble playing, in the context of an inclusive social agenda. The project has been designed and implemented by Musiko Musika, who have been fully involved with children’s education for the past two decades.
The objective of the ECCO model is to create inclusive and culturally diverse music ensembles, breaking down barriers to participation in high quality ensemble playing for ethnic minorities, and providing musical progression opportunities for children with talent and potential as they move beyond primary into secondary school. The long-term aim is to remove the obstacles that currently prevent children from diverse social and ethnic minority backgrounds from participating in the highest level of music activities in this country.
The underlying objective of the ECCO is to develop the spiritual, intellectual, emotional and social being of each of the participants in order for them to realise their own potential as human beings.
Watch this video illustration about the ECCO's values:
This report draws on evidence collected from ECCO Kensal Rise and ECCO Stoneydown, and observations of a range of different youth music ensembles and youth orchestras. The ECCO project takes place alongside the wider programme of musical, cultural and educational excellence that Musiko Musika delivers in its role as an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation.
The ECCO project focuses on work with two groups of young people, one at Kensal Rise which has been going for more than two years, and one in Walthamstow, which is a new start-up project. The projects are the same, but at different stages. The ECCO project is about establishing a new kind of orchestra for children, where the fundamentals have been varied to suit the real needs of urban schools, rather than using the traditional and more common classical music framework.
Based on their experience in London schools, Musiko Musika identified a lack of content variety in existing music provision. In the classical genre the focus is on individual attainment and the passing of exams. Furthermore, classical has a wide ranging and important presence in education through the prominence of its exam boards, which favour such a system. This has led to a relative neglect of ethnic genres (except, perhaps, as a passive listening exercise), and especially of the ensemble playing which is their life blood. Given the narrow confines of the European Classical tradition, and the diverse ethnic background of many of London’s schoolchildren, the mismatch is clear enough.
The Ethnic Contemporary Classical Orchestra is intended to address an imbalance in the provision of music for children and young people, firstly in its content and secondly in its inclusivity. Vital to the project is the intention that the orchestra should enable young people from diverse cultural backgrounds to work together in a socially and musically inclusive ensemble. The questions that this approach throws up are twofold: firstly to what extent does it answer real need, and secondly to what extent does it fulfill its aims?