Lisa Brace
16 April, 2025
News

Easter holiday cheer for children in Crawley, Chichester and Worthing

From writing rap lyrics to music production and DJ’ing, to playing in a rock band, to composing a film soundtrack, our holiday activities inspired almost 100 young people in the first week of the schools’ Easter holidays. The activities, which took place in Bognor Regis, Chichester, Crawley, and Worthing embraced many different styles of music. The holiday activities were kicked off with two workshops run by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) on Saturday 5 April in Crawley, followed by an exclusive chance to watch the RPO in rehearsal the following day at The Hawth.

Imagine going to the cinema and becoming part of a pop-up orchestra that creates sound effects and a musical soundtrack.

In the morning children local to Crawley aged 8 to 11 yrs old took part in a collaborative and fun workshop run by gifted music facilitator Sig and musicians from the RPO, who brought everyone together. She continued to weave her musical magic with the afternoon workshop aimed at SEND children and young people aged 8 to 25 year olds and their families. 

After the weekend the range of holiday activities extended to other venues. The rap and lyric writing workshop, held at The Phoenix Centre in Bognor Regis, was run by professional Louis LeVack. During the session the young people wrote and performed as part of a group with lots of advice from Louis. 

Rap writing and DJ production were part of the holiday activities on offer from West Sussex Music
Rap writing and DJ production were part of the holiday activities on offer from West Sussex Music Credit: West Sussex Music

During the Music Production & DJ workshop in Crawley attendees learned from Education & Bass’ Andrew Ferguson, aka Nomine, the fundamentals of music through using decks, digital audio workstations such as GarageBand, and live performance sequencing technology and how to compose music to video. 

Over in Worthing the Rock & Pop Band workshop took full advantage of the superb facilities at Northbrook College to build students’ band skills, learning songs and part-writing across the three days. Sessions were led by the team from West Sussex Music. 

Imagine going to the cinema and becoming part of a pop-up orchestra that creates sound effects and a musical soundtrack. 

A workshop that popped up in Chichester, Crawley and Worthing did just that. Led by a professional musician from The Enchanted Cinema company the young people taking part used their voices, hands and feet, and then instruments and ingenious Foley sound effects, to create a magical one-of-a-kind soundtrack. 

Elizabeth Leondaritis, Youth Engagement Manager at West Sussex Music, said:  “We thrive on offering children and young people varied activities to get involved with, and we know how much they want to learn contemporary music styles. The workshops provided a supportive environment that meant participants could explore their music and gain confidence in what they can produce, and hopefully continue when they’re at home.” 

She added: “We are indebted to all our music leaders and partners who led the sessions. There was such a variety – from the dreamy Enchanted Cinema workshops through to the intensity of putting together songs from Nirvana! Everyone who came really enjoyed it.” 

There are many musical opportunities available across West Sussex covering a wealth of different styles. To find out more, go  here.