Our charity and team
A programme of charity Open Up Music, Open Orchestras was created in 2013 to address a lack of ensemble musical provision in special schools.
Originally piloted at six schools in the South-West during 2013-15, Open Orchestras has been carefully developed through participatory design with young disabled musicians, teachers and music leaders.
It has since become the largest community of inclusive ensembles in the UK, engaging over 600 young participants year after year. The longest running Open Orchestra, Claremont in Bristol is now in its tenth year!
Our team
Jonathan Westrup
Programme Manager
Jonathan has worked alongside young disabled people in music education for over over two decades, and was Music Leader for an Open Orchestra for five years. He leads Open Orchestras training and events, creating as many opportunities as possible for our community to keep learning together.
Demi Delaparelle
Programme Officer
Demi is an experienced SEND teacher within the public sector. She is also a powerhouse when it comes to administration and organisation. As your everyday Open Orchestras contact, she coordinates training and mentoring and will do her best to assist you.
Amy Swallow
Trainer and Mentor
Amy has worked in music practitioner and music teaching roles since 2012 – in special schools, mainstream schools and with families. She is a Mentor and Trainer for Open Orchestras and Music Leader for an Open Orchestra in Birmingham. She also currently works with The Amber Trust and Services For Education.
Alex Lupo
Trainer and Mentor
A neurodivergent musician, performer, composer and producer, Alex has also been working as a community musician for over 25 years. He has developed and delivered projects for all ages and in many different settings, and has been part of the Open Orchestras training team for seven years. Alex is also a HCPC registered music therapist.
Our funders
We cannot thank enough the funders who make Open Orchestras possible.
Open Orchestras is available to Music Hubs, arts organisations and special schools as a subsidised annual subscription service. Donations, sponsorship and grant funding enable us to keep this subscription as low as possible, supporting our community to continue engaging young disabled students in music-making year after year.
If you would like to discuss opportunities to collaborate, support us or see our work first-hand, please email our Head of Fundraising Alison at alison@openupmusic.org, or call her on 07449789334.
An award-winning programme by Open Up Music
Open Orchestras won the Music Teacher “Outstanding SEND Resource Award” in 2019.
It is a programme of charity Open Up Music, whose mission is to open up music to young disabled musicians.
More about Open Up Music and its other programmes
