Bringing the experience & enjoyment of music to children & young people in Yorkshire & beyond: the Richard Shephard Music Foundation's 2026 Music Day

The Richard Shephard Music Foundation's 2026 Music Day takes places on 24 June 2026 at York St John University. During the course of the day, over 400 schoolchildren from across the region will take part in a variety of musical activities, with a programme of diverse workshops from world-class musicians and performers. These include Opera North’s Mini Magic Flute, an interactive workshop from students at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, theatre with Next Door But One and Japanese drumming with Tengu Taiko.

The Foundation was established in 2021 following the death of composer Dr Richard Shephard with the mission of ‘bringing the experience and enjoyment of music to children and young people in Yorkshire and beyond’.  The Foundation focuses on schools in disadvantaged or isolated communities, reaching children at a critical stage in their development, and through its schools programme, they now support weekly music-making for over 10,000 children in 40 schools across Yorkshire.

The Foundation has been providing weekly music lessons in schools across York for the last 5 years. To celebrate their 5-year anniversary, they recently launched their Celebration Choir giving children from across York a chance to come together and sing! The choir is led by Emilie Bels, a qualified teacher and experienced choir leader, who has worked in primary schools for several years delivering fun and inspiring music lessons. The results will be on show this weekend when the choir performs at St Chad's Church (16 May) and York Mela in Museum Gardens (17 May)

Full details from the Foundation's website.