Let’s Build a Town!: Music and Outreach in East Oxford

On behalf of Music at Oxford, with kind permission of Schott Music, Mainz, Germany

This article is reproduced from the Magdalen College website.

Something exciting is happening in St Francis’ primary school in East Oxford. Inspired by Dr Giles Masters’ research in the historical roots of participatory music-making, and the German composer Paul Hindemith, “Let’s Build a Town!” is a community-focused project that invites young people to envision and construct their ideal city through music and performance.

This project has been a long time in the making. Curated by Dr Giles Masters (Magdalen Fellow by Examination) and Felicity Newby-Smith (Music at Oxford), the project is part of Music at Oxford’s Learning and Participation programme in 2024/2025, and is produced in partnership with the Cultural Programme (University of Oxford), with support from the Faculty of Music, Magdalen College and the Marchus Trust.

In Hindemith’s Let’s Build a Town (1930), child performers are invited to imagine a city where there are no adults, and they are in charge. This short experiment in music theatre was also performed by schoolchildren in Oxford’s Holywell Music Room in 1931, and Giles – along with Music at Oxford and the Cultural Programme – are recreating at St. Francis. Inspired by Giles’s research, this project will facilitate young people from Oxford to perform scenes from Hindemith’s original work, intertwined with new, co-created music and theatre exploring what it means to build a town today.

“The starting point for this project was my research about Hindemith’s work,” explains Giles. “We wanted to ask what it would mean to revisit this piece today and to see how young people in Oxford think about the city they live in.”

For eight weeks in early 2025, a team of musicians and theatre makers are collaborating with two classes at St Francis, working towards a final performance in mid-March. The performance, which will last around 30 minutes, will combine Hindemith’s original music for children’s voices and flexible ensemble with new music co-created with the classes at St Francis. Speech, dance and movement will be woven throughout, as will ‘performance games’ inspired by Hindemith’s aspiration to encourage young people’s creativity and confidence through play.

Cornelius, a second-year music student at Magdalen, has been working closely with the children as they learn Hindemith’s music, as well as writing songs of their own. He describes watching their musical abilities develop as one of the most rewarding aspects of the project.

“Sometimes, I found myself not remembering the songs as well as the kids did!” he laughs. “They’ve really taken ownership of the music.”

The team of artists, designers, and musicians are working closely with the children to bring their towns to life. Everything about the performance, from the stage design, to the sets, and even the music in it, will be co-created by the children themselves. Unlike many school plays, the year fours and fives are fully immersed in the creative process.
“It hasn’t quite dawned on the children yet that they’ll be singing, dancing, and using props in a fully staged production,” said Felicity from Music at Oxford. “I think it’s going to be quite different from anything they’ve experienced before!”

Immersing the children within the creative process, while allowing them to talk about what their ideal town would look like, aligns closely with Hindemith’s philosophy of Gebrauchsmusik—or “music for use”—which prioritizes active participation over passive listening. The project provides an interdisciplinary space where the young participants not only learn music but also engage in discussions about civic responsibility and the future of their communities.

To broaden the project’s reach and longevity, Giles and Music at Oxford will also work with Oxford Spires Academy (the school to which many pupils at St Francis progress in Year 7). Twenty KS4/5 students will take part in two days of composition and arrangement workshops, helping to create bespoke new instrumental arrangements of sections from Hindemith’s score. In addition, up to three students from Oxford Spires will play in the instrumental ensemble for the final performance, alongside professional musicians and University of Oxford music students.

Let’s Build a Town! uses Hindemith’s music as a launchpad for engaging children and audiences with their local areas and the world beyond resonating with wider discussions about city planning and community identity.

There will be a final performance of Let’s Build a Town! On 14th March at The Olivier Hall, St. Edward’s School. All are welcome.