Despite being hugely lucky enough to have a wonderful bespoke music education centre and high tech facilities everyone can benefit from, you'll soon find that Plymouth Music Zone is so much more than bricks and mortar or fancy fixtures and fittings. At PMZ, we care more deeply about how the MUSIC holds people together. Call it cement, call it glue. It's how we work with people and music to help change lives for the better - at the right time, in the right place, when support is needed most. That's what we're about.
Everyone is welcome at Plymouth Music Zone. But it's especially about giving people a chance to feel good about themselves in the midst of anything else that might be difficult. We work with a whole range of people facing different challenges and music can be a lifeline and mean all the difference to someone who may be isolated or vulnerable in some way. So, for us, it's about 'Music Making a Difference' - whether it's out in the many places in the community where we spend most of our time or huddled up at PMZ in what one parent recently called our 'magical musical tardis'.
From Cupboard to Centre of Excellence
We all end up with a story - and hopefully it's one that can fire someone's imagination along the way or inspire them to believe that anything is possible. PMZ was something that arose from nothing - except an idea. An idea that came back in 1999 - in a cupboard in a local school building...
Two musicians wanted to give the city's primary school children access to high quality music. They ended up in 21 schools across the city. Now, 23 years on and Plymouth Music Zone has grown to become even more than music. It's now an award winning music charity with Gold Investors in People status known as a Centre of Excellence for cutting edge community music engaging over 1000 children, young people and adults with around 50 weekly activities delivered by a large team of Music Leaders across Plymouth and beyond. Phew!
Through responding to the needs of others and working in partnership with so many other organisations, tens of thousands of people have been touched by music in a way that has helped improve their lives as a result.
As someone once said, it has 'created music out of silenced voices'. PMZ's story has become everyone's...
And you can see just how far we've come by clicking here: A quick history of Plymouth Music Zone