This week (05.06 to 09.06) I have spent my work experience time with the SoundStorm team. The days have all been interesting and different, as I have spent time with each member of the team, getting to learn a bit about each of their jobs and what they do on a normal workday.

Day 1:

On the first day, I started by meeting the whole team, before spending the rest of my morning with Claire Butler in the instrument store. As well as learning about what she does, I helped to organize the ukuleles and glockenspiels, just a small part of their larger stock for the schools in BCP to hire out. Later that day I went with Dan Somogyi to get a tour of the lighthouse in Poole, to see one of their common venues where they host musical events. I think the schools in BCP are really lucky to have a music hub that gives them so much support.

Day 2:

The morning of day 2 was spent with Dan again, meeting some people who work with SoundStorm over zoom. In the afternoon, I met Jordi Robert in person and learnt all about his job as the arts marketing officer. My task was to give some input on the design of a new page for their website and give my opinion on the social media sites that he runs. This gave me a lot of insight into how Jordi goes about marketing the business and how he has to edit the branding and marketing methods to fit the format of each type of social media.

Day 3:

Day 3 was spent mostly in the instrument store. Sarah Derwish allowed me to sit in on a meeting with one of the schools that she manages to discuss their music requirements for the following year, before I organised more instruments. I spent the afternoon with Jo Farley at a Samba workshop in a local school, before going back to the instrument store and preparing for day 4. At the Samba session, I saw how SoundStorm helps local primary schools and it gave me first-hand experience with one of the type of workshops that they offer.

Day 4:

There was a music teacher’s skills day on day 4 where I helped set up for the day with Jo before participating in one of the workshops and watching all the activities throughout the morning. It was interesting watching the teachers learning, rather than being taught myself!

 I left at lunchtime to help at a Live and Inspired concert hosted by SoundStorm at a local primary school, where a Samba Reggae group were playing and I interviewed the musicians afterwards. I learnt that the players were all a part of different bands and that they each can play multiple instruments. The bass player also plays percussion, for example. I found out that they like to play in schools to see how much the kids enjoy the music and how it brings all the ages together without words.

I have really enjoyed my time at SoundStorm, and I want to thank the whole team for being so welcoming and allowing me to learn all about them, what they do, and the work that goes on behind the scenes. I would recommend this work experience to anyone who loves music and would be happy to do it again.