Tuning Up (Sarah Rennix)

As Creative Learning Director at Britten Sinfonia, Sarah Rennix worked in close partnership with Orchestras Live, HMP Whitemoor and Lemos and Crane on ‘Tuning Up’, a project that aimed to improve the mental health and self-esteem of residents at HMP Whitemoor through the collaborative creation of new music.

Whitemoor is a long stay, high security prison. Most residents are serving life sentences. Mental health, self-harm and suicide are all serious problems for residents and for the prison. The key goals for Tuning Up were to improve self-esteem, mental health and coping mechanisms for prison life, collaborative skills and empathy, develop better relationships with prison staff and family members, ongoing musical engagement and to change public perception of prisoners’ abilities.

The first project was delivered in spring 2018. 30 residents participated and, through workshopping and improvisation at six creative sessions led by Jason Rowland with Britten Sinfonia musicians, the men composed four original new musical pieces inspired by Gershwin, fusing jazz, reggae, rap, grime and classical music. Prisoners and invited guests were treated to a special concert at the prison. Will Styles, the then Governor of HMP Whitemoor, played in the band for the entire concert.

The impact of the project was so significant that the prison asked the partners to continue to work with them. In 2019, working with the same partners, we co-produced the Tuning Up Music Festival, a one-day event designed to involve prisoners’ families and nurture talent from the first project. Enabling prisoners to remain in contact and sustain a positive relationship with their family and children is a key outcome for the prison service.

Staff and management of HMP Whitemoor report that residents who participated in Tuning Up 2019 are more engaged and positive with life and activities in the prison after their involvement in the programme. Two of the band members have moved on to less high security parts of the prison estate – a success for them in their rehabilitative journey.

“I found the Britten Sinfonia very fun and different to any music I’d done in the past … it gave me an opportunity to work with the general public in a professional and respectful manner which should show I have the skills to do that upon release.”

~ Participating Resident

A podcast was made about the project, featuring interviews and performances from the residents and the orchestra. Click here to listen.