The OpenSource event was held in Crewe last Friday – a partnership event from Amplifier, Sound Sense and Musicleader NW.

Marc Jaffrey, the Music Manifesto Champion sparked the debate off with some thoughts and ideas about the manifesto and other music education things. Specifically he touched on:

- The necessity to have a coherent, excellent grassroots offer as well as elite (not elitist) progression routes

- Issues around provision, especially where to young people those offers appear oppositional (even if they’re not)

- The high school becoming a portal for service/ extended hours/ etc

Other speakers included Pete Moser from More Music Morecambe who made sparked me off thinking about the difference between professional/ paid, organised, community music and other sorts of indigenous, home-based, local music-making. He also addressed and documented some of the issues surrounding the ever-changing community music landscape from the mid-1970s to the present day, that there is no such thing as a fixed, transferable model, that there are transferable principles but that’s as far as he would go because community music should be embedded and have a real sense of place.

Other issues touched on throughout the day were reflective learning – and making sure that freelancers especially have the space to do so. Also the age-old sector agenda problems of individualism/ personalisation vs generic/ stereotyped.

There were some points on which we all agreed – the centrality of young people and that we’re all learners and teachers all the time.

A worthy legacy to the Amplifier project would be this kind of knees-up once a year or so. Followed by a good stiff drink at the bar, and a jam in the back room…