“…the most impactful visiting group we have ever had in school… the playground and staffroom was full of buzz and chat about the sessions over the two days you were with us. Thank you so much for choosing to work with us! We would love to have you back.”
A History of Sound is our flagship education project 2022 – 2026, supporting children and teachers on their musical journeys. The KS2 version of the programme consists of:
★ An interactive show (c. 50 minutes)
★ A workshop session (c. 40 minutes)
★ A teaching resources pack (c. 6 lessons-worth of content)
Four Agents of S.O.U.N.D. are tasked with exploring sounds on planet earth from 4.5 billion years ago up to the time of J. S. Bach and beyond, singing, playing and demonstrating as they go! The Junior Agents (students) help the facilitators to…
★ Explore all the weird and wonderful sounds created in nature on planet Earth
★ Find out just how important verbal and non-verbal sounds are to animals & humans (oOOo…)
★ Understand the physics of sound, voices, and instruments
★ Travel back in time to meet four historical visionaries integral to the development of music; altogether they figure out how to make and read music!
In November 2024 we collaborated with specialist Ben Sellers and Heritage House Special School in Chesham to adapt this programme for young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. Since then we have delivered 19 sessions across Heritage House and Stocklake Park schools.
2025 DELIVERY
Thanks to generous philanthropic support, we delivered 35 workshop-shows in 2025, working with 979 children across state primaries and special schools in Bucks, Brent and Slough. This brings our total of young people reached since the inception of the project to 2710 children.
Small group sizes (of up to 30 children) allow the Agents of Sound to interact individually with each participant, leaving a lasting and inspiring impression. Participating schools are carefully selected based on statistics regarding provision of Free School Meals. We are intent on prioritising children in need, particularly those who have never experienced a live musical show before. We provide all participating schools with our resources pack, created in consultation with KS2 teachers and covering national curriculum content. We offer non-specialist teachers delivery support.
ARE YOU A TEACHER?
If so, please get in touch! We’re keen to perform at as many schools as possible in the coming months and years. Our Project and Engagement Coordinator Elena would be very happy to tell you more about the format of the performance, workshop and teaching resource.
THANK YOU!
We are so grateful to the following organisations and individuals for their significant support of this project:
Rothschild Foundation
John and Jan Dugdale Bradley
Tatjana Gertik
Nikita Mishin
The Nugée Foundation
The R K Charitable Trust
Heart of Bucks Community Foundation
Chance for Life
William Harding’s Charity
The Childhood Trust
Marian and Gordon Pell
Three Monkies Trust
Bucks Culture
Denham, Gerrards Cross & The Chalfonts Community Board
… and a huge thank you to everyone that supported our Crowdfunders in January & December 2023:
Thomas Abrams
Sophia Akatova
Svetlana Akatova
Susie Allen-Huxley
Ksenia Apukhtina
Alan Armstrong
Aleksey Avanesov
Svetlana Balagurova
Karine Baldry
Odette Chalaby
Maria Cortas
Nadia Crandall
Andrew Darbourne
Graham Darbourne
Richard Darbourne Jnr
Richard Darbourne Snr
William Darbourne
Xenia Dementeva
Sarah Eagger
Marianna Eidelkind
Lyuba Galkina
Tatjana Gertik
Norman Ginsburg
Elena Glurjidze
Raisa Goligorsky
Anna Greenburgh
Alexandra Gutnikova
Lady Mary Hatch
Mariana V Haseldine
Flora Henderson
Saskia Hennecke
Helen Janacek
Tamila Jmukhadze
Andrew Johnson
Natalia Kantovich
Svetlana Kashinskaya
Artem Khachatryan
Arina Kissel
Lara Kobzare
Natalia Kremen
Nina Krylova
Flavia Lagnado
Jonathan Levy
Jeremy Lewison
Elaine Mackle
Alya Makharinsky
Daniel Makharinsky
Kirill Makharinsky
Leonid Makharinsky
Olga Makharinsky
Chloe Manguian
Alexandrina Markvo
Leonid Melamed
Marianna Molchanova
Trevor Moross
Aliona Muchinskaya
Anna Nakhmanovich
Laly Nickatsadze
Natalia Nilova
Anastasia Novichikhina
Elena Novoselova
Tamara Nozadze
Anna Pankratova
Ellie Partington
Jim Preston
Tabitha Price
Helen Payne
Marian and Gordon Pell
Zareta Poliakova
Peter Robson
Irina Rozhdova
Alan Sainer
Olga Scott
Katerina Segal
Marina Seregina
Ivanna Shevlyakova
Karine Solloway
Tessa Stanley-Price
Olga Stepanenko
Mrs SEE Stuart
Kenji Takayama
Nafis Umerkulova
Olga Vishnevskaya
Elizabeth Wager
Heather Wakefield
Chris Webb
Sam Westmacott
Misha Wilson
Terry Winwood
Yelena Zagrevskaya
Elena Zaytseva
Yara Zeitoun
Nana Zhvitiashvili
Other anonymous donors
OUR TEAM
Co-devised and directed by
Paul O’Mahony
Co-devised and performed by
Oskar McCarthy
Gabriella Liandu
Betty Makharinsky
Jonathan Darbourne
Performed by
Kathleen Anne Green
Alexandra Meier
James Quilligan
Susie Buckle
Designer
Lizzy Leech
Assistant Designer
Thananya Kaewsanthia
Graphic Designer
Alexander Morley