About Us
EGMS was established in 1997 and is a unique, integrated approach of introducing young children to a wide range of life skills in music making by individual tuition on flute, clarinet, oboe, recorder, piano, brass, violin, viola and cello. The individual music lessons are linked to group work in music theory, choirs, orchestra and recorder ensembles. Many older children continue to participate in Music School as part of our orchestra and to sing in our choirs long after they have left primary school and are no longer eligible for instrumental lessons.
The School was established to provide music lessons for children from the East End of Glasgow, helping build self-esteem and confidence in their abilities. The children are encouraged to take part in public performances organised by the school and at more formal Music Festivals. The School provides instruments on free loan to the children and is fully inclusive, welcoming children of all levels of ability and from all religious and racial/ethnic backgrounds. Around 140 children and young people from 5 to 18 years benefit from the project, the majority between the ages of 5 and 12 years living in the East End of Glasgow, many of whom come from socially disadvantaged backgrounds.
EGMS is run by our Director, Gillian McMahon, and 2 Administrators, Karen Eskdale and Michelle McMonagle. They are part of a team of 16 tutors (mainly teachers and students who have reached a standard of excellence within a musical discipline) and a group of parents who undertake a number of administrative roles (unpaid). The project works because there is good co-operation between parents, children and young people, volunteers and tutors.
The School runs on Saturday mornings during term time beginning in September with 2 Open Mornings for children and parents to find out more about what we offer. We operate from 9am to 12noon on Saturdays at Eastbank Primary School, 80 Gartocher Road, Shettleston, Glasgow G32 0HA.
We ask parents to make a small contribution towards running costs, but otherwise we rely entirely on donations from grant-making bodies and our own fundraising initiatives to keep the project going.
Our aim is to ensure the development of children’s interests and abilities so that when they move into a secondary school environment, they do so with a sense of self-worth and real skills that can be built upon.