2010 Fund raising

Children at the at the North London Collegiate Junior School have raised an astonishing £4,172.61 through a range of activities that included a fortnight of sponsored music practices. Music teacher John Haythorthwaite says helping other children also helped them improve their music exam grades!

Sixth formers at Latymer Upper School, also in London, created their own arts festival at the school, including film screenings; a ‘big draw’ with pupils adding illustrations to a giant canvas; stand-up poetry sessions and turning the school’s atrium into a bohemian café hosting solo music performances.

Rebecca Leyton, cello and piano teacher in West London raised money for Musequality at her end of term mini concert with her piano and cello students aged 5-17.

St John the Baptist Primary School in Ryton-XI-Towns, Shropshire donated £620. This was particularly touching as the gift was made in memory of Andrew Radford the school’s music-loving former deputy head.

Portsmouth Grammar School has supported Musequality since the charity was launched in 2007. They hold regular Sponsored Music Practices. Teachers too have been raising funds and taking part in Musequality projects. Jane Ingamells, head of strings at the Portsmouth Grammar School, is teaching violin at the Tender Talents School for Aids orphans in Uganda during June and July 2010. She raised funds on a sponsored tandem ride and, earlier this year, helped raise £400 for Musequality by staging a classical concert at the school. Follow her blog.

World Busk 7-13 June 2010

Pupils at Grove Park Primary School in Chiswick, London, created their own TV-style contest – Grove Park’s Got Talent – with dancers, singers, flautists, guitarists, percussionists and piano players all competing for a place in the finals at the school fair. Musequality founder David Juritz joined a special assembly at the school with 23 year-old Frederick Kyewalyanga who runs the Elgon Youth Brass Band in Uganda, which is supported by the charity. The band provides music training to its 80 members including 37 orphaned children who live in the home Musequality has rented for them.

Junior girls at Guildford High School raised more than £200 during World Busk Week by taking part in busking sessions that included a steel drum performance, a harp/horn/piano trio and a duet for violin and sarod. In all, 75 girls from years 3,4,and 5 took part in seven busking sessions...

Italian violin teacher Angela Amato created a school children’s string orchestra for a special concert at the School of Perfoming Arts in Naples as part of World Busk Week 2010. Based in Sorrento, she also raised funds through a series of her own concerts with mandolin player Roberto Albini.

2009 Fund Raising

Churchers College Junior School raised money to help us buy a keyboard and amplifier for Embu County Primary School in eastern Kenya. Sue Bint organized a sponsored practice fortnight and a’ Strings on Saturday’ event.

Other Sponsored Practices were organized at the Portsmouth Grammar School by Jane Ingamells, and at St. Richards School in Herefordshire, where violin pupils, with the help of their teacher Anne Bull, raised money for our project in Thailand.

The Godolphin & Latymer School in Hammersmith, London helped us pay for music teachers’ salaries at the Koforidua School for deaf and handicapped students in East Ghana.

Cheltenham Ladies’ College invited David Juritz to talk about Musequality as guest speaker at the school’s prize giving day.

World Busk 8-14 June 2009

In 2009 Musequality organised a World Busk Record on Sunday 14 June. We estimate that 811 buskers in 75 locations in 17 countries on 7 continents and one sea performed in the first Musequality World Busk raising a whopping £14,719, a fantastic result. We plan to beat this record in June, 2011. Please let us know if you would like to take part.

Schools and teachers encouraging music pupils to take part in the World Busk in 2009 included: Surrey piano and violin teacher Sally Heath who led her very young pupils onto the streets of Weybridge to busk.

Pupils from Amery Hill School a specialist music school in Alton, Hampshire who busked every single day in the playgrounds.

Violin teacher Angela Amato in Sorrento, Italy organised a week of concerts with all proceeds going to Musequality.

Jill Eichlerand a group of her young pupils from The German School, Cape Town, South Africa performed at a private concert.

The Royal College of Music junior wind quartet and other young RCM junior students busked at South Kensington Underground station, London.

Pupils at Grove Park Primary School in Chiswick, London not only raised £500 for Musequality but also discovered a budding rock guitarist in their midst: Louise Nuttall.

Natalie Simmons, a flute teacher from Chiswick encouraged her students to serenade the audience at the Bedford Park Festival. A Speed Busk was held on Acton Green with many young people all taking part.

Pupils from the Hout Bay Music Project, Cape Town, South Africa busked at the Waterfront.

All the young people thoroughly enjoyed busking and wanted to do it every week.

2008 Fund Raising

The Royal College of Music Students' Association took music to the streets of London, during its traditional charity fund-raising rag week. A brave band of RCM  professors joined in by talking Grade I music examinations after just one one week's tuition on a new instrument..

Pupils at the Arts Educational School in Chiswick, London and at Amery Hill raised money through dress-down or Mufti Days, giving donations for the privilege of not wearing a uniform.

Librarian Nelia Beyers from Newton Preparatory School, Battersea, London invited David Juritz to the school to talk about his round the world busking trip and the work Musequality does with children in the developing world. And to play his favourite violin party piece, Ferdinand the Bull.

Michaella Wiedermann, a violin teacher in Aberdeen has been sending Musequality donations at regular intervals, including the proceeds of spontaneous busking by her pupils after concerts.

Teachers at James Allen’s Saturday School for the Performing Arts (JASSPA) in Dulwich, London, gave a sell-out concert to launch their sponsored music practices. Eighteen teachers took part and the concert raised more than £800 (the equivalent of 32 music stands and four guitars, or three violins and spare strings). Tickets were just £1 each. Cellist Bettina Lawrence’s performance of The Swan, sponsored at 10p a note, raised over £300 – a noteworthy performance in every possible sense of the word. Other funds were raised through interval food and drink sales. Special thanks to Marion Gibbs, headmistress of James Allen’s Girls’ School (JAGS), for making the school hall available and providing interval refreshments.

2007 Fund Raising

Ali Bradshaw, a pupil at Kew College, Surrey launched the preparatory school’s fundraising for Musequality, with our first-ever sponsored practice fortnight. Pupils aged between six and 10 at Kew College, Kew, Surrey took part in our first ever sponsored music practice. Pledging to practise their musical instrument, or sing, for anything from 10 minutes to an hour a day, they asked family, friends and neighbours to sponsor them. The school adopted Musequality as one of its charities of the year and raised an outstanding £1,800 thanks to the pupil’s dedication and a generous donation by head teacher Diana Lyness.

Jamie Mills O'Brien from St Paul's School for Boys, London raised more than raising £700 for Musequality.by climbing to Base Camp, Mount Everest: a high achievement indeed. Thank you also to St Paul's for allowing David Juritz free space for recording the On the Street CD for his Round the World and Bach busking tour.

Round the World and Bach

In 2007 David Juritz left his house with a violin, backpack and a completely empty wallet to see if he could busk around the world while raising money for new music education projects. As there wasn't a charity that specifically raised money for new music projects, he decided to create one and Musequality was born.

• David busked in 50 cities in 24 countries on every continent except the Antarctic;
• played the entire repertoire for solo violin by Bach;
• repeated the E major prelude over 300 times;
• used 14 violin strings;
• drew the bow an estimated 500 miles across the strings;
• played over two million notes;
• wore through just two pairs of socks and lost two and a half pairs;
• learned how to say “thank you” in 13 languages;
• raised an average of £83 a day (the least £7.71 in Berlin; the most £2,509.60 in London);
• paid for nine night’s accommodation out of 137 nights in total;
• was put up for 14 nights by people who heard him busking or read about him in newspapers;
• sent 1,236 emails;
• auctioned himself (well, a recital) on Ebay in eight cities;
• raised over £13,000 by busking to cover the costs of his journey, meals, using launderettes, the occasional beer;
• raised over £25,000 in donations to Musequality; and made connections, in numerous countries, which have benefited Musequality in the long term, to all of whom David says a big thank you.

Thank you to Roger Lenk for his invitation to play at St Michaels International School in Kobe and to the Harrow International School, Beijing for inviting David to play to the pupils.