The Butterfly Lands: a primary show celebrating diversity

Creating a new idea, new material, with new artistic partners, and in new locations was the challenging starting point for The Butterfly Lands, the latest Stringcredibles project. Inspired by the themes of migration and diversity, our education string quartet and the saxophonist Nate Holder took a year to create a show serving 21 schools in Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Walsall and Sandwell. In this quest, the project was supported by Services for Education, Wolverhampton Music Service, Sandwell Music Education Hub and Walsall Music Education Hub.

The aims were simple: showcase the richness of diversity, celebrate the various cultures, faiths and people who have come to the West Midlands, and build understanding through the power of music. Music can help us learn in many different ways, and in doing games and rhythms with children, they're absorbing the music and, through this, the message of the positivity in diversity. The project was a response to the Kindness Curriculum (designed by Kaplan and the Kindness Factory) that builds empathy, compassion, gratitude, perspective, trust and self-acceptance among children.