RASPO Juniors - Beginners Steel Band Workshops

CultureMix Arts & Music Centre is running a six-week course of beginner steel band workshops for children aged 8 to 16, starting on Tuesday 11 November. They're run in partnership with RASPO, whose children's steel band has performed on the BBC's Blue Peter. The sessions are led by Mary and her team of steel pan music tutors, and they're open to complete beginners as well as kids who've already picked up the steel pan at school.

All instruments and equipment are provided, so there's nothing to bring. For those who show a real knack for it, there's an invite-only Bootcamp programme for talented players. The workshops are part of the weekly steel band sessions at CultureMix, an international music and carnival arts company rooted in African Caribbean culture — from the steel pan and carnival masquerade of Trinidad and Tobago to Jamaican reggae. They're an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation and a not-for-profit, with a focus on the professional development of young people, offering internship and work-experience programmes in the creative industries. These workshops are one way they're keeping steel pan and Caribbean music alive in Reading.

The sessions run on Tuesdays from 5pm to 5.45pm, on 3, 10, 17, 24 November and 1, 8 December — six weeks in total. They're held at CultureMix Arts & Music Centre, 7 Queens Walk, Reading RG1 7QF. For under-16s, the workshops are free; for those over 16, they're £10 per session.