FMS and NAME merge to form Music Mark
11 February 2013
Two of the UK’s best-known music education organisations, the Federation of Music Services (FMS) and the National Association of Music Educators (NAME), are joining forces to create a single body to promote 'a joined-up approach across all sectors of music education'. The new organisation will be launched officially on 19 March and will be known as The UK Association for Music Education – Music Mark.
The FMS represents 165 local authority music services, helping them in their dealings with government, while NAME is a professional body representing all areas of music education. Music Mark plans to continue all this work while providing further opportunities for debate, learning and the sharing of best practice to 'improve standards and achieve high quality in music education'.
Virginia Haworth-Galt, chief executive of the FMS, will lead the new organisation, but details of precisely how the merge will work are yet to be disclosed. The FMS is currently run by a small team of paid staff, while NAME is run largely by volunteers with just one paid employee.
'We have created Music Mark in response to the substantial changes in the world of music education,' said Haworth-Galt. 'The two founder organisations have looked to reimagine and reinvent membership services in this radically changed context for music education. There are challenges for music educators across the UK, but we also recognise that there are new opportunities in the world of music education. Clearly membership benefits are important, but what we are driven by is a desire to work with partners to create a coherent and high-quality offer for all children and young people.'
'We are launching on 19 March, and following the launch event we are really looking forward to our first official outing at the forthcoming Music Education Expo,' she added. 'Then it is straight into an extremely busy few months with a music education symposium, a new publication and a major conference.'
