Creative arts company La Folia worked with the young people to develop Magna Songs, marking the 800th anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta in Salisbury.
The aim is to give voice to some of the people who find it difficult to express their own needs and human rights in today's society. The project was inspired by the Charter's fundamental tenet of every individual's right to self-expression.
150 students from schools in Salisbury and Trowbridge created the words and music for Magna Songs, which was supported by an award of £56,832 through Grants for the arts. Exeter House School caters for pupils with severe and profound multiple learning disabilities; the Resource Base at Woodford Valley Primary Academy is a unit for pupils with Autism Spectrum Disorders; Larkrise Special School is for children with severe learning difficulties (SLD), including those with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) and Autistic Spectrum Disorders; and Grove Primary School's Hearing Impairment Unit also promotes deaf awareness throughout the school.
At a special promenade performance of their Charter at Salisbury Cathedral in July, students from all four schools danced and sang, challenging their own and others' ideas about their capabilities. Both verbal and non-verbal students found a language, an expression of themselves, which made others listen to them in a different way and make them understand.
Howard Moody, Artistic Director for La Folia, said: 'We're often met with disbelief when we tell people that the students have created the words and music themselves. But the score has indeed come from their own musical imaginations. Each word or musical phrase has been generated from their responses to the stories.'
On 19 September, internationally renowned tenor Mark Padmore, guitarist Morgan Szymanski, along with La Folia String Quartet , Indian dancer Anusha Subramanyam and percussionist Bangalore Prakash will perform the songs as part of a chamber music performance that will include Bach's Art of Fugue in the 13th century Medieval Hall, 200 metres from Salisbury Cathedral.
Later in the year, a Magna Songs songbook will also be published on the internet. The songbook will give other young people and music educators the chance to use great songs and give expression to the rights of the participants.
Phil Gibby, Area Director, South West, Arts Council England, said: 'This is a project which is both artistically ambitious and inclusive, giving people who often don't find it easy to be heard a way of encouraging people to really listen. I'm really pleased to be supporting it.'