HMDT Music, twice winner of the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Education and winner of the Excellence in Music Theatre Award is a leader in creating inspiring projects for young people, particularly those facing challenging experiences, through which it aims to enrich learning, broaden awareness of and help fight inequity and transform lives.
Our three core areas of work are:
Watch: Welcome to HMDT Music!
Fasten your seat belts and stow your tray tables its The World Was All Before Them. Part of our 30th Anniversary Retrospective.
In February 2003, a partnership was formed between HMDT Music, Jubilee Primary School and Creative Partnerships to create a new primary school opera based on the real stories of how students’ parents came to Hackney. The Jubilee Opera Project involved the whole school community, culminating in performances of a new work The World Was All Before Them, which aimed to contribute on an artistic and emotional level to the reality of being a refugee, and celebrate the richness and contribution derived from the arrival of new peoples to the local area.
Find out more visit the 30th Birthday page for The World Was All Before Them
2003
The Jubilee Opera Project involved the whole school community
25 October 2025 was HMDT Music’s 30th Birthday!
We’re extremely proud to share our achievements over the past 30 years and celebrate our success in developing award-winning projects that have had a transformational impact on so many people.
Over the next few weeks we will be sharing a Retrospective of some of our ground-breaking projects and experiences here and on our social media.
Over the past three decades we have:
Worked with over 60,000 participants and reached around 100,000 audience members;
Commissioned and performed over 130 new works;
Received 3 national awards, 7 smaller ones and numerous nominations;
Worked with over 600 schools;
Delivered over 150,000 workshops, lessons, rehearsals and group sessions;
Given over 2,000 performances;
Worked in 7 custody settings and with over 15 YOTs, Probations and PRUs;
Worked with over 150 partners in 17 different counties of England, over 15 London boroughs and 5 countries.
Throughout, we have maintained our commitment to artistic excellence, innovation, community and inclusivity in our mission to offering all young people, particularly those most disadvantaged, inspiring opportunities to enrich learning and transform lives.
Our thanks go to all the amazing funders, supporters, partners, artists, teachers, volunteers, staff and of course participants, who have helped us on our journey and enabled us to continue thriving despite the plethora of challenges facing arts organisations that we have overcome and continue to face.
Thank you!
Tertia Sefton-Green
CEO
Relive Confucius Says as part of our 30th Anniversary Retrospective.
In May 2007, nine schools from the East Hackney Consortium Education Action Zone commissioned HMDT Music was commissioned to create a piece of work celebrating the cultural richness of China to celebrate the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games. The result was Confucius Says, a large-scale programme which engaged over 3500 students, staff and artists in both cross-curricular work and a range of creative activities culminating in a spectacular new opera performed by a cast of 350 at the Hackney Empire in July 2008.
Find out more visit the 30th Birthday page for Confucius Says
AWARDS
Royal Philharmonic Society Award Winner
2008
A large-scale programme which engaged over 3500 students, staff and artists and resulted in a spectacular new opera performed by a cast of 350
We continue our 30th Anniversary Retrospective with On London Fields.
In 2002, HMDT Music launched Operaction Hackney, a programme offering adult language and literacy courses which would lead to the production of a new community opera for Hackney. With learners and a wide range of musical groups contributing to the new work through writing and composition workshops with librettist Alasdair Middleton and composer Matthew King, On London Fields was born. Performed at Hackney Empire in 2004 by several different community performing groups from across the borough.
On London Fields
Find out more visit the 30th Birthday page for On London Fields
AWARDS
Royal Philharmonic Society Award Winner
2004
Community Opera about a local prophetess in 17th Century Hackney. Created as part of Operation Hackney, Skills for Life Courses.
AWARDS:
David Bedford Education Award
Excellence in Musical Theatre Award
Vsit the 30th Birthday page for Trench Brothers.
To find out more about this ground-breaking project:
Revisit the Trench Brothers Schools Projects Legacy Site
Explore the Trench Brothers Education Zone
And other links to Trench Brothers content from 2014-18
2014-18
First World War project and performances about ethnic minority soldiers. With artefacts, puppetry, composition workshops and cross-curricular resources.
To find out more about this ground-breaking project visit the Shadowball website
Or watch the story behind Shadowball on Vimeo
2010-12
Primary School jazz opera about segregated black baseball players in the 1930s. With a baseball project and education resources. National Tour 2012
We continue our 30th Anniversary Retrospective with our first commission The Hackney Chronicles.
In essence an opera for children, by children, The Hackney Chronicles charts four periods of Hackney's history to support curricular learning: a living, breathing, all singing example of how music is actively bringing a multi-cultural and diverse community together, creating a greater understanding of its present by celebrating its past in song.
To find out more about this ground-breaking project visit the 30th Birthday page for The Hackney Chronicles
2001
Touring opera for primary schools to perform celebrating four periods of Hackney’s history. Includes cross-curricular resources.
I’ll be seeing you
2005
Community Piece commemorating the Home Front during WWII as part of HMDT's 10th Anniversary Concert celebration.
“I am writing to say thank you for the fantastic work delivered through HMDT Music’s One Spirit mentoring programme.”
Sir Sadiq Khan
Mayor of London
HMDT Music
30 years of Ensuring a Musical Future
Develop musical skills and experience in a creative, fun, and supportive environment at HMDT Music’s Saturday Programme; our Saturday music school in the heart of Hackney offering early years, instrumental, music theatre, SEND and jazz programmes for everyone aged 1- 25 years.
The Saturday Programme
Enabling under 4s to explore basic rhythms and melodies and helps parents gain the confidence to experiment and enjoy music making with their children.
A one year Foundation Course for reception class children, an introduction to music through singing and movement, leading up to performances at the end of each term.
Music Theatre School for students in Years 3 – 13 offering students the opportunity to experience the excitement of musical theatre training and performance.
The Minis prepares Year 1 and Year 2 children for both music theatre and instrumental studies through a fun, structured 2-year programme.
HMDT’s Instrumental School offers students ages 5 upwards an extensive curriculum including group and individual instrumental tuition, singing, musicianship and ensembles
Offering talented young instrumentalists and vocalists an amazing opportunity to work with some of the world’s top jazz musicians
A new method of integrating music therapy into regular activity for Students with SEN/D needs
“The Saturday Programme lets me make my dreams as a musician a reality; it’s changed my life!”
– STUDENT
In Schools
HMDT Music’s E Project sets out to empower, enrich, equalise, expand, embed, engage, and evaluate through the creation of an arts-embedded curriculum focusing on themes and issues of inclusion, diversity, racial inequality and anti-racism.
Bringing the First World War to life for students through the experiences and personal stories of Indian Army, British West Indies Regiment and black British Soldiers
This new multi-media musical puppet show for schools and families is based on the discoveries and stories of historical STEM women who fought against the odds to pursue their flair for scientific enquiry, but were often unacknowledged for their discoveries and frequently encountered discrimination and prejudice along the way.
Supporting secondary schools in their own productions with workshops in voice, text and design.
HMDT Music’s new year-long online TIME CPD programme for primary schools builds technical skills in a range of art forms and introduces new ideas, methodologies and resources to empower teachers to use the arts to enhance the whole curriculum.
A ground-breaking baseball and jazz project celebrating the achievements of black players in the Negro Leagues and their jazz compatriots during segregation.
A whole school opera project celebrating diversity by exploring the stories of how families came to Hackney.
An insight into the range of projects we can create for your school from one day song-writing and after school activities to short commemoration projects and full-scale bespoke operas.
Developed in partnership with the British Legion to commemorate the anniversary of D-Day including two new songs and lesson plans on codebreaking, subterfuge and spies, inventions and more…
COMMUNITY
One Spirit is an Intervention, Resettlement and Restorative programme, using music and creative arts, to help support and transform the lives of the most vulnerable young people in our community, who are at risk of and/or already embroiled in the criminal justice system and consistently facing systematic discrimination and racial inequity.
Music Lessons for You
Music lessons for You! offers vocal and instrumental lessons from top quality music teachers in a huge range of instruments (orchestral or non orchestral, composition and theory.
HMDT Music, twice winner of the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Education and winner of the Excellence in Music Theatre Award is a leader in creating inspiring projects for young people, particularly those facing challenging experiences, through which it aims to enrich learning, broaden awareness of and help fight inequity and transform lives.
