Our Vision
“Through all of its music education activities, Pro Corda aims to equip every young person with the necessary skills to work together with others through music and performance, particularly chamber music and small ensemble training. Its mission is to develop the person alongside the musician while offering world class training.”
We Believe in the Power of Chamber Music
Pro Corda is the only youth music organisation in the UK providing a continuous and progressive programme of education through the medium of chamber music and ensemble training from age 5 to 24. Although Pro Corda’s home and administrative base is at Leiston Abbey, it offers national provision and opportunity all around the country, including courses and workshops in Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, Buckinghamshire, Wiltshire, Sussex, Surrey and Kent. All Pro Corda courses employ leading international artists and musicians at the forefront of their fields.
In addition to “core” courses for talented young musicians, accessible only through audition, Pro Corda has pioneered an innovative life-changing course for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, using the power of ensemble training to benefit personal and social progression. This programme serves SEND schools and units across the country.
Pro Corda’s work employs a holistic approach and is based on the core principles of ensemble training the person and his/her social interaction as well as the musician. Our central mission is to unleash the wider social benefits of chamber music in terms of participation, access and learning.
Pro Corda has a passionate belief in equality of access and opportunity in the arts. Our aim is to assist all young people to access, experience, and participate in the highest quality professional performances and music making opportunities.
Pro Corda's History
“Pamela Spofforth was an extraordinary and inspiring teacher of the violin and, with the cellist, Elizabeth Hewlins, brought about nothing less than a transformation of the playing of chamber music in this country. Pro Corda (the National School for Young Chamber Music Players), which they founded in 1969 and which continues to flourish, has inspired two generations of young musicians with the joys and challenges of playing string quartets and “Spoff”, as she was known by many pupils and friends, gave unselfishly of her time, energy and money to that end throughout her working life.
In the 1960s and ’70s Pamela was the violin teacher at Woking County Grammar School for girls. Her frustration with the low standards of string-playing and lack of support for talented students within the state school system led to the formation of Pro Corda, and the first course of approximately 25 students took place for a week at the Yehudi Menuhin School in Stoke D’Abernon in the summer of 1969. Other schools were subsequently used and the number of pupils grew until in 1977 the Trustees managed to raise sufficient funds to purchase Leiston Abbey House in Suffolk for £14,000. Pamela eventually sold her much-loved house in Guildford and moved to Leiston.
In 1996 she received an MBE in the Queen’s 70th birthday Honours for services to music. She continued to oversee the growth of Pro Corda after the death of Betty Hewlins in 1990 but a debilitating stroke brought a close to her working life. She died on 4 December 2008.”
Adrian Butterfield, 2009
In 2019 Pro Corda celebrated it’s 50th birthday.
