* Community Music Whickham & Swalwell

‘We are a registered charity in the heart of Tyneside set up with the objective of providing access to music lessons and ensemble playing for young and old, and as a by-product providing music recitals for the community. We currently have tuition groups in various instruments including violin, viola, cello, guitar and viol and we can provide music theory lessons and assessments (exams). We also have a number of ensembles and orchestra groups and we organise regular recitals.’ An annual William Shield Festival has celebrated ‘the life and times of this great, but often forgotten, local musician of yesteryear. William Shield was born in Swalwell in 1748 and rose to the position of Master of the King's Musick and was principal violinist at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. He is buried at Westminster Abbey’.