Access to music in all forms is a key part of Hillingdon's services to residents.
Violin class, Cowley Road Boys' School, c1905
The council's Music Hub provides music lessons in schools, offers lunchtime music clubs, hires out instruments and provides a range of online music resources. Its Music School, which meets twice a week at The Global Academy in Hayes, enables young musicians to play in bands and ensembles. It also gives them the opportunity to take part in regular concerts and events.
Uxbridge Library included a music department, initially in the council's Middlesex Suite, until the late 1980s. Visitors using the collection were required to bring in their own record player needles, which were quality-checked by staff with a microscope.
Since 2015, the library has also hosted regular open mic nights. These popular events have attracted a range of acts, from musicians to poets, authors and comedians.
RAF Central Band at the Music Hub's canal-related event, 'Anthem: A Grand Union', 2018
Local schools have often played an important role in music provision. Townfield Boys' Secondary School hosted a secondary schools' music festival in 1970. The Hayes and Harlington Schools Music Society played at the same venue the following year. Haydon Secondary School presented 'West Side Story' in 1991.
