Chamber Tots: Early Years Training and Development Scheme

Early years training and development scheme for emerging music leaders, students, and ensembles.

Every year, we recruit trainee support musicians to take part in our Chamber Tots programme.

This is a unique opportunity for musicians or ensembles who are keen to develop their skills and experience as supporting musicians in early years practice (with children aged 1-5). You will be supported throughout by the leaders, mentors, and the Learning programme team. There is also chance to take part in other training sessions and opportunities as part of our wider Pathways programme.

“Chamber Tots always inspires me to grow, learn and go a step further in everything I do; my most sincere gratitude for
inviting me to be part of it!”

Previous Chamber Tots trainee support musician

“Being a Chamber Tots Trainee was such a rewarding process, where our voices were heard, and we had the chance to shape what the sessions looked and sounded like. It is not a one-way process where one person makes decisions, and everyone follows. It’s a collaboration”

Current Chamber Tots trainee support musician

What is Chamber Tots?

Chamber Tots invites families with children aged 1-5 to come on a musical adventure at Wigmore Hall. Together we discover exciting instruments, songs, and stories with opportunities to explore, play and move together!

Workshops involve:

• Time for families to explore percussion instruments and interact with the musicians through improvisation, singing, movement, and storytelling.
• Short performances by the Trainee Support Musicians, giving children and parents/carers the chance to hear live music.
• Plenty of opportunities for parents/carers and children to co-create music with leaders and Trainee Support Musicians.

Our practice is rooted in child-led music making and reflects Wigmore Hall Learning’s values. Each workshop is led by one of our experienced early years leaders - Esther Sheridan, Lucy Drever, and Penny Osmond - who are supported by Trainee Support Musicians and mentors.

“My child and I love them and have found them to be a lifeline. I am incredibly impressed that your team can engage and hold the attention of children of such a young age and give them, in addition to the joy of music making, a sense of belonging at a time when many of their sources for that are missing.”

Parent, Chamber Tots at Home

What does the scheme and role involve?

Selected applicants will:

• Observe a Chamber Tots workshop.
• Attend a training and musical development session.
• Prepare for and take part in three Chamber Tots workshops per year; one in autumn, spring and summer.
  • Each day includes a rehearsal, two workshops, and a debrief with the workshop leader.
• Collaborate with the music leader and mentors to plan and lead the sessions. This includes:
  • Attending planning meetings to share ideas for pieces or songs and musical activities to complement the workshop theme.
  • Workshopping child-led activities and improvisations.
• Attend a termly reflection session with leaders and cohort.
• Attend optional termly training and development sessions as part of our wider Pathways programme.

Who can apply to be involved?

• Any early career or student musicians aged 18+ who are keen to gain experience in creative music workshops for early years.
• You can apply as:
  A. an ensemble
  B. an individual musician
  • Individual musicians are placed together into teams and supported by a mentor who has taken part in the scheme previously.
• We welcome applications from musicians working in any genre and with any voice type, or instrument.

Wigmore Hall is committed to being a fair and inclusive employer. We recognise the positive value of diversity, promote equality and challenge discrimination, and we welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We particularly welcome applications from people of African, Caribbean and Asian heritage, and other global majority background, as well as d/Deaf, disabled and trans candidates, as they are currently under-represented in our workforce.

Successful applicants will be paid £50 expenses per workshop day (excluding the training day in September) plus £20 expenses for rehearsals (1 rehearsal per workshop day).

How to apply

Applications for the 22/23 scheme are now closed.

We expect to advertise applications for the 2023/24 scheme in June 2023.

Selection process

We are committed to inclusive recruitment practices and take steps to ensure unconscious bias is minimised as far as is possible. Following an anonymised shortlisting process, successful applicants will be invited to an audition to perform a piece or song of their choosing and take part in a short informal interview.

We want to make the process as accessible as possible, so will provide shortlisted applicants with interview questions in advance so you can prepare before we meet.

We are committed to the safeguarding of all the people with whom we work; their wellbeing and safety is of paramount importance. We expect all our staff to respect the rights and dignity of participants, colleagues and partners, and to work in a way that promotes the safety and wellbeing of everyone involved. In accordance with Wigmore Hall’s Safer Recruitment Policy, appointment is subject to an enhanced DBS check (which we can issue for you) and successful applicants will be required to take part in safeguarding training as appropriate.

Wigmore Hall will process (audit, store, use, transfer, keep updated and destroy) applicants’ personal data in accordance with applicable data protection legislation and our Privacy Policy.

For any questions regarding the scheme or application process, please contact Jess Moncur (Producer/Administrator, Learning) on 020 7258 8269 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..