Teachers who are committed to inclusive music-making are being invited to attend OHMI’s one-day training course to help assess individual needs.
 
The CPD course, which will be held on Friday, 27th March 2026, is being delivered in partnership with Birmingham City University (BCU) and takes place at their City South Campus in Edgbaston.
 
The training builds on OHMI’s years of experience in finding solutions to enable musicians to play the instruments they want to play, and is designed to pass on that knowledge so that local teachers and music services can serve the children in their area.
 
Rachel Wolffsohn, OHMI’s General Manager, added, “This highly practical training aims to give music teachers an understanding of the adapted musical instruments and enabling equipment on offer so they can match to a child appropriately. We’d like to encourage music teachers across the country to take up this training so that more disabled children can participate in music-making.  Many of the team at OHMI have lived experience as music teachers so we’re well-versed in finding those creative solutions. We just need to raise awareness within schools and music hubs that we have the means to do so.”
 
Comments from previous attendees of the course:
 
“I was aware of OHMI before I undertook the training but seeing for myself and learning from them was invaluable. The training was really accessible and delivered at an appropriate pace, and the most powerful takeaway from the day was the knowledge and confidence I gained to facilitate the physical assessments.”
​Mark Lowe, Music Inclusion Manager at Inspiring Music (the Music Service for Central Bedfordshire)
  
“The training was a real eye-opener when it came to assessing both physical disability and neurodiversity needs. With the help of OHMI, we’re able to better assess needs and source appropriate solutions. It is SO important that children with additional needs are not squirrelled away to work on other activities whilst their peers get to make music!”
Andrew Hird, Partnership Manager at Lincolnshire Music Service
 
Book your place at: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/theohmitrust/1979228

Introducing Hazel Boyd

With her mechanical engineering expertise and an in-depth understanding of design for disabled people, Hazel Boyd certainly has the skills to make a difference in her role as OHMI’s Instrument Development Manager.
 
The role of Instrument Development Manager at OHMI relies on a distinct set of talents, with an understanding of adapted musical instrument design, product development and process, and the ability to engage with instrument makers, musicians and teachers alike. Add to that the bespoking often needed for each musician’s needs and there exists a complex set of requirements.
 
They are challenges that OHMI’s newest staff member, Hazel Boyd, is fully equipped to address. With a background in mechanical engineering, a PhD in the measurement of functional wrist motion and a 16-year background in working in design for disability, Hazel is arguably the perfect fit for the role. As she describes: “In my previous role at a national charity, I spent 16 years working in design for disabled people and I’m very interested in how people use things. By engaging with people and finding out what they wanted, we were able to implement a very iterative design process where subtle improvements were made at every stage whilst making sure we didn’t remove features without finding out if they were important.”
 
Hazel’s experiences have also included 18 months of work in a music shop in Bristol to learn how to repair woodwind instruments. She first learned of OHMI’s work in 2024 when she was invited along to a NAMIR (the National Association of Musical Instrument Repairers) event where OHMI’s General Manager, Rachel Wolffsohn, was presenting on OHMI’s work.
 
At the highest level, Hazel’s new role as Instrument Development Manager involves creating a long-term strategy for sustainable musical instrument development and implementation. The collection of data is critical to this process and, whilst OHMI has always gathered data, a more uniform, design-led approach will be an important step forward for the charity. It means that each instrument or piece of enabling equipment will have a product plan where any proposed changes have been fully discussed with both musicians and makers. It also means that the charity will be able to track the needs of each pupil, even if they change teachers or schools.
 
At a more detailed level, the role involves connecting with makers on particular projects. This might include investigation into how to reduce manufacturing costs such as through 3D-printing of one-handed recorders. Similarly, how to improve a piece of enabling equipment to make it suitable for more instruments, such as adapting the bracket on a trumpet stand for use with the much smaller space-restricted pocket trumpet. There is regular engagement with musicians too, such as road-testing new products like the acoustic bagpipe chanter.
 
The role can be seen as bridging the gap between capturing the requirements of the musicians and feeding that back to the makers in a way that makes sense in their creators’ world. As Hazel explains: “I’m able to produce some of the designs myself through my sketches and communicating enough of what's needed using a language that makers understand.
 
“OHMI’s work is extraordinary. I love the variety and the opportunity to work with a small and very welcoming team. I am happy to be immersed in a world that genuinely makes things better by getting more instruments to more people.”
 
“OHMI’s work is extraordinary and I am happy to be immersed in a world that genuinely makes things better by getting more instruments to more people.” 
​

​Player of the one-handed recorder Esther Mannouch has kindly organised a concert to raise funds for OHMI.
 
The event will take place on Sunday, 24th August and starts at 3:30pm. The venue is Cranbourne Farm, Sutton Scotney, Winchester.
 
Esther has three one-handed recorders adapted by long-time OHMI supporter and instrument maker Peter Worrell. She will be playing her treble recorder alongside her baroque violinist sister Jean Paterson and harpsichordist Sharon Gould.
 
The concert includes music by Telemann, Handel, and Jean-Baptiste Lœillet, with tea and cakes also on offer.
 
The trio will be joined by OHMI General Manager Rachel Wolffsohn who will give a short talk on OHMI’s work.
 
Tickets are by donation and may be reserved by emailing [email protected].

Disabled children in Bradford, Devon and Lincolnshire are being offered the opportunity to fully participate in music-making following a successful bid to roll out the OHMI Music-Makers Whole Class Programme. The programme aims to offer disabled children the same opportunities as their peers when it comes to Whole Class music lessons in schools.
 
The support, made possible with Arts Council England National Lottery Project funding, also means the three-stage programme can further evolve in six other areas of England. This staged approach means intensive support can be offered to Music Services when most needed in the first year whilst also freeing up OHMI capacity to work with a greater number of Music Services and to concentrate on disabled children with more complex needs. The original three participant Music Services in Birmingham, Nottingham and Northamptonshire are in the process of completing their third and final year of testing, with Central Bedfordshire, Southampton and Liverpool in their second year.
 
The OHMI Trust General Manager Rachel Wolffsohn, said: “We’re delighted that Arts Council England has recognised the value of extending the service for another year in our six existing areas and to launch our delivery through Bradford Music & Arts Service, Devon Music Education Hub and Lincolnshire Music Service. We now have a good spread of geographies, sizes and ways of operating whole-class music programmes which means we can test applicability across the board and build the most robust model for future years.”
 
Bradford Music & Arts Service, Devon Music Education Hub and Lincolnshire Music Service all applied to be part of the OHMI Music-Makers programme after attending the ‘Introduction to Music-Making for Physically Disabled Children’ CPD course.
 
Bradford Music & Arts Service’s Head of Service Carl White said: “OHMI’s support in helping us to identify and assess the needs of our students well ahead of lessons will make such a difference to those who live with a disability and who might otherwise not be afforded the opportunity to play alongside their peers. We’re very much looking forward to seeing the benefits of this roll-out in the next academic year.”
 
More information on OHMI Music-Makers including a short video featuring some of its participants is available at: www.ohmi.org.uk/ohmi-music-makers.html.