David Haines

David has worked with thousands of schoolchildren and students both as a visiting composer or composer-in-residence in numerous pre-schools, primary and secondary schools and colleges, and at several National Trust properties. He has a special interest in using music and songs to help deliver aspects of the curriculum, especially science. Two of his projects were funded by the Committee on the Public Understanding of Science. In 2007-2008 he delivered over 130 workshops in all twelve of the elementary schools in Cambridge, Massachusetts and more recently led workshops at the St Louis Festival in Missouri and at a specialist science school in Los Angeles.

School residencies

• Gatehouse Primary School, Dawlish where he worked over a period of 18 months including 6 months where he was in residence for a full two days per week. He worked with all the 300-odd children in the school on developing singing skills, general performance skills, song-learning (everything from Tudor madrigals to pop songs) and songwriting (which led to local publication of a songbook). He also mounted productions of his own children's musicals and concerts of songs the children themselves had written.
• Ivybridge Community College where he wrote, rehearsed and produced from scratch a full-length musical, The Terrorthon (about a hostage crisis in an airport baggage hall) in the space of a single term; a production described by Deputy Head Alan Howson as "the best school/college production that I have ever attended."
• Creative Partnerships funded a CARA2 (Creative Action Research Awards) project which saw David spend much of 2007 in residence in three rural Devon schools, researching the impact upon children's attitudes to learning of acquiring songwriting skills through workshop processes.
• David was resident in all twelve of the public (ie state) elementary schools in Cambridge, Massachusetts during the early spring of 2007 and the same period in 2008, leading over 130 workshops in singing and songwriting, with the main emphasis on exploring science through song. His work in Cambridge led to two official commendations from the Mayor and City Council of Cambridge. He will return to continue this work in the autumn of 2009.