Academy helps companies find their rhythm

A Hull-based music academy is helping businesses hit the right note with their staff wellbeing.

Eclectic Music, operating from the Grade I-listed Maister House on High Street, in Hull, has launched a corporate package designed to support mental health and reduce workplace stress. 

The service draws on the team’s musical expertise, offering activities ranging from harp and flute performances to guitar sessions and even yoga.

Danny Thompson, creative director, producer and founder of Eclectic Music, said: “We do a lot of one-to-one music lessons for people aged six to 96, and I started thinking about how we could use our skills to support the community in areas of the city we aren’t already reaching with music. 

“The answer was business to business.

“We have some corporate sessions planned out and we can offer modular choice so employers can look at what might work for them.

“We help them discover what their staff want and reconnect the management with the wants and needs of their workforce. 

“If you have happier staff, you have lower staff turnover, which is good in all sorts of ways including recruitment, retention, productivity and building that sense of team.”

Having trained as a Reiki practitioner during the pandemic, Danny was able to draw in people who were exploring sound, yoga, breathwork and other wellbeing aspects.

He added: “We also offer reiki and frequency therapy, as well as breathwork. 

“I kept hearing from business people how stressed their teams are and I wanted to look for a new angle – music makes everybody feel good one way or another.

“From there we have launched a complete wellbeing package – tailored wellbeing solutions for a thriving workforce. 

“So far it has only been promoted through our own business channels, social media and some health and wellbeing events, but now we are spreading the word.”

Founded in 2017, Eclectic Music also teaches adults and school pupils, runs community and chamber ensembles, as well as collaborating with local arts groups. 

The academy regularly performs, on and off-site, with around 200 musicians coming through its doors and many of them literally taking their performances on the road.

Danny added: “Last year we put an orchestra on a bus and took them round some of the estates in the Hull – just playing in the street, shopping centres, street corners, grass verges. 

“There were about 35 in the orchestra performing things like Jurassic Park, Harry Potter and Beethoven. 

“We’ll be doing it again this year.”

Maister House, which is leased from the National Trust, provides three floors for tuition, professional instrument repairs and space for creative independents, while also supporting national initiatives such as Heritage Open Days.

Danny added: “We wanted to make sure there is space for high quality independent professionals who work in the creative industries and have nowhere to go.

“There isn’t another centre for independent practitioners with a wide variety of backgrounds and specialisms to come together and collaborate in this unique way.

“We have ended up with some really nice collaborative by-products.

“You can walk in here with an idea and walk out with an album, a video, documentary or even a full orchestral production! 

“Everything is in one place.”

Eclectic Orchestra’s next major performance will be Phantom of the Opera at Jubilee Central, in Hull, on October 25.

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