In line with the end of the 2009/2010 academic year, DCSF's national Tune In - Year of Music initiative has now drawn to a close.

The ambition of this initiative was to bring together and support the wide range of music-related experiences available to children and young people across England, and to encourage more of them - whatever their talent - to get involved in music.

Participating in music and associated cultural activity can positively affect a child or young person's development in many ways including numeracy, literacy, and emotional wellbeing. It can also have a positive impact on a child or young person's feelings of social inclusion and self-confidence. Of course, it's also a very fulfilling and enjoyable pursuit.

The programme was launched in September 2009 with a week of diverse music experiences up and down England for children and young people to get involved with:

First Class - the world's first live music lesson streamed over the internet into over 900 schools. The lesson included demonstrations, advice about various ways to get involved in music, and words of encouragement from some of the world's most inspirational musical icons, like Simon Cowell, Lily Allen, Slash, Guy Chambers, the English National Ballet and the casts of West-End productions Wicked and Mamma Mia.

Mobile Symphony - in collaboration with renowned composer Gabriel Prokofiev and expert producer Jaz Coleman, young musicians from the South West Camerata chamber orchestra in Devon were joined by a host of digital instruments including iPhone flutes to perform a unique version of the Adagio, Summer from Vivaldi's Four Seasons in G Minor.

Dawn Chorus - commuters in Newcastle and Gateshead were treated to a morning of song, dance and live music performed across the city's famous landmarks by groups of inspirational young people aged 8-18 drawn from The Sage Gateshead's education programme.

Tune In - Year of Music has brought together a vast number of voluntary organisations, experts and ambassadors during the course of the academic year to help educate children, young people, their teachers and parents about the power of music. Here are some of the highlights:

Back to School was a programme of activity which saw professional musicians 'going back to school' to share their enthusiasm, experiences and expertise with children, young people and their teachers. The programme began in November 2009 when American musician siblings The Jonas Brothers visited a school in Newcastle to give a surprise guitar lesson, question-and-answer session and performance with a Year 7 group. Since then, award-winning cellist Natalie Clein visited a primary school in Tower Hamlets, London, to give an extraordinary hands-on musical workshop with some younger children. Internationally-renowned beat boxer/vocalist Killa Kela dropped into a secondary school in Sheffield to teach some confidence-building vocal tips to Key Stage three pupils. An English National Ballet dancer led a music and movement session with some pre-school children at a Sure Start children's centre in Bristol, opening their eyes to different types of classical music, and teaching the parents and staff some ballet-inspired movement skills tailored for small children. Tune In joined Pixie Lott at a secondary school in Brentwood, Essex as she gathered a huge number of pupils together for a vocal masterclass, followed by some lyric-writing tips and an inspiring unplugged performance. Zone One Opera and the Royal Opera House brass bands collaborated to host a special workshop for primary school children in Hackney, London, while Opera North and the Grimethorpe Colliery Band joined forces to run a genre-fusing brass-meets-opera workshop for teenagers at a secondary school in Barnsley. Footage and reports of these workshops was used to develop and deepen interest in different ways of engaging with music.

Many additional activities have taken place up and down the country: both new events planned specifically to celebrate Year of Music, and pre-planned or annual events that were welcomed into the Tune In celebration. Examples include the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra's family concert Heroes and Villains, the Sandwell Youth Music Services' Music in March season and the Rock and Roll Festival by Solihull Music Service.

Tune In - Year of Music was brought to a close with two special large-scale events: Perform! and SCORE!

Perform! was a project created by Trinity Guildhall and the Open University to celebrate children's musical achievements in primary schools all over England. It culminated in a spectacular summer showcase at the Nottingham Trent FM Arena on 30th June 2010. Over 650 Key Stage 2 pupils and their teachers worked with some of the UK's top musicians to premiere a brand musical resource that was developed through the project. 5th July saw approximately 5,000 musicians and singers aged 7-21 take part in SCORE!, a large-scale performance organised by Music for Youth, incorporating folk, steel pan, brass, strings and djembe musicians as well as singers to celebrate both Tune In - Year of Music and the World Cup.

We estimate that over 50,000 music participation activities or events have taken place nationwide during the Year of Music, involving over two million children and young people, and over 7 million adult/child audience members. A legacy committee was established from a group of leading thinkers in the world of music education, and a virtual network established enabling interested organisations to connect with like-minded people or groups to discover more about the power of music to affect young lives, and find ways of inspiring children and young people to become involved in music.

You can read more about the benefits of music on child development in Professor Susan Hallam's research report: 'The Power of Music', commissioned by DCSF for Tune In - Year of Music.

Thank you to everyone who took part in the project. In the tabs at the top of the page you will find information about the organisations that took part, and the sort of inspiring activity that took place.