The Wigmore Hall Community and Education Department provides one of the broadest education programmes amongst the capital's arts organisations and derives its inspiration from the Hall's rich artistic programme. As well as pre-concert talks, study days and masterclasses, Wigmore Hall Community and Education organises a wide range of workshops for all ages and abilities.

Recent projects have included:

Chamber Challenge, a creative music-making and performance project led by the Belcea Quartet, Wigmore Hall's quartet-in-residence. It gives primary school children in London and other regions the opportunity to experience high quality chamber music and to work alongside the Quartet to create a new piece of music which they will then perform for their school. Last year over one thousand children from Westminster and the South West took part in Chamber Challenge.

Wigmore Hall Community and Education has developed a new series of workshops at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington. Children of all ages are involved in improvisatory workshops which explore different instruments and sounds, and use music to build a sense of community in a changeable environment.

Each year the Composers' Programme places a different composer in a particular community setting to work with young people and develop their creative music skills. In autumn 2004, composer Rachel Leach will be working with a local youth orchestra, responding to Maxwell Davies' music and building on the ideas developed through work with secondary and special schools over the past two years.

Wigmore Hall Community and Education department will be collaborating with Music for Life on a major programme aimed at training professional musicians to work interactively with elderly people with dementia. Music for Life uses music improvisation as a catalyst to engage clients, build their self-esteem and to support and develop communication.