Free folk song arrangements for Make Music Day

A new collaboration between Make Music Day UK and ABRSM is offering three free arrangements of Southeast Asian folk music to celebrate the occasion - which makes for a great opportunity to experiment with expanding your repertoire without the cost. ABRSM walk through the offerings below.

ABRSM is widely known for its music exams and publications but it’s also a music education charity with a mission to bring the joy of music to lives everywhere. It contributes to music education globally through its scholarships, sponsorship, partnerships, programmes, research and advocacy.

Among these activities is Writing for Music Education, a mentoring programme for emerging and early career composers interested in writing for educational settings. With participants in the UK and Asia, the programme has supported 46 composers since its launch in 2021. Over 60 pieces of music by participating composers now appear in ABRSM syllabuses and publications. Learners around the world have played these pieces in more than 50,000 exams.

In 2024, composers taking part in the first Asia programme were given a brief to arrange a Southeast Asian folk song for flexible string ensemble. A collaboration between ABRSM and Make Music Day UK is now making three of these arrangements available for free to mark Make Music Day 2026. Make Music Day takes place on 21 June every year. Music groups are invited to use and adapt these arrangements and share their performances using #MakeMusicDay.

The folk song arrangements are:

• Suriram – an Indonesian/Malaysian folk song arranged by Indian composer Santosh Baynes. Listen here
   
• Chan Mali Chan – a Malaysian folk song arranged by Malaysian composer Ten Xiao Qin. Listen here
   
• Burung Kakaktua – an Indonesian folk song arranged by Malaysian composer Sebastian Ooi Wei Chern. Listen here

Scores will be available from early April. Look out for further details on the ABRSM website, Facebook and Instagram from April onwards.