During 2008 a very successful music teaching exchange project took place between schools in Kaposvár and Bath; led by the Bath Phil utilising a sensor technology known as ‘Soundbeam’. The end result caught the imagination of the people of Kaposvár and the City Council decided to put aside a budget of 750,000Fl (£2100). This commitment challenged the Bath Twin to mount a number of events in partnership with the Bath Phil and the artistic director, Jason Thornton to raise funds that eventually enabled the City of Kaposvár in 2010 to acquire this amazing British Designed Technology for the benefit its citizens.

Soundbeam is a device which uses sensor technology to translate body movements into digitally generated sounds and images. It is a Bristol designed product. It has a proven track record for use in schools and the music departments of other organisations that are dedicated to encouraging people of all ages who have special educational needs to enjoy music making and performance.

The money to match at the very least the £2100 promised by Kaposvár took us just over 12 months to find.  The people of Bath, Bristol and elsewhere gave so generously that by the spring 2010 deadline a sum of £3200 had been realised.

This facilitated in June an intense training programme on how to use Soundbeam by Jason in Kaposvár for teachers and volunteers at the Bárczi Special Educational Needs School with a higher Soundbeam specification than had been originally envisaged.

The Kaposvár Council has contracted the Lion’s Club to manage the use of Soundbeam in Kaposvár and the on-going maintenance of the equipment. The BKTA is also receiving half yearly progress reports from the international office of Kaposvár. The Mayor of Kaposvár, Sita Karoly wrote upon conclusion of the Soundbeam project “that he saw it as an outstanding example of twinning between our cities for the benefit of the people of Kaposvár”.