In Motion is an 18-month artist development programme targeted at composers who want to undertake a step-change in their creative practice. The programme is designed to support you to develop clarity around your goals for your artistic and professional development as well as design a creative project that can support you to achieve these goals. You will receive an artist bursary and access a production grant to support you with researching and producing your work, accompanied by one-to-one support and group sessions throughout the programme. We will support you to choose your own pathway and develop a public-facing outcome. This outcome could be an event, an EP, an installation, an educational resource, a work-in-progress sharing, a proof-of-concept, or something else entirely as long as it is public-facing and has a clear connection to your artistic development.
As a composer on the programme, you will receive:
- An artist bursary of £1,800
- A production grant of up to £4,000 to support with project or artistic development expenses
- Regular 1:1 sessions with a dedicated team member
- Coaching sessions with an accredited coach
- An allowance to pay for mentoring sessions
- Group-sharing sessions and workshops, including a two-day residential called the Networking Days
This page provides a more detailed description of In Motion to help you understand what is involved in taking part and whether this is the right programme for your needs.
In Motion is made possible with the generous support of Arts Council England, Jerwood Foundation, PRS Foundation, Garrick Club Charitable Trust and Creative Scotland.
Programme Structure
In Motion starts in May 2025 and lasts 18 months until November 2026. It is structured into two main phases: the Discovery Phase and the Activity Phase.
Discovery Phase (6 months)
You will be assigned a Creative Programme Leader who will support you throughout the programme. In Discovery Phase, you will focus on clarifying your goals, you will develop your creative ideas, and you will develop a realistic project plan and budget. You will:
- Receive part of your artist bursary
- Access up to 10% of the production budget to start developing or researching your ideas
- Attend induction and networking days with other In Motion composers
- Begin coaching sessions with an RD1st accredited coach
- Receive access to skills resources tailored to your needs
Activity Phase (12 months)
Once you have a clear action plan and budget for the creative project you want to develop and activity you want to undertake, you will move into Activity Phase. You will work to deliver your plan with the support of your Creative Programme Leader. During this phase, you will:
- Receive the remainder of your artist bursary
- Access the remaining production grant
- Continue coaching sessions and arrange mentoring
- Decide who you want to reach with your work, how, and why
- Develop and present your creative project
- Take part in our evaluation
Education component
During the programme, we will invite you to interact and work with composers on our on In the Making programme for composers aged 14-18. We will support you to develop any skills you need to work with young people depending on what activity is a good fit for your creative practice. No prior experience is needed. For example, you might:
- Run a workshop, presentation, or listening party at our annual In the Making residential
- Host an online workshop or group session for young composers
- Create a composition task or prompt for young composers to respond to and feedback on their work
- Develop a Minute of Listening collection
- Deliver workshops or activities with young people in your local community
Depending on the nature and scale of the activity, we will be able to compensate you further on a case-by-case basis, and we will arrange and pay for an Enhanced DBS check where appropriate. Any work with young people will be delivered in line with our Child Protection Policy.
What support will I get?
We have identified three core strands of one-to-one support that offer a comprehensive approach to support your artistic and professional development in the way that works best for you while on the programme.
Creative Programme Leader
You will be assigned a dedicated team member who will meet with you regularly throughout the duration of the programme (usually once or twice a month). They will support you to develop your ideas, identify opportunities (funding, partnership, mentors) and will adjust their approach to meet you throughout the programme.
Coaching
You will be able to access up to four sessions with an RD1st accredited coach. These are confidential sessions to support you with your thinking and help support you achieve personal and professional positive change. In your coaching sessions you can look at your work more broadly rather than the specific project you will be developing.
Mentoring
You will have a budget you can allocate to one or more mentors. These can be industry experts, people you admire, or specialists to support with specific areas of your development or networks.
We will also organise group sessions with the whole cohort and encourage peer-learning and support, as well as workshops led by internal and external facilitators on topics that are relevant to the cohort’s needs and interests.
Bursaries and Grants
You will receive an artist bursary of £1,800 and access a production grant of up to £4,000.
The artist bursary is a personal grant not tied to any outcomes and is a recognition of the time you spend participating on programme activities, such as group sessions and workshops, and time spent developing your ideas.
The production grant can cover expenses relating to your artistic development or project ideas. You can use this grant to cover expenses such as research, venue hire, paying collaborators, marketing costs, recording and production costs, or anything else you need to research and make the work happen.
You cannot use the production grant to pay yourself a commission fee. Your Creative Programme Leader can support you to identify other sources of income to supplement the production grant where applicable.
Access support
As part of In Motion we offer access support and make reasonable adjustments to help composers participate in our programme activities fully.
If you need access support to apply to In Motion, you need to email Grace Bailey (Grace.Bailey@SoundandMusic.org) by 18 November 2025.
Once you are on the programme, your Creative Programme Leader will work with you to establish what support we can offer and what adjustments we may need to make to ensure you can participate fully on the programme.
Read more about our access support
Application process
Applications close on 4 December 2024. For more information about eligibility and applying to In Motion, read our Application Guidance Document:
- Application Guidance Document (PDF)
- Application Guidance Document - Large Print and Dyslexia Friendly (Word)
If your application is not progressed at any stage, we offer feedback to any applicants who request it.
Questions?
We are hosting two information sessions open to all. If you are interested in applying and would like to find out if this is the right programme for you or have questions about the application process, then please join us for one of the sessions, which will take place on Zoom.
- Monday 11 November 2024, 12:30–1:30pm: Webinar open to all composers – Sign up for the open webinar here
- Tuesday 12 November 2024, 12:30–1:30pm: Open to composers identifying as d/Deaf, disabled and/or neurodivergent – Sign up for the d/Deaf, disabled and/or neurodivergent session here
These online meetings will be relaxed and informal, and we will have automated captions enabled.
If you have any additional questions or would like to get in touch about In Motion, you can contact Grace Bailey (Grace.Bailey@SoundandMusic.org).
See also
We support and celebrate anyone working with music and sound across the UK through our artist development programmes: In the Making, for young composers aged 14-18 and In Motion, for those aged 18 and over.
Our Fair Access Principles are designed to act as a code of best practice for running successful, open and inclusive artist development programmes, competitions and awards for composers.
In line with our commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, we are proud to adapt our processes and programmes to ensure that our artist development programmes, commissions and funds are accessible to as many people as possible.