Adopt a Music Creator is a scheme created in partnership with Making Music which matches leisure time ensembles, choirs, bands and orchestras with a composer for a year.
The composer and ensemble collaborate on the creation of a new piece leading to a performance, recording and possible radio broadcast. Composers are supported by professional mentors throughout the year, take part in several skill sharing days and their music is added to Making Music’s library of repertoire.
Adopt a Music Creator is supported by the PRS Foundation.
This programme was formerly known as Adopt a Composer.
How does it work?
Adopt a Music Creator is a creative journey that lasts up to a year.
You will have the chance to work with a musical director, learn from an experienced music creator-mentor, have access to wider contacts and audiences, attend music creator skills days hosted by Sound and Music, and have your work recorded (with the possibility of radio broadcast). The collaborative nature of the project means that you will build a partnership with your leisure-time music group or groups, and not only will you get to create a great new piece of music with them, but you will go away with greater experience and confidence to work with leisure-time music groups more often in the future.
Successful applicants are mentored by experienced music creators, with costs and expenses covered by the PRS Foundation, and retain all the rights to the scores and music that they produce.
Mentors are:
Emily Crossland
Jenni Pinnock
Colin Riley
Ailie Robertson
Fraser Trainer
How do I apply?
*** Applications for 2020/21 are now closed ***
For more information and to apply when applications are open, please read the application page on the Making Music website.
Eligibility Criteria:
- Based in the UK
- Not in full-time education
- Can commit to the project for a year
- Have less than five years (not necessarily continuous) of professional practice in the leisure-time music sector.
- Some experience of leisure-time music groups and collaborative music creation
The full eligibility criteria are outlined on the application form (now closed).
Listen
Recordings of most of the pieces written for the Adopt a Music Creator were broadcast on BBC Radio 3. You can listen to these pieces below and on the Making Music Soundcloud page.
"It has been a real journey of discoveries where I have learnt new and fundamental things which will support me throughout my career."
Featured composer
Bex Burch is the band leader of Vula Viel, a trio consisting of Ruth Goller on bass and Jim Hart on drums. She is a percussionist with a classical training at the Guildhall School of Music.
Writer-performer-artist asking questions and offering playful and poetic creative resistances internationally and virtually
Emily Levy is a British singer and composer with musical influences that range from medieval to classical, folk to jazz. She works closely with the voice and sound design and is particularly interested in blurring boundaries between both stylistic genres and electro acoustic writing.
Jamie Hamilton is a composer, performer and technologist. He combines sound, multimedia, technology, words and acoustic phenomena to explore ways in which sound can be a vehicle for stories about technology and belief.
Thank you to our funders
Have a question about this programme? Wondering if this programme is right for you?
Please get in touch: info@soundandmusic.org
See also
New Voices is an 18-month programme that supports composers at pivotal stages of their careers to explore new ideas, new sounds and new music, including mentoring and financial grant.
Composer-Curator is a composer-led and curated national touring programme which supports outstanding live and digital music projects and events.
This is a small grant to support composers and their work through self-learning projects, equipment, mentoring, and other direct costs for a project or artist development.