News and blogs

The New Music Commissioning Programme 2025–26 is a groundbreaking partnership between Sound and Music and the British Council, delivered as part of the British Council’s Culture Connects Programme. This pioneering initiative pairs three UK-based music creators with three peers based in Official Development Assistance (ODA) countries to collaboratively compose bold new work for radio that responds to our shared human experience.

It’s been just over three months since we kicked off the 2025 British Council x Sound and Music commission as part of the New Music Commissioning Programme 2025–26, and the creative energy feels electric. As the Creative Project Leader, I’ve had the privilege of guiding six bold composers – Yantó, María Gabriela Rubio Hernández, Fahmi Mursyid, Tony Onuchukwu, RIEKO and Yasmin Rai – through a journey of cross-cultural collaboration that spans continents, time zones and artistic disciplines.

We’re delighted to announce the Round Three recipients of our Essentials Fund: Adam Weikert, Katarina Ranković, Coco Mbassi, Tyger Blue, Laura Dia, İlayda Deniz Oğuz, Richard James, Jacksonville and Arlo Martin.

We’re delighted to announce the new Composer Advisory Group (CAG) — a panel of 12 music industry professionals, primarily composers and music creators, who bring diverse experiences and perspectives to help shape our work.

We are proud to share a powerful message written and signed by six creators in our alumni community, Marcus Joseph, Ben Nobuto, Supriya Nagarajan, Billie Reason, Chisara Agor and Atharv Gupta. This letter is a collective reflection on what Sound and Music means to them and a reminder of the creativity, courage and evolving journey of making new music today.

As 2025 draws to a close, Chief Executive Will Dutta reflects on a pivotal year for Sound and Music. In this end-of-year review, he looks back at the organisation’s progress, the challenges facing creators, and the growing impact of our strategic direction.

We’re delighted to announce that applications for Round Three of the Essentials Fund are now open, with grants of £300–£600 available to support composers and music creators across the UK. The Essentials Fund provides small grants to help you develop your practice through purchasing equipment, accessing training or mentoring, recording your work, or covering other essential costs related to your composing practice.

We’re excited to share Cathedrals of Sound: Remaking the Gothic — the official In Motion 2024 outcome by electronic music artist Medulasa. This public video series reimagines the Gothic in music from a contemporary electronic perspective, while documenting the creation of a new album (and, ambitiously, a new sub-genre) with live audience feedback.

In our Alumni Spotlight series, we highlight the bold and diverse practices of artists who have taken part in our programmes. This month, we’re shining a light on Lunatraktors, the award-winning duo of Carli Jefferson (she/her) and Clair Le Couteur (they/them), known for their genre-defying “broken folk” style.