In Motion is an 18-month artist development programme for composers who want to undertake a step change in their creative practice.
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.
Applications for In Motion 2026 are now open, the deadline for applications is Monday 3 November 2025, 23:59 UTC.
In Motion is a very competitive programme, and we encourage you to read through these pages and our application guidance documents to ensure this programme is a good fit for your needs right now as an artist before applying. In the last round of applications, we received over 450 applications and selected 10 composers for In Motion and eight composers for the Seed Award.
In Motion 2026 is made possible with the generous support of Arts Council England and PRS Foundation.
Download information about In Motion in EasyRead format (PDF)
Overview
In Motion is designed to support you to develop clarity around your goals for your artistic and professional development, through designing and developing a creative project that supports you in achieving these goals. You will receive an artist bursary and a production grant to help 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, build on your strengths and work on areas of growth, and work towards 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, community workshops or something else entirely - as long as it is public-facing and has a clear connection to your artistic development, we will work with you to help create an achievable and impactful plan and bring your ideas to life.
The dates for In Motion 2026 are 1 April 2026 – 31 October 2027.
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 costs
- Regular 1:1 sessions with a dedicated team member
- Sessions with an accredited coach
- Mentoring sessions
- Group-sharing sessions and workshops, including a two-day residential called the Networking Days
Programme Structure
In Motion starts on 1 April 2026 and lasts 18 months until 31 October 2027.
The programme is structured into two phases: Discovery Phase and Activity Phase.
Discovery Phase (6 months)
During Discovery Phase, you will attend the programme induction sessions where you will meet our team and the rest of the In Motion cohort. You will be assigned a Creative Programme Leader, who will be your main contact and ongoing 1:1 support throughout the programme. In this Phase, you will spend time clarifying your goals, developing your creative ideas, and start forming an achievable 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 accredited coach
- Work with your Creative Programme Leader to develop your goals and project ideas
- 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 undertake, you will move into the programme’s Activity Phase. This is where you work on producing and bringing your creative ideas to life. You will deliver your planned activities 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
Please note that enrolment into Activity Phase is not automatic. Our approach is artist-led and we always work with our artists to be flexible and responsive to their needs and changing circumstances. However, if you are unable to meet the minimum criteria of contact and engagement with the programme during Discovery Phase, you may not enrol onto Activity Phase.
Education component
During the programme, there will be opportunities for you to interact with and deliver work for young people aged 14–18 on In the Making, our programme for young composers. No prior education experience is needed – if you are interested in this, we will explore how we can support you to help deliver this work. Composers on In Motion have previously run a range of activities for young people, such as:
- Run a workshop, presentation, or listening party at our annual In the Making residential
- Hosted online workshops or group sessions for young composers
- Created composition tasks or prompts for young composers to respond to, and offer feedback on their work
- Developed or contributed to a Minute of Listening collection
Depending on the nature and scale of the activity, there will be additional fees on offer. We will arrange and pay for an Enhanced DBS check for anyone working with young people as part of our programme, and we expect you to read and follow our Child Protection Policy.
What support will I get?
A core element of In Motion is our holistic model of 1:1 support. We know that there is no solution that fits all, and we have identified three core strands of 1:1 supports which allows composers to draw from each what is most useful at various points throughout the programme. This holistic approach aims to support your artistic and professional development in a way that works best for you while on the programme, and be in the best place to make ambitious, positive and lasting changes in your practice and work.
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 be your main point of contact and will support you to develop your ideas, identify opportunities (funding, partnership, mentors) and will adjust their approach to meet you throughout the programme. They are also your node into the rest of the team and our wider networks, enabling you to make the most of the collective expertise and resources we have as an organisation.
Coaching
You will be offered four sessions with an RD1st accredited coach. All the coaches we work with have received the same certification and adopt a similar approach to coaching. These are optional and can be taken at any point during the programme. We strongly encourage composers to take up at least one session, which we call the Discovery Session, to get an understanding of what these sessions offer and how they may support your work. Coaching sessions are a confidential, non-judgemental space that can support you with your thinking and help 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.
Read more about Relational Dynamics 1st Coaching
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. You may have clear ideas about who to approach as a mentor or you might want to spend time exploring what would be a good fit. Your Creative Programme Leader will support you to identify and approach mentors while on the programme.
Group sessions
We organise group sessions with the whole cohort and encourage peer-learning and support. We also facilitate workshops, led by internal and external facilitators, on topics that are relevant to the cohort’s needs and interests, such as audience engagement, forming a creative team and other topics relevant to each cohort.
Bursaries and Grants
You will receive an artist bursary of £1,800 and 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 be used for costs related to your artistic development or project ideas. You can use the production grant to pay for research, venue hire, collaborators, marketing, recording and production costs, or anything else you need to research and make the work happen.
You will be able to use up to 10% of the production grant during Discovery Phase, for example as part of researching or testing ideas, and the remainder during Activity Phase.
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
Inclusion is at the heart of our work and we work hard to make our programmes as accessible as possible. We offer access support to and will always make reasonable adjustments to help you participate in our programme activities fully.
Your Creative Programme Leader will be the first point of contact to discuss any access needs you would like to share with us or any access support we could arrange.
If you would like to inquire about what access support is available to apply on In Motion, please email Grace Bailey (Grace.Bailey@SoundandMusic.org). If you require an access support worker to help you with the application process, you must email Grace Bailey (Grace.Bailey@SoundandMusic.org) by Wednesday 15 October 2025. If we receive any access support requests received after that date, we may not be able to guarantee allocating an access support worker to work with you.
Application process
We are now accepting applications to In Motion 2026. Deadline to receive applications is Wednesday 3 November 2025, 23:59 UTC.
Please ensure you read this page and our Application Guidance thoroughly before applying:
- Application Guidance document (.pdf)
- Application Guidance - Large Print and Dyslexia Friendly (.docx)
The selection panel for In Motion 2026 consists of Chisara Agor, Suk-Jun Kim, Sarah Lianne Lewis, Bróna McVittie, James Perry and Provhat Rahman.
For more information and link to our application form, see How to apply.
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 13 October 2025 between 12:30–1:30pm (Online): Webinar open to all composers – Sign up for the open webinar here
- Tuesday 14 October 2025 between 12:30–1:30pm (Online): Meeting 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
All applicants to our In Motion programme who have been shortlisted and interviewed are awarded a targeted package of support, including coaching sessions and a small grant.
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.
The In Motion 2025 artists represent a powerful mix of voices, visions and practices, each bringing something wholly distinctive to the programme. They work across disciplines and borders—blending field recordings with electronics, voice with sculpture, poetry with punk and folklore with ritual.