In the Making: Programme Details

Applications open

Deadline: Sunday 13 April 2025 at 23:59 UTC

In the Making is a young artist development programme and the UK's only year-long programme for talented young music creators and composers aged 14–18.

The 12-month programme brings together 50 young music creators from across the UK, helping them develop their composing, recording, and performing skills while building confidence, experience, and creative ambition. Guided by leading composers and tutors, they explore new possibilities in music and take meaningful steps toward their artistic and professional goals.

This page provides a more detailed description of In the Making to help you understand what is involved in taking part and whether this is the right programme for you.

We are a National Youth Music Organisation and In the Making is made possible with the generous support of Arts Council England, Steinberg, Faber Music and Manners McDade, The Three Monkies Trust, The Patricia Routledge Foundation, John Thaw Foundation and The Hyne Trust.

Watch the In the Making 2024 Highlights

Watch the In the Making 2024 Showcase

Programme Structure

In the Making starts in July 2025 with a week-long residential summer school, taking place at the University of Huddersfield, followed by eleven months of online workshops, sessions, composing tasks, and performances. Each participant will also receive professional recording of their music—featured on our YouTube channel and broadcast on our radio show on Resonance FM.

Residency Phase (late July / early August 2025)

The Residency Phase is a summer school taking place at the University of Huddersfield. There is the option to stay on site for the week (where we provide accommodation and food) or, if you are local, you can just attend the daytime activities like a summer camp.

A six-day residential at the University of Huddersfield
Tutoring by leading artists and composers
Working with our professional 'Ensemble in Residence'
An extensive programme of support, tutorials, workshops and career sessions
The creation and performance of their own original new music at a professionally filmed showcase
Support and guidance from our In Motion artists
Social activities

Development Phase (August 2025 – June 2026)

Following the Residency Phase, you will enrol on an online programme of activities with your key tutors and guest workshop leaders, to support you to continue your compositions and learn new skills.

2-3 online development sessions per term run in weekday evenings
Bespoke support and direction from our professional tutors and composers
Industry skills and learning sessions
Free access to industry leading software and tools
Peer learning and collaboration
Exclusive commissions, creative projects and pathways
Radio plays of their original compositions on our radio show

What should I expect?

Key tutor sessions

During the Residency Phase at the University of Huddersfield, you will join a group of between 8-15 young people led by an accomplished Key Tutor, supported by a team of Assistant Tutors. Your Key Tutor will support you through creating a new work, support a process of your work being workshopped with our Ensemble in Residence, and your work during the residential will be showcased at the end of the Residency Phase. During the Development Phase, you will join online sessions with your Key Tutor to continue developing your work.

Ensemble in residence

Each year, we have a talented ensemble resident for the Residency Phase at the University of Huddersfield. They will be working with all the key tutor groups, recording materials, rehearsing compositions, giving feedback, and helping bring your work to life. They will perform all the composed pieces at the showcase at the end of the Residency Phase, and you will have a high-quality audio recording of your work to take away with you at the end.

Career and industry workshops

We welcome industry partners and experts to lead sessions focused on careers and the music industry. In the past, these sessions have included discussions on pathways into music education, workshops led by emerging composers showcasing their practice, and insights from partners and industry leaders such as Steinberg, composers from our In Motion artist development programme, and university professors.

Accommodation and food

All participants in the Residency Phase will be accommodated within easy reach of the University of Huddersfield. We will provide transport between the accommodation and the University and all meals will be included as part of the course (note: if you are a local resident and attending the Residency Phase on a day-time basis, only lunch will be provided). Trained pastoral staff will be staying in separate rooms at the same accommodation, and staff will always be available on-site to provide support and assistance whenever needed.

Safeguarding

The health, safety, and wellbeing of our participants are our top priorities. We take safeguarding seriously and have well-established codes of conduct in place to ensure clear expectations and processes for supporting everyone’s safety and wellbeing. Our dedicated pastoral staff are fully familiar with In the Making and are committed to creating a safe and supportive environment for all.

The Designated Safeguarding Officer for Sound and Music is Laonikos Psimikakis Chalkokondylis, Head of Programmes, and the Deputy Designated Safeguarding Officer is Finn Grant, Head of External Engagement. Every member of staff working with Sound and Music has undergone an Enhanced DBS check and completed safeguarding training prior to the residential.

Read our Child Protection Policy

Fees and bursaries

In the Making is subsided through the generous support of our funders, partners and supporters.

As a result, the course participation fees you see below are significantly lower than the actual costs of delivering the programme, which are over £3,000 per participant.

We are proud to offer places at a reduced or no fee for participants from low-income households to ensure everyone can participate.

Standard Fee (including residential accommodation) - £836

The standard participation fee for In the Making is £836, and includes:

All activities during the Residency Phase (27 July – 1 August 2025) and Development Phase (August 2025 – June 2026)
Accommodation and full board for the Residency Phase
Access to state-of-the-art production and recording facilities at Huddersfield University’s music building
Expert tuition by acclaimed composers and tutors, such as Laura Bowler, Tony Nwachukwu, Eddie Dobson and David Horne
Your works workshopped, performed and recorded by our ensemble-in-residence
Career and industry sessions led by our partners, such as Steinberg
Online workshops and support with continuing to develop your works over a year
Pastoral staff training and support throughout the programme

Standard Fee (without accommodation) - £536

The fee for attending In the Making Residency Phase on a day-time basis is £536. This is only an option if you are a local resident and you want to attend our activities at Huddersfield University in the daytime and do not need overnight accommodation.

This includes all the activities as describe above, but only includes lunch and dinner and no accommodation during the Residency Phase. Please note parents/guardians will need to arrange for transport to and from the Residency Phase activities at the University of Huddersfield.

Bursaries

In line with our Fair Access Principles, we want to ensure all of our programmes are as inclusive and accessible to everyone and cost is not a barrier to participation.

We offer a means-tested bursary scheme, which can cover up to 100% of the fee and in some cases can also contribute to travel costs.

Our bursary scheme is made possible thanks to the generous support from Faber Music and Manners McDade, and Susanna Eastburn Bursary Appeal.

If you would love to attend In the Making but cost is a barrier, please contact Grace Bailey (Grace.Bailey@SoundandMusic.org) to discuss options with our bursary scheme.

Access support

In line with our commitments to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and as the founder of the Fair Access Principles, we want to make our programmes and processes as inclusive as possible to as wide a range of applicants as we can.

We offer access support and make reasonable adjustments to help young people participate in our programme activities fully, both in-person and online. We can also meet with successful applicants to agree an Individual Access Plan to support a safe and supportive environment for you during the programme.

If you would like to inquire about or arrange access support with applying to In the Making or have any question around accessibility and the Residency Phase, please contact Grace Bailey (Grace.Bailey@SoundandMusic.org).

Read about our access support

Application process

To be eligible to apply you must be:

Aged 14-18 by 19 July 2025
A UK resident

Applications are open and the deadline to submit application is Sunday 13 April 2025 at midnight.

Applicants who have attended the In the Making residential or Sound and Music Summer School more than once before will automatically be placed on the waiting list and notified if a place becomes available.

Open application form

In the application, we ask you about the personal and contact details of yourself and a parent/guardian who we will contact regarding your application outcome; any support you need with access, and we will ask you to submit our Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form. We will also ask why you want to join In the Making, your musical interests and influences, and some information about how you make music and sound.

As part of our commitment to access support, we offer alternative ways of applying. Please get in touch with Grace Bailey (Grace.Bailey@SoundandMusic.org) if you would like to discuss any reasonable adjustments we can make to the application process.

This information will only be used by the people directly involved with the application process for In the Making and delivering our activities as part of In the Making.