Black Lives in Music (BLiM) recently published a report estimating that the UK orchestral sector includes only around 1% of people from the Global Majority, and chamber music is even less diverse. High-quality music-making in state-funded schools has hugely diminished since 2010, making it less available to students from low socio-economic backgrounds. As such, many opportunities are only available to those who can afford to pay for them, perpetuating barriers to accessing classical music.

The project will support composers with nascent professional careers through mentoring, coaching, producing and administration skills as well as commissioning new works to be performed by world-class musicians. They will also develop as workshop leaders, collaborating with students and staff as part of our secondary school composition project, WeCompose. We are keen to nurture composers who have lived experience of making music and rarely see themselves represented in the wider industry.