Discover
Young Sounds UK bring Discover training to Aberdeen
We’ve been running our Discover training in England since 2008 and we’re now looking to start the programme in Scotland! Starting with free sessions in Aberdeen.
Read more
A look back at 2025 with Young Sounds UK
It’s been an incredible year for Young Sounds, as we’ve continued to provide support and musical opportunities to young people across the UK. Our team has also grown and with it, our capacity to reach and help more young musicians.
Before we sign off for the year, let’s look back on the last 12 months with our Discover, Connect and Thrive programmes.
Developing Discover
This year saw Discover venture into Scotland to train new facilitators in Aberdeen – an important step in widening the programme’s reach and building a strong community of practitioners. In the second half of the year we delivered holiday clubs in Bradford and Birmingham as part of our EQUALIZE project with the Black Music Research Unit, developing young people’s musical potential with their identities and creative practices.
Our Programme Manager for Discover, Sophia Loizou, says:
“The moments that stayed with me this year were when long-planned ideas finally took shape. Seeing the EQUALIZE project come to life across the two holiday clubs in Bradford and Birmingham was a real highlight. Observing young people respond so openly to new genres, technologies and creative methods made all the preparatory work feel worthwhile. I was also really proud that we trained our first Discover facilitators in Scotland, which felt like an important step in widening the programme’s reach and building a strong community of practitioners. Although I’m not one for focusing on numbers, increasing our participant reach felt significant because it means more young people were able to access supportive and creative spaces.”
Our free Discover training helps teachers learn how to spot the musical spark in their students. Book your 2026 session now here!
Being Connected
This year our Connect programme saw more Get Togethers and opportunities for young musicians than ever thanks to our continuing partnerships with our wonderful Music Hub friends, Arts Council England, and our Music Opportunities Pilot partners: its funder the Department for Education, ABRSM, BBC Orchestras, Music Mark, Music Masters, the National Youth Orchestra, Open Up Music and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. We’re ending 2025 with the largest group Mentors we’ve ever had, who’ve been working tirelessly to provide support to young musicians.
Neil Phillips, our Connect Programme Director, says:
“2025 has been a wonderful year for Connect. We’re well on track to pass our target of 1,000 young people being supported across the country, with sustained, high quality musical learning. It’s been a pleasure to see all this work develop and come together to enrich the musical lives of the amazing young people we’re supporting.”
Thrive’s new era
2025 has been a busy year for our Thrive programme. Over 300 young musicians have joined the programme this year, taking part in musical opportunities across the country, such as Piano and Conducting Masterclasses, as Piano and Conducting Masterclasses, exciting insight days at Purcell School and Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, and the return of our annual Side-by-Side day with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at BBC Maida Vale Studios. 2025 has also seen a number of changes within our Thrive team, whilst we bid a fond farewell to our Thrive Programme Manager Hannah Turner, our previous Events Producer Jessica Burroughs became Thrive Programme Director, and we welcomed our new Thrive Administrator, Katie King. Jess shares her highlight from 2025:
“Our final fundraising concert of the year was held at the stunning Drapers’ Hall, where 13 Thrive musicians and two Thrive team members joined together to perform an emotional farewell to our outgoing Chairman Philip Jones, led by Young Sounds Alumnus, Ben Goldscheider and Alumna Patron, Jess Gillam.”
Thank you!
A message from our Chief Executive, Hester Cockroft, as we sign off for 2025:
“What a year 2025 has been! Thanks to the generous support of so many and to our brilliant Young Sounds team we’ve been able to help more talented young people than ever before to make and create music across the UK.
Next year we’ll continue to do everything we can to ensure the young musicians we’re here for can achieve their musical goals. We’ll keep listening, learning and innovating, working with our fantastic partners across the country to further increase the impact of our work.
Have a great festive break and we’ll see you in 2026!”