Watch now: The Making of Grow Wild

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In early 2021 students on our Furthering Talent programme were invited to perform at the Music for Youth Festival in Birmingham. This was their first opportunity to make music in a group since the pandemic. To celebrate the return of live music, a piece was composed especially for the event. Young musicians from six of our partner Hubs in Bradford, Brighton, Hull, Leicestershire, Manchester and Wiltshire participating in online composing sessions on Zoom.

Led by multi-disciplinary musicians Yshani Perinpanayagam and Tom Lawrence, the piece uses recordings of students from the six Hubs. In December 2021 a short film documenting the process debuted at the Music Mark conference. This was shown both in person and online as part of the virtual hybrid event.

Despite the ongoing impact of the pandemic in 2021 on children and young people’s ability to access music lessons, and the ‘stop-start’ nature of opportunities to play together, it was so exciting to see the way in which pupils involved were able to not only develop their own skills but also come together musically through the Grow Wild project.

Bridget Whyte

CEO, Music Mark

To find out more about our Furthering Talent programme.