Go Compose

Sound And Music’s national initiative Go Compose offered workshops and masterclasses in music for children and young people across the country with a particular emphasis on encouraging participants to compose and make their own music.

YSWN activities for Go Compose focused on music technology and took place at three locations: firstly in 2018, at the Global Diversity Café with Positive Action and with Skipton Extended Learning for All (SELFA) in Skipton. In 2019, an electronic music summer school comprising six weekends of hands-on creative sound and technology workshops for girls and young people of minority genders was held at the University of Huddersfield. Each weekend was led by a different artist and looked at a specific area of music technology practice including DJing, computer-based music production, audio electronics and sound composition.

The music leaders included DJ Angel Lee, Supriya Nagarajan, Caro C, Vicky Clarke, Aiwan Obinyan, Ryoko Akama and Eleanor Cully. In total, 12 arts leaders, one senior leader, one project manager, five undergraduate mentors, two volunteers and technical support delivered 20 sessions from April 2018 to August 2019 to 55 girls aged between 11 and 18.

Across both years, the participants displayed an abundance of creativity and enthusiasm, often creating pieces of music for the first time. The impact of the girls-only environment clearly demonstrated an inspiring and supportive space, where they could share their music and develop their artistic skills.