Reflecting on the first cohort of the programme…

 

March marked the end of our first ever Future Leaders cohort. Over the course of 7 months, the programme saw us work with young Disabled musicians to promote inclusive, accessible practice in music-making.

A key objective of the project was to improve representation of young Disabled people within the music industry. We aimed to achieve this by supporting our Future Leaders to develop progression routes, new skills, and knowledge, providing practical experiences in professional settings, and by exploring a range of roles within the music sector, such as music leaders, project managers, facilitators and educators. 

We’re delighted to open applications for the second cohort of the programme! The deadline to apply is Wednesday 2 July, 9am.

To celebrate and document their fantastic achievements, we asked our Future Leaders to write a blog post detailing their experience of the programme. This includes the time spent on placement projects at partner organisation. 

Georgina Spray 

 

“I’m a 25-year-old neurodivergent French horn player from rural Lincolnshire. From May 2025 I will be studying at Birmingham City University as I start my PhD which is about investigating the musical pathways of disabled children. I have been a member of the National Open Youth Orchestra (NOYO) since its inception and am also Assistant Music Leader for the Birmingham NOYO Ensemble. As well as this I am currently a member of the newly formed Clarion Trio as well as a mentee on the Royal Ballet and Opera’s Overture scheme. 

I’ve attended a lot of disability awareness training over the years, and I’ve always found it fascinating how different facilitators explain things differently. For a long time, I’d wanted to have a go at leading my own session and focusing on disability and music within the classical music industry. 

 

 

 

I had previously been a member on the London Symphony Orchestra’s (LSO) Pathways scheme for emerging orchestral musicians. After discussing my project idea with my Drake Music mentor, I approached my connection at the LSO, and I was very lucky that they were happy for me to come back and give a presentation to current members of the LSO’s Pathways scheme. 

There was a lot of organisation that went on behind the scenes to make this project possible but I’m really grateful that the LSO Discovery team allowed me to make this project happen. 

As a Future Leader I want to help make the classical music industry more accessible to disabled people. With the budget I received from Drake Music I was able to pay the other members of the Clarion Trio to come along and perform during the presentation. This performance received some amazing feedback from the participants, and I think this practical demonstration and performance really helped solidify the presentation I had delivered beforehand. 

The feedback I received from the participants was incredible and all participants said that what they learned in the session would have an impact on their work in the future. 

Following on from the Clarion Trio performance LSO Discovery have invited us to play in the Barbican foyer before the LSO Discovery Showcase on Thursday 26th June 2025, which is an exciting opportunity for us to share our music with more people!”.  

Connect with Georgina 

Social Media: X = @GeorginaSpray 
The Clarion Trio website: https://clariontrio.co.uk
The Clarion Trio email: info@clariontrio.co.uk 

 Vinícius Motta 

 

“I am Vinícius Motta, a Brazilian-British composer, arranger, performer and educator based in Birmingham. My artistic concern lies in exploring the nuance of timbre, aleatoricism, and challenging conventional ensemble norms by exploring the independence of performers within a collective or ensemble setting. 

When I joined the Drake Music Future Leaders programme, I saw an opportunity to develop a skill that would enhance my ability to lead creative projects: studio recording and direction. Although my music is regularly performed across the West Midlands, most of my experience has been in live concert settings—I had never directed a recording session in a professional studio environment, and previously, I  would rely entirely on my sound engineer to figure out the exact sound I wanted to capture, as I did not have a developed awareness and know-how of communicating my recording ideas to my collaborators.  

To bridge this gap, I planned my project with learning to direct a studio session. I wanted to learn the technical and artistic sides of recording, including microphone selection, placement methods, working with visuals, and managing a session both from the floor and control room. 

As part of this process, I completed two intensive training days at Crown Lane Studios in Morden. This hands-on experience gave me essential skills in studio workflows and prepared me to lead my own session with confidence. I am very grateful to Crown Lane Studios, as the knowledge I acquired during my time there is transferable to my other practices as musician – specifically, the awareness of acoustics I developed has been essential in the planning of other projects I am currently involved in. 

For my project, I took on the role of artistic and recording director during a session at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, where I recorded my solo cello piece Strumming, which explores guitar-inspired plucking techniques on the cello. I collaborated with two talented colleagues: Cian O’Dwyer, who handled audio recording and post-production from the control room, and James Sharif, who captured the session on video. 

The result was a high-quality audiovisual recording that I can now include in my professional portfolio. More importantly, the experience showed me that I can successfully lead a recording session, navigate unfamiliar studio environments, and work with a small team to deliver a polished final product. 

I’m incredibly grateful to the Drake Music Future Leaders team for supporting this journey. It’s opened a new chapter in my practice, and I’m looking forward to applying these skills in future recording projects”. 

Connect with Vini 

https://vinimotta.com/
Instagram: @vinimottauk 

Sarah Bayley 

Sarah’s Future Leaders project was focused around supporting mental health and wellbeing. As well as a varied selection of information around general wellbeing, Sarah has also compiled some specific resources from across the music industry. Featured are different types of support available online and resources specifically for visually impaired, deaf and neurodivergent users. 

You can view Sarah’s project here

Summary

Thank you to the first cohort of Drake Music Future Leaders for participating in, contributing to, and helping to shape the programme for years to come. It has been a true pleasure to get to know the Future Leaders and to witness their curiosity, motivations, dedication, developments, and the individual paths they have chosen to take.

We would like to thank Future Leaders funders Arts Council England and Youth Music for supporting the programme and all the partner organisations who have supported the first cohort of Future Leaders on their individual journeys.

We will be building on this work with a second cohort of Future Leaders starting in September. Check back soon for more details on how to apply!