Festival hands a chance to music ‘young curators’
PROJECT AIMS TO GIVE ARTISTIC TALENT A CAREER BOOST
THE Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival has been nurturing and showcasing new artistic talent for more than 40 years through its annual 10-day festival of new and experimental music.
Now, with its latest initiative, the aim is to give a big career boost to six local young curators.
Kirklees Young Curators is a new project to find and develop talent and leadership among the locally-based music programmers, promoters and curators of the future.
Successful applicants will take part in specially-designed programmes tailored to their individual needs.
In addition to training and mentoring by the experienced hcmf// team, the participants will also have the chance to develop new works that can be tested within the region, and presented to audiences at a future festival.
hcmf// want to hear from Kirklees Young Curators with specific interests in issues of diversity, gender equality and social inclusion, who are already presenting cultural activity and events within their own communities and networks.
The six young curators will begin by attending events at this year’s festival – which runs from November 15-24 – so they can get first-hand experience of how the festival is run and to gain inspiration for their own events.
Throughout 2020, the Young Curators will continue to organise events in their own area with mentoring and some financial support from hcmf//.
Then, at hcmf// 2020, all six Young Curators will work together to create a collaborative event which will be presented as part of the festival programme.
To apply to be part of this project, visit https://hcmf.co.uk/young-curators-programme-open-call/ for more information, or contact Sophie Cooper at hcmf// by emailing s.cooper@hud.ac.uk
Funded through Kirklees Council’s successful bid to the Leeds LEP’s Business Rates Pool fund, not only will the project provide training and mentoring for the selected Young Curators, they will also receive a bursary to support participation.
Artistic director Graham McKenzie said: “hcmf// has a long and successful track record of working with young people, new talent and emerging musicians, composers and performers.
“Receiving funding for the Young Curators programme now gives us a fantastic opportunity to play an important role in identifying and nurturing the next generation of locally-based music curators and programmers, which is an essential element of building a world-class music offer in Kirklees.
“We’re really looking forward to getting recruitment for the scheme under way.”
hcmf// has a long and successful track record of working with young people and new talent