News!
April 2025
Proud Allies Training with Curious Arts
The wonderful Blue Cabin invited me to attend Proud Allies training with Curious Arts. Developed by Curious Arts in partnership with Northern Pride, this training is devised to help build confidence in creating safe, inclusive, and welcoming environments for LGBTQIA+ people. Proud Allies Training is an accessible, informative, and interactive learning experience designed to increase awareness and understanding of intersectional LGBTQIA+ communities, their culture, and lived experiences.
March 2025
New Podcast Episodes!
I will be releasing new podcast episodes over March and April that are enriching conversations with community musicians across the UK. I met these wonderful musicians at the Community Music Now conference and I want to thank them all very much for giving me their time and sharing their stories with us.
March 2025
Community Music Now - in collaboration between Sound Sense and AMP
This weekend event took place at Leeds School of Arts on 1 & 2 March 2025, and promised an enriching experience filled with opportunities to connect, share, celebrate and learn from one another. I was fortunate to be able to record conversations with some of the delegates and you can find these on my Podcast page.
November 2024
MERYC England Conference 2024 - Early Childhood Music in the 21st Century - exploring possibilities in a changing world
This one day conference will offer a mix of presentations, workshops, and opportunities for discussion on what we are learning from young children under five years old, their families and caregivers about music, and music education in today's world.
September 2024
This Is The Place Training: A practical guide to Early Years music-making
Explore how and why music-making supports attachment and development for babies and children.
This training will be lead by Blue Cabin Associate Artists Carol Bowden and Katie Doherty, the musicians working on This Is The Place (a programme developed especially for care-experienced babies and children in Darlington and Redcar).​
16th September 2024.​​
January 2024
MERYC England Trustee
MERYC England is a registered charity committed to advancing the musical education of children aged 0-5 years in England.
December 2023
Curator of Sounding Board Journal - Early Years edition
Focusing on creative practice with 0-4's and their families and carers; stories from the early years music community.
December 2023
International Centre for Community Music (ICCM) 8th Annual Student Research Symposium
It was a pleasure to present my MA research at this annual symposium, discussing community music research from around the world.
December 2023
MA in Community Music at York St John University - Graduation!
I graduated from York St John University with a Merit. The Community Music MA is practice-led research into community music, underpinned by theory. You can find my paper "How Has Covid-19 Impacted The Community Musician? The welcome, hidden costs, adaptability and recovery in practice" and podcast "The Community Musician" on this site.
September 2023
Blue Cabin Associate Artist
Blue Cabin nurtures meaningful relationships between care experienced individuals, and the people and organisations who are part of their lives. Creativity is at the heart of all that we do.
September 2023
We Make Culture & Wearside Women In Need (WWIN) Thrive Project
Working together to explore the impact of embedding music-making activities in domestic abuse settings with the aim of creating positive, hopeful experiences for children, young people and their mothers who have survived domestic abuse and to utilise the wellbeing boost that music-making can bring.
January 2023
Blue Cabin & Darlington Borough Council - This Is The Place
Using early years music-making to help build relationships and attachment, working with care experienced babies and young children 0-4 years and their carers. Sessions are co-led by myself and Katie Doherty at Theatre Hullabaloo, Darlington.
September 2022
Sound Sense Board Member
Sound Sense supports, promotes and advocates for our community musician members and the community music sector in the UK and internationally.