Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra launches music leaders pilot programme
Florence Lockheart
Wednesday, January 26, 2022
Applications are now open with a deadline of 3 March 2022
© BSO
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO) has opened applications for new training scheme which aims to boost music leaders’ careers
The nine-month, bursary-supported BSO Young Associates scheme will provide bespoke mentoring and training for two successful candidates to gain the skills they will need to lead music projects. BSO Young Associates will help deliver the orchestra’s many outreach programmes in health and care settings as well as in schools and music education hubs.
Bea Hankey, head of BSO Participate said: ‘We’re looking for people who are natural communicators, with an unshakable passion for the empowering impact of music and a desire to create positive change at the heart of our communities. In exchange, you’ll receive mentoring from leading practitioners and experiences to help catapult the start of a rewarding arts career.’
The scheme is open to candidates aged 18-26 with a gift for music-making until Thursday 3 March. BSO is particularly keen to receive applications from young people who are currently underrepresented in the UK’s arts workforce.
BSO’s Young Associates programme was created as a direct response to Arts Council England’s 2019-20 Equality, Diversity and the Creative Case report, which revealed that people who identify as disabled, or who are from Black, Asian or Ethnically Diverse backgrounds, accounted for just 7% and 13% of those working in the UK’s creative industries respectively.
BSO chief executive, Dougie Scarfe, said: ‘The programme has been funded by a philanthropic community through the Big Give campaign, and with additional support from Allianz Musical Insurance, showing the depth of desire to ensure that doors are being held firmly open to the next generation of young people looking to create and shape their place within this brilliantly creative industry.’
The BSO has residencies in Bournemouth, Bristol, Exeter, Portsmouth and Poole, making it the largest cultural provider in South West England. The orchestra also received the Royal Philharmonic Society Impact Award in 2019 for its work in improving opportunities for disabled musicians.
The BSO Young Associates programme is open for applications until 3 March 2022. You can find out more at the BSO website.
