To establish immediate paid opportunities for music creators, so that they can continue working, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival sets up commissioning fund

Jake Burdass, one of Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival's Young Curators

In response to the ongoing crisis, the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival has announced a fundraising campaign to provide five £1,000 commissions for UK-based artists affected by the present crisis. Each commission would be for a 15-minute work to be presented at a future edition of the festival. Through the commissions, the festival is seeking to establish immediate paid opportunities for music creators, so that they can continue working, and earning, while securing a commitment that their work will appear at future events.

As a result of being one of the PRS Foundations' Talent Development Partners, the festival has a number of other initiatives supporting young creatives. The Young Curators’ Programme is supporting five Kirklees-based curators in taking their next career steps, developing talent and leadership amongst the music programmers, promoters and curators of the future. Programme participants include Jake Burdass, founder of Huddersfield venue and studio community hub, BASSment, and you can read more about Jake in a profile on the festival's website.

The festival has partnered with Yorkshire Sound Women Network (YSWN) and the Centre for Research in New Music (CeReNeM) at the University of Huddersfield to create Sound Pioneers, a project offering residencies to create a new piece of music which will be performed at a future edition of the festival.

Please think about donating to the festival's COVID-19 Commissioning Fund.