Fifty young music creators aged 14 to 18 spent a week at the University of Huddersfield for In The Making, Sound and Music’s residential programme and the UK’s only year-long artist development scheme for young musicians.
Over five days, participants took part in workshops, studio sessions and collaborations with a creative team including Huddersfield alumni, current staff, researchers and students, alongside Sophie Cooper and Eddie Dobson from the Yorkshire Sound Women’s Network.
The week culminated in a final day of performances of original works composed entirely during the residency, held in the university’s Richard Steinitz Building. Two Huddersfield-based guitarists, both named Callum, performed their own compositions alongside Komuna Collective, the programme’s Ensemble in Residence. Other performances on the day spanned rap, classical, jazz, electronica, pop and soul.
Significant rise in participants
This was the third year Huddersfield has hosted In The Making, and the first since Sound and Music made the university its permanent home in April 2026. Since relocating its young artist programme to Huddersfield in 2024, the charity has seen a significant rise in participants from Yorkshire and the North of England.
Around half of this year’s attendees were fully funded by bursaries, reflecting Sound and Music’s ethos that ability, not affordability, should determine who takes part.
One participant said: “I’ve never been anywhere like this where I feel so much that I belong.” Dr Will Dutta, Sound and Music’s Chief Executive, said: “The future of music in the UK is safe.”
The University has long-standing links to Sound and Music, hosting its British Music Collection contemporary music archive at its Heritage Quay facility on campus, and is also home to the internationally renowned Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, a new music showcase running for nearly 50 years each November.
The 2026 cohort now moves into a 12-month Development phase of online tutorials and learning pathways. Applications for In The Making 2027 open in February at soundandmusic.org.
