£300k project to develop music listening and engagement in Hudds

The University teams with Kirklees Council to bring Huddersfield’s celebrated music to the masses

A NEW app that provides a soundtrack to Huddersfield’s streets and buildings will be one of the key contributions made by the town’s University to a £300,000 project to celebrate the district’s remarkable musical heritage.

The University’s School of Music, Humanities and Media is working in partnership with Kirklees Council to deliver many elements of an ambitious scheme to celebrate and expand local music making and listening – from choral singing and orchestral playing to brass bands, pop and multi-cultural traditions.

The project will see the University appointing people to three posts designed to support the districts music sector to develop audiences and engage communities as well as boosting its commercial potential.  The ultimate goal is to prepare the ground for a Year of Music in 2023, coinciding with the City of Culture events in the Leeds City Region.

The University’s Dean of Music, Humanities and Media, Professor Thomas Schmidt, said that one of the goals is to establish networks and connections between community organisations and music businesses.

“There’s so much great stuff going on – everything from people running recording studios out of their homes to concerts in the Town Hall with Huddersfield Choral Society and the Orchestra of Opera North.  This is not about the University telling people how to do it, but about us working together,” added Professor Schmidt.

The concept is that people out and about in Huddersfield will access the soundscape via their mobile devices and use it to hear music associated with Huddersfield’s diverse musical heritage.  By virtue of being accessible on-line, TownSounds will also allow people to experience the musical heritage of Huddersfield from anywhere in the world.

The University will also play a key role in delivering a project titled Roots to Inspire, designed to highlight the diversity of musical traditions in the district.  The programme will pair musicians with community music groups in Kirklees in order to create new music or a new take on traditional music.  The development of TownSounds and Roots to Inspire are supervised by the University’s Dr Toby Martin, a songwriter, composer, performer and historian who is Head of Popular Music and Jazz.

And the world-famous Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival – closely linked to the University – will be commissioned to support the development of six new music curators from the region, who will then showcase their work to international audiences at the 2019 Festival.

Also closely involved is the Yorkshire Sound Women Network, set up by the University of Huddersfield’s Dr Elizabeth Dobson.  “The funding will enable the Network to consolidate and grow the organisation through: appointing a part-time co-ordinator; establishing three industry internships for young women seeking experience within the music and audio industries; and programming a series of three open-access Network events.”

The overall project has secured funding of £299,032 from the Leeds Local Enterprise Partnership’s Business Rates Pool and is the result of Kirklees Council’s policy of building on the district’s strong tradition of music making to create a “world class music offer”.