Drake Music Scotland: TDN 2026
Short Project : Disabled artist-led programme, developing opportunities for Scottish-based disabled artists to participate actively in the mainstream music sector
Bio: We are Scotland’s leading organisation working with disabled composers, ensembles and musicians. Our disabled artist-led CREATE programme is designed to support them achieve their career ambitions and develop professional work in the mainstream music sector, with multi-faceted access support provided by our Creative Access team. Working with the artists to diversify the mainstream we aim to change music for good.
Programme Description: Drake Music Scotland’s Create programme includes the development and performance of new music by d/Deaf, disabled and neurodiverse artists. This group is under-represented in the UK music sector and we aim to change this, supporting disabled people to develop their careers, be part of the cultural workforce and become highly visible in the mainstream music space with a particular focus on the contemporary classical area. Our wide range of partnerships with music organisations in Scotland, the UK and beyond ensures disabled artists can build connections and networks to help them to build and sustain creative careers. Our Creative Access team (including Associate Composer Ben Lunn) has a robust approach to meeting the requirements of disabled artists in terms of access, technology and administrative support so emerging and established artists can access opportunities, initiate and develop ambitious projects with mentoring from industry professionals. Our work pushes the boundaries in terms of the development of accessible technologies that make is possible for disabled people to play music and these are often incorporated into our commissions and performance projects which feature combinations of acoustic and digital instruments that explore new territories in sound.