Oxford Contemporary Music: The Open Fund for Organisations
The Open Fund support for Boom will help 6 music creators to make significant transitions in their work and develop significant new projects. Boom is OCM’s creative development programme for work outdoors and in the public realm.
This year’s creators are Sam Underwood, Kathy Hinde, Eleanor Hooper, Emma Smith and DIM Productions. The grant will support the gatherings, showcasing and mentoring elements in the latter half of their year with us.
From Kathy Hinde, who’s work Luminous Birds won a BASCA award in 2017, to Sam Underwood’s playful experimentations with giant instruments, we consider these artists to be amongst the most exciting who are making work that inspires and is highly relevant to a wide audience. Unusual approaches require specialist support that OCM is excellently placed to provide. Our experience and partnerships allow us to help with many of the challenges that music creators face when working outdoors and in unusual ways.
An opportunity to share work with an audience during or shortly after the residency has proved extremely valuable. In 2019 we will be partnering with Oxford’s IF Festival (Festival of Science and Ideas) and Tandem Festival – organisations with a commitment to supporting the development of artists and their ideas – to offer an opportunity to showcase work.
3 day-long gatherings during their year allow the Boom artists to meet and exchange knowledge, contacts and skills. We also offer mentoring from experts in their chosen fields or coaching to help them on their journeys.