8 Making Tracks Fellows selected from the UK and around the world
We are interested in emerging musicians whose work is based on, or clearly connected to, specific musical traditions. Making Tracks is particularly interested in adventurous and collaboratively-minded music professionals who double up as community organisers, environmentalists, ethnomusicologists, writers, storytellers and more.

10 day residency held at the Centre for Alternative Technology, Wales
The Making Tracks Residency gives selected Fellows the chance to create new collaborative works, explore and develop strategies for social and environmental engagement, and receive professional development and career advice from a team of industry experts.

2 week UK tour of 10 partner venues around the country
The Making Tracks Tour takes place following our opening residency. This year we visit Oxford North Wall, Cambridge Junction, Lincoln Performing Arts Centre, Firth Hall (Sheffield), The National Centre for Early Music (York), The Stables (Milton Keynes), Queen’s Hall (Edinburgh), St George’s (Bristol), Norwich Arts Centre and King’s Place (London).

Fellow-led workshops held at 10 migrant centres and music education hubs
Held alongside the tour, our workshops bring Making Tracks out of venues and into local communities, increasing participation in music, promoting solidarity among people from diverse backgrounds and widening horizons through collaborative music-making.

Making Tracks towards...

Widening access to diverse global music throughout the UK
Making Tracks was founded partly in order to widen access to culturally diverse music in the UK, particularly for those living outside of London. We achieved this goal by working with leading partner venues throughout the country - but we want to do more. This year we're taking the Making Tracks Tour to Scotland for the first time, as well as launching a full programme of Fellow-led music workshops at 10 migrant centres and Music Education Hubs around the country.

Developing strategies to harness music as a tool for creative climate and environmental leadership
As part of the Making Tracks Residency, we explore what creative climate and environmental leadership might involve for musicians. Throughout history, music has been used to inspire and give strength at times of crisis and emergency - and yet there is currently a void within almost all music-making and performance when it comes to environmental engagement. As young people mobilise and discourse around climate change and the environment becomes increasingly mainstream, we believe that music can - and must - come to play a greater role. Since issues like climate change and biodiversity loss are global problems, we're interested in working with musicians from around the world.

Building the careers of young music professionals
Our 10 day residency contributes to the professional development of Making Tracks Fellows, with an emphasis on young music professionals and women in music. As part of the programme, we offer expert-led classes, workshops and masterclasses on a wide range of subjects, including music copyright, business planning and how to navigate the constantly changing digital landscape. Making Tracks Fellows will be introduced to a wide range of industry professionals and enter into a growing network of adventurous musicians and change-makers around the globe. Finally, we will aim to match each artist to a professional mentor and provide ongoing support to Making Tracks Alumni after the tour comes to and end.

Minimising our environmental impact
We are taking numerous steps within our operations to reduce our environmental impact. Firstly, we are working to minimise project-related air travel wherever possible. As well as avoiding indirect flights, we've established a complete ban on flying from anywhere within 15 hours reach of the UK by train, boat or car. In addition, we will offset all flights using the highest international standards of carbon offsetting. Offsetting is not a precise science, nor a perfect solution, but we have decided to make it part of our wider environmental strategy, while continuing to monitor the latest research. If we learn useful lessons along the way, we will share them. Elsewhere, we will use all available resources from organisations such as Julie's Bicycle and others to reduce the environmental impact of our other UK-based touring activities.

Values

When you make the strange familiar, you also make the familiar strange. This central, relativising principle of anthropology will always be at the core of Making Tracks’ thinking and mission. We believe it’s an encounter that has the power to foster greater empathy, tolerance and understanding across social, cultural and geographical borders. Part of our mission is to show that cultural differences are not a threat but something to be treasured. Sometimes it feels like there’s a tension between venerating specific cultures and traditions on the one hand and seeking inclusivity and connection on the other. We think that the answer is to celebrate and encourage difference through connection.

We also believe that our long-term survival as a species is dependent on us doing more to respect and understand the interconnectedness of all life on Earth.

The aim of Making Tracks as a travelling concert series has been to give audiences the opportunity to experience multi-cultural, high-quality live music regularly and locally, thus creating accessible entry points for meeting and exchange, regardless of nationality, religion, age and other social or cultural factors. Originally produced by KAPA Productions, Making Tracks quickly developed a reputation for offering artistic excellence, fresh ideas in programming and rock-solid production skills. To date, we've organised 30 successful tours and 317 concerts, featuring 139 musicians from 36 countries, while maintaining long-term partnerships with several leading venues including Sage Gateshead, The National Centre for Early Music (York), Cambridge Junction and The Stables (Milton Keynes).

“Making Tracks has been a beacon of well-organized presentation of diverse music from around the world for the past eight years. The tour they organized for our Saz'iso group from Albania was impeccable, with great venues, promotion and sound.” - Joe Boyd

Previous Seasons & Artists

2017/18
Saz'iso
Chouk Bwa
Toko Telo

2016/17
Chango Spasiuk
Sklamberg & The Shepherds
Paolo Angeli
Derek Gripper

2015/16
Namvula
Otava Yo
Night
Söndörgő

2014/15
Cigdem Aslan
Pascuala Ilabaca & Fauna
Trio Da Kali
Mariana Sadovska

2013/14
Adewale Taubkin Duo
Ballake Sissoko Quartet
Mokoomba
Debashish Bhattacharya

2012/13
Yiddish Twist Orchestra
Melingo
Krar Collective
Johanna Juhola Reaktori

2011/12
Sambasunda Quintet
Aurelio Martinez
DoubleDuo

2010/11
Grupo Lokito
Le Trio Joubran
Ahmed Dickinson
Lo Còr de la Plana