Eight Making Tracks Fellows selected annually

Each year we select eight artists whose work is connected to musical traditions and/or the environment (this includes soundscape artists). Making Tracks is particularly interested in collaboratively-minded music professionals who double up as community organisers, environmentalists, ethnomusicologists, writers, storytellers and more.

A month-long Residency and Tour

Our two-week Making Tracks Residency gives selected Fellows the chance to create new collaborative works, explore and develop strategies for environmental engagement, and receive professional development and career advice from industry experts. A two-week UK tour takes place following the residency, visiting some of the most beautiful small-medium sized venues in the country.

10 youth music workshops

Held alongside our public concerts, in partnership with venues, schools and local Music Education Hubs, our programme of workshops aims to provide young people throughout the UK with unique opportunities to experience and engage creatively with diverse music and culture, and use music to engage with the natural world. Workshops are complimented by online resources on the Making Tracks Education Portal, available to participating schools.

Widening access to diverse 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 do this by working in partnership with a network of venues and Music Education Hubs throughout the country, to deliver an annual programme of concerts and youth music workshops. Our workshops aim to reach young people experiencing inequality of opportunity to access and participate in diverse music and culture throughout the UK, with participants also given free access to concerts.

Supporting the work of environmentally-engaged musicians

As discourse around climate change and the environment becomes increasingly mainstream, we believe that music must come to play a greater role. Making Tracks focuses on inspiring and facilitating environmental engagement on both practical and creative levels. We believe that musicians are in a unique position to inspire reverence and engagement with the natural world among the wider public, and are committed to creating opportunities to explore and facilitate this work.

Building the careers of emerging musicians

Making Tracks contributes to the professional development of musicians, with a focus on exceptional emerging artists, as well as more experienced musicians who are deserving of wider recognition. Through the professional development offered during our opening residency and the project more generally, Making Tracks Fellows are introduced to a wide range of industry professionals and enter into a growing network of adventurous musicians and change-makers around the globe.

Minimising our environmental impact

Environmental responsibility will always underpin everything we do - as we believe it should for the Arts in general. We are taking numerous steps within our operations to reduce our impact. This includes our new initiative around slow travel for artists to the residency, Making Tracks by Train. Our previous efforts to reduce the amount of air travel for selected artists resulted in a 60% decrease in transport-related emissions in 2019 compared to the previous year.