PRS for Music Foundation supports Musician in Residence James Dey

We are delighted to announce that the PRS for Music Foundation has renewed funding to support a further year-long prison Musician in Residence programme in the North West, delivered for us by singer-songwriter James Dey.

 

The prison Musician in Residence role offers long- term opportunities for prisoners’ musical abilities to develop and flourish. Singer-songwriter James Dey will deliver weekly sessions focusing on composition and performance. Participants will work towards creating original songs and live performance with an emphasis on discovering their own unique sound and developing this to the highest possible level. Several exciting gigs throughout the year will showcase new music created and recordings will be made of much of this work.

This project will be life-changing for participants – boosting their confidence and motivation, and offering a medium to creatively express themselves; reframe their identities (becoming musician/composer/bandmate rather than just ‘prisoner’); and develop new skills. Vitally, recognised accreditation is also attached to the Residency activities.

James Dey is a composer and multi-instrumentalist who has several years’ experience in facilitating music projects in prisons and a passion for supporting artists’ progression in composing, recording and performing their own work. He will benefit from mentoring/support sessions with our Artistic Director, Sara Lee. These combined experiences will feed into James’ own creativity and song-writing.

Read our ‘A Cup of Tea With’ interview with James here.

We are hugely grateful to the PRS for Music Foundation for recognising the value of the programme and for their continued support of the Irene Taylor Trust.