Sooree Pillay, Regional Producer - Midlands, on Young Creatives in Corby, our partnership programme with Deep Roots Tall Trees, that brings local youth groups together to create music with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Our First Visit to Corby

Corby is a small town in North Northamptonshire which used to have a thriving steelworks industry. Since its closure in the 1980s, it has undergone a period of high unemployment, but in recent times it has seen reinvestment in the area.

When I first visited Corby, I was struck by how different the place seemed from other towns I had visited in the area. We were only a stone’s throw away from places like Oakham and Oundle – two of the wealthiest public schools in the country, yet Corby is a modest place. I was there for a Deep Roots Tall Trees choir event at The Cube, led by the charismatic Gareth Fuller. The evening inspired me as I heard songs about the history of the town, referencing its industrial past and present, all composed and sung by the local community.

The Beginning of Our Work with Deep Roots Tall Trees

After the choir event, I spoke with Gareth and the Artistic Director of Deep Roots Tall Trees (DRTT), Neil Paris. Together, we approached our partner, Northamptonshire Music and Performing Arts Trust, who ran a small Music Centre in Corby which was not attracting enough children and young people. We wanted to change that and work together with our partners to increase attendance, so that the Music Centre could thrive.

Our preliminary project was delivered with Sinfonia Viva, which celebrated the participants and their achievements. However, with the music centre being located on the outskirts of town, and membership costs being too high for local families, sustainable growth became challenging.

Our provision needed to be both relevant to the young people of Corby, and accessible. DRTT suggested working with three youth clubs, which we thought could be a good fit for the project – Good Vibes Music and Film Club,Kingswood Youth Club, and Project M, which is an exciting initiative for young people led by Corby Cube.

Our next steps

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) has performed in Northampton for a number of years, and we were keen to work with them in the county. Our initial conversations were fruitful, and we found common aspirations to explore youth voice in Corby.

We wanted to find out what inspired the young people, learn a bit more about the music they were making, and potentially offer an orchestral element through our creative team from RPO. The orchestral offer for each group would need to be quite varied, as they were all at different stages of their respective musical journeys.

Over the course of the next few months, we worked with Music Leaders Yvette Riby-Williams at Good Vibes, and Aga Serugo Lugo at Kingswood and Project M, and the results were exciting. It was wonderful to see our young creatives learn skills on new instruments such as the vibraphone and trumpet, and the joy with which some of our youngest participants at Kingswood contributed to improvised soundscapes. We were also able to develop the musical ideas explored through jam sessions and the creation of graphic scores at Good Vibes.

The final workshop

The final workshop took place at Project M, and turned out to be a revelation! The space is on two floors, with different areas for the young people to move through and create their own sounds. In the basement, we saw a band rehearse, and around the corner in a little room, a small group were rapping. Up the stairs and in a tiny nook, we found some grime and drill artists, and then finally there was a larger area with a microphone.

Our brief for the day was simple, but of course, we were yet to see how the young people would respond to us. As Aga introduced himself in different areas of the space, the evening slowly started to take shape.

What transpired during the rest of the session was a fascinating exploration of music with groups who all had different relationships with music. Some were happy to watch, while others were keen to share their musical worlds with us. Everyone was given the chance to share, listen, and feedback on what they enjoyed and aspects they found challenging – which made for an open, receptive space.

It was a privilege to be invited into all of the youth clubs, and inspiring to see participants interact and exchange musical ideas – the group that engaged the most were two grime and drill artists, who were inspired by the stringed instrumentalists, and how the improvised music worked with their new EP track!

Good Vibes

Our final visit to Northants was to record the composition that Good Vibes had made in the summer. We spent a day with the group, and were also joined by a few new friends – all of whom worked with Aga to lay down a recording. It felt a fitting and special end to have the chance to work in a recording studio where The Prodigy (among many others) have spent time.

My reflections

While the lessons I have learnt in my time spent working in Corby are immense, if I had to choose the most important one, it would be to trust in the process. At times during our journey, we weren’t sure whether our plan would work but allowing the musicians to react and respond in each given moment and situation, alongside the expert leadership of Yvette and Aga gave us an incredible insight into what might be possible. It was a privilege to work with the youth club leaders, Ollie and Andy at Good Vibes, Karen, Joe, and Nigel from Project M and the team at Kingswood Youth Club. We look forward to returning to Corby for our second year of music with our young creatives.