I currently work as Musical Inclusion Programme and Partnership Manager at Northamptonshire Music and Performing Arts Trust, which is the lead for the Music Education Hubs in Northamptonshire and Rutland.
My role is to set up projects with children and young people in challenging circumstances whose life situation make it difficult for them to access mainstream music provision.
Helping to develop the Sound Control software package with Dr Rebecca Fiebrink has been an important part of this activity and helping local musicians use new digital technologies to support children with profound and multiple learning difficulties (PDLM) in their music-making. However, we are increasingly relying on many different forms of music technologies to support young people in their musical aspirations.
You can ask me about the process of how NMPAT collaborated with Dr Rebecca Fiebrink and Sam Parke-Wolfe (who is also in attendance at the conference, and can address technical issues around the programming of the software) and the specifics of how this has helped the intended target group and how the physical and cognitive difficulties they face influenced the design and evolution of the software.
You can also ask me about how we are using music technology across the Northamptonshire and Rutland Music Education Hubs as a tool for increasing inclusion in music,