Drake Music

Drake Music is the leading national organisation working in music, disability and technology. Our vision Non-disabled people can make music in many ways and at many different levels. Our vision is a world where disabled people have the same range of opportunities, and a culture of integrated music-making, where disabled and non-disabled musicians work together as equals. Who we are Drake Music is a national arts charity with offices in Bristol, Manchester and London. We work with an experienced, highly-trained team of over forty associate musicians/artists and technologists to deliver our programmes across England. We have been pioneering the use of assistive music technology to make music accessible for over 20 years. In that time we have developed a wealth of innovative and imaginative approaches to teaching, learning and making music. We are a National Portfolio Organisation for Arts Council England and are also funded through Youth Music. We are experts in special educational needs and disability (SEN/D) music delivery and in using technology to break down disabling barriers to music-making. What we do Central to our work is the belief that everyone can fulfil their creative and musical potential, given the right opportunities. We work where music, disability and technology meet to: create opportunities and instruments that make music fully accessible increase participation in music-making at all levels build an integrated musical culture where disabled and non-disabled musicians work together as equals Our approach includes a lot of partnership working, with a broad range of individuals and organisations including: schools, universities, arts organisations, local authorities, music services, software and hardware developers as well as musicians, technologists, composers and artists from other disciplines. Our aim is to share our knowledge and expertise with our partners to improve access to music-making across the board. Our skilled team has an excellent track record of developing and delivering outreach, training and education initiatives for disabled musicians of all ages and abilities. We research and develop new accessible musical instruments and technologies to create more ways for disabled people to make music. Our artistic development programme supports disabled musicians to progress their work and we offer training and consultancy for teachers, music hubs and other organisations who want to advance their SEND music practice.