A postponed music project for young people aged 14 – 25 looking to pursue a career in the music industry, is back up and running after the lockdown.

The project, run by The Hive Arts Charity in Shrewsbury, has restarted after being put on pause because of the pandemic. “Young Programmers” which is funded by Arts Council England includes workshops, one-to-one mentoring sessions, round table discussions, masterclasses and live gigs, all led by six experienced industry professionals who work all over the world in their field.

The exciting scheme has been created to engage young people between the ages of 14 and 25 with the professional elements of concert promotion and will culminate in live events being staged around the county later this year and early 2022.

Young Programmers is free for participants and provides the opportunity to develop skills and experience in high-quality artistic programming, sound engineering, marketing and promotion for small-to-medium sized venues – such as The Hive which itself hosts a number of live music gigs.

Olivia Hames, Events and Projects Manager, said the relaunch of the project comes at an important time as restrictions on live events are coming to an end.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming people back to The Hive’s venue later this year and the relaunch of the Young Programmers project will be a great way to support this especially for young people, who are looking for new career opportunities after a difficult year.

“The Young Programmers project is aimed at anyone between the age of 14 and 25 who is interested in gaining hands on experience in all aspects of putting on live music events from the programming and promotion right through to production and staging an event.

“The live gigs will take place later this year through into Spring next year. The Hive is already well known as a venue for regular high-profile folk and jazz acts, and we are hopeful this project; programmed and promoted by young people, will generate additional interest from other music genres.

To register your interest in being involved email Olivia@hiveonline.org.uk