Are you a music creator, aged 18-25, who is ready to create bold new musical works and showcase it live at the Royal Albert Hall, during the Music for Youth Proms 2026.
Whether you're a songwriter, musician, instrumentalist, producer, audio‑visual artist, or band, the New Music Residency brings together early‑career creatives who want to collaborate, experiment and create bold artistic new works.
Over the residency, you’ll work with other young music creators to explore new artistic approaches, mix genres, play with orchestral and contemporary sounds, and develop ambitious new ideas — all guided by a professional lead mentor.
APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN: New Music Residency 2026
Who Can Apply?
We welcome two types of young creatives:
Artists
Music creators who generate the core musical idea — including:
Lyrics
Melodies
Chord progressions
The overall structure and artistic vision
Arrangers
Instrumentalists or musicians who focus on orchestration — turning the artist’s core idea into a fully arranged piece for orchestra and/or choir.
Arranging the orchestration
Build and/or extend the original melody and harmonic structures
Work with the lead mentor to review, draft and update the full and sectional orchestration
(Arrangers will not compose the original melodic or lyrical content)
Eligibility:
Ages 18–25
Based in England, Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland
Artists: any genre and musical background, ideally with previous songwriting and performance experience
Arrangers: any genre and musical background, ideally Grade 6–8+ (or equivalent experience)
What You’ll Get
£1,000 bursary: To support your time, travel, and creative development.
Free rehearsal space provided
Expert mentoring in four key areas
Songwriting & Artistic Development: Grow your songwriting, creative identity, performance, and collaboration skills.
Orchestration & Score Writing: Learn how to arrange for orchestra and choir using tools like Sibelius, Logic, or Ableton.
Live Performance & Technical Production: Work with our professional production team on staging, sound, and lighting.
Music Industry & Business Skills: Gain the knowledge you need to navigate and build a sustainable career.
Create for a full-scale Youth Orchestra: Bring your ideas to life through collaboration with talented young orchestral musicians.
Showcase the new works at the Royal Albert Hall: Share your final piece on one of the world’s most iconic stages.
To ensure this opportunity is suitable for you, please ensure you read our two-stage eligibility criteria:
Participation Requirements
All participants must:
Attend mentoring sessions with our lead mentor, Damien Harron
Collaborate with at least one other participant to create a final piece of music
Attend online and in‑person workshops, rehearsals, and performance dates
Arrangers:
Shadow and learn from the lead mentor while arranging the orchestral score
Focus on orchestrating the artist’s musical idea, rather than composing original themes
Artists:
Develop the song’s lyrics, chords, structure, themes, and creative direction
Together, you’ll shape the final work through a supported and collaborative process.
Safeguarding
We celebrate bold and innovative ideas — but all music must be suitable for audiences of all ages.
This means no content that includes or promotes harm, bullying, nudity, sexual content, harassment, or profanity.
New Music Residency 2025 was an innovative co-creation initiative in which four music creators (Elly Xia, Paloma Leon, Susi Pagel and Clarion) collaborated to write and perform original works with the South East Wales Youth Orchestra and Choir, a large-scale orchestra and massed choir of 212 musicians at the Royal Albert Hall.
“I enjoyed learning more about collaborating with different people, meeting fellow musicians, doing something that is different to what I usually do, working with an arranger, orchestra, and choir, and of course performing at the Royal Albert Hall. I feel more confident in the skills I already had and as a result more inspired to create more arrangements.” (Elly Xia)
“This [New Music Residency] was a really special and once in a lifetime experience that I’m so glad to have had with my band. The writing and rehearsal process was so much fun, and I loved working with the mentors to bring something new to life. Our mentor worked with both us and the composer to ensure it was magical, and it was so worth it. It was the best day of my life! Getting to perform my music in front of such a huge crowd was the most special feeling in the world. We felt so looked after by the team all day which really helped to ease any nerves.” (Susi Pagel)