Leeds College of Music is launching an album called Music Happens Here, and the anticipation of the launch event is building...
Music Happens Here is a collection of crafted and original material featuring undergraduate students that we believe are some of the UK's finest young musical talent.
As the UK's contemporary conservatoire, Leeds College of Music prepares musicians for successful careers in the 21st century. Music is at the heart of the world's cultural industries and our performance-focused courses in Western classical music, jazz, popular music, and music production provide excellent springboards into leading roles in the profession.
Students submitted their entries in January in the hope that their tracks would be chosen, consequently giving them the chance to have their music heard by a wider audience and also a stepping stone in their future careers.
Industry experts decided final 16
Academic staff at the College shortlisted entries before a panel of industry experts decided on the final 16. You can read more about the artists featured on the album here.
During the process, we've worked with a number of industry contacts and this is something the students, especially those who are due to graduate this year, have found particularly valuable and interesting:
Matt Hay Who worked with Kylie, The Who and Robbie Williams
Alan Hacker, of the Pierrot Players and visiting professor in classical music at the college
Nigel Slee, development manager for Jazz Yorkshire and college alumnus
Stefan Gordon Former member of Brassy and founder of Five45 management
Bill Gray our consultant and executive producer, managing director of Graymatters, formerly of Andy's Records
This is the first time we have undertaken a project of this kind and scale, and it has been hard but rewarding work.
Deciding on only 16 tracks from all the submissions, getting some of those re-recorded and mixed and then completing the mastering process was a challenge in itself. Add to that the photo shoots (Jon Stanley Austin), sleeve design (Analogue), pressing of the CDs (Dischromatics), web content (Numiko) and organising downloads (AWAL) and distribution, and it's a great achievement to have turned it around in just 9 months!
Executive producer Bill Gray said of the album:
"This is a highly innovative project which highlights the extraordinary depth of musical talent which is coming out of Leeds College of Music and that a wider audience should really hear, the commercial potential that these young musicians possess is quite stunning."
Why not come and see for yourself at the album launch?
Listen to live sets from a couple of the acts and mingle with the musicians on Monday 27 September, 7pm to 9pm, The Basement Club, The Wardrobe, St Peter's Square, Leeds .
The project has been funded by HEIF4, the government's innovation fund, and all income made from sales will go straight back to similar projects for future students. So we're sure you'll want to support us and buy an album too!
Buy the album, which is available from Monday in person at the launch party as a CD or download by visiting www.lcm.ac.uk/buy-the-album.htm or at iTunes, Amazon Mp3, Emusic and Spotify. It can also be bought in-store at Crash or Jumbo in Leeds.
For information on courses at Leeds College of Music, visit our website www.lcm.ac.uk.vTo find out more about Enterprise & Innovation projects at Leeds College of Music, visit http://www.lcm.ac.uk/knowledge-transfer-unit.htm
To book our musicians for your event, visit http://www.lcm.ac.uk/musicians-booking-service.htm
You can also follow us on twitter @LeedsMusic and @LeedsMusicKTU.
Katie Sudlow is a knowledge transfer manager at Leeds College of Music
