Inspiring Voices

What does it take to create spaces where young people can truly be themselves? In this special episode, we share highlights from our live webinar launching Being Seen, Being Heard,Feeling Connected , the Sing Up Foundation’s new publication on how singing and vocal work can support children and young people’s mental health. Professor Graham Welch (UCL), Benjamin Turner (Spit Game / Rap Club UK) an...

Singing has been part of human life for at least 230,000 years. Dave Camlin is a passionate believer in its power — and has spent his career exploring what that means for communities and young people. A professor of music education at the Royal College of Music and Trinity Laban Conservatoire, a community musician, and a friend of Sing Up since the very beginning, Dave joins Baz and Celi to talk a...

Welcome to the second of our special Young Sessions episodes, where authentic voices reveal music's healing power. Hosts Baz Chapman and Celi Barberia continue their conversation with Afiya Lucombe-Davis from Lewisham Music, exploring how facilitators support young people's emotional expression without crossing into therapy territory. Then, performance poet Toni-Ann Gurdon sits down with t...

Welcome to the first of our special Young Sessions episodes, where young voices take center stage. Hosts Baz Chapman and Celi Barberia speak with Afiya Lucombe-Davis, Community Programme Producer at Lewisham Music, about what makes safe creative spaces truly transformative for young people aged 14-19. Then, performance poet Toni-Ann Gurdon interviews four talented artists from Lewisham's Rap and L...

We explore how racial and cultural barriers in music education impact children & young people's mental health & wellbeing, and examine the healing potential of inclusive singing practices. Baz and Celi are joined by Luqman Ali, co-founder and artistic director of Khayaal Theatre Company, the UK's first professional theatre company dedicated to Muslim literature and culture, and Natasha Hen...

In this episode of Inspiring Voices, hosts Baz Chapman and Celi Barberia welcome two guests who share both family ties and expertise in understanding music's impact on wellbeing. Dr Daisy Fancourt, Professor of Psychobiology and Epidemiology at UCL, brings research on how singing and arts engagement affect mental health across all ages - from mothers with postnatal depression to young people on me...

"We have created the ideology of normal... and if we don't deconstruct that, we will 100% be traumatising our young people." Join Celi and Baz for a deeply honest conversation with BAFTA award-winning broadcasters and MBE recipients Carrie and David Grant. Long-time Sing Up friends, they share their family's journey raising four neurodivergent children in a household where music has always been pa...

Join us for a revealing conversation with B'Opera founder Zoe Challenor and Professor Rosie Perkins from the Royal College of Music as they explore the powerful dual impact of singing on child development and parental wellbeing. Recorded during Maternal Mental Health Week, this episode combines accessible science with practical applications that singing leaders, educators, and healthcare professio...

A quick preview of the second half of Series 2 of Inspiring Voices.

Dive into the transformative power of music through the lens of neurodiversity! Join experts Abigail Mann-Daraz and Alice Nicholls as they unravel the complex world of inclusive singing, bringing their personal experiences and professional insights to the forefront. This episode explores how music can be a profound healing tool for neurodivergent young people, challenging traditional notions of 'n...

We explore singing in relation to two different contexts in which potentially life-limiting situations can affect mental health & wellbeing. Disabled musician John Kelly talks about the power of singing for young people with disabilities and Jenny Young (Blue Cabin) about music for young people in the care system. Inspiring Voices is the podcast of the Sing Up Foundation. In this second series...

How do we create an environment which is safe and supportive to young people facing challenges with their mental health? What’s wrong with the current system, where waiting lists for mental health can be years long? And can singing really help? Yes it can, according to clinical psychologist, researcher and writer Dr Naomi Fisher, and Emily Foulkes, researcher and director of Music for Good and the...

Flight from conflict, together with complex challenges integrating into a new country, takes an enormous toll on the mental health of displaced young people. And yet singing and music making have a unique way to cut through and create safe spaces for them to connect and experience joy. We hear from trainer and practitioner Jim Pinchen (Surrey Arts) and from Dr Hala Jaber from University of Limeric...

We hear from Sally Spencer (Ex Cathedra’s Singing Medicine Programme and winner of Sky Arts Hero 2024) and Merel van der Knoop (Long Covid Kids), about children & young people who are hospitalised or living with Long Covid, and about singing as one of the rare things that isn’t “done to them” which can provide both mental and physical benefits. Inspiring Voices is the podcast of the Sing Up Fo...

New series dropping in the next few weeks. Hear from our first few guests in this series about the power of singing and music making. John Kelly: "Exploring your own experience through music is a passport to freedom, it's a passport to liberation, it's a passport to finding a sense of value and that actually you can play a part in society. And, that actually you belong" Inspiring Voices explores t...

Our new series of Inspiring Voices is coming soon. We thought you might a quick preview of who we will be talking to and what we'll be talking about over the first few episodes of this series. In the first few episodes, we'll be talking to - John Kelly and Jenny Young talk about singing for those with disabilities and care experienced children & young people  Dr Naomi Fisher and Emily Foulkes...

We're just in the middle of recording the second series of the #InspiringVoicesPodcast . The second series will focus particularly on how we can inspire young voices and especially on how children and young people who are faced with particular challenges in their lives that effect their mental health can be supported through singing and music-making. Series 2 will be out in a few weeks so make sur...

What is the special magic that comes from singing in a group? David Lawrence attempts to explain it through is own experiences as a conductor of singing across a huge range of contexts, from inner city youth choirs to symphony choruses to the vast Young Voices children's stadium singing concerts. To close Season 1 of Inspiring Voices, David and podcast host Baz look back on their various choral co...

How can a classically-trained teacher connect with his students through rap? In a story worthy of a film, secondary school teacher and Teach First Ambassador Benjamin Turner reveals how a detention he gave led to a unique connection with his music class, and the discovery of a powerful way to help them express themselves through creative vocals. Featuring clips from Rap Club participants along wit...

International non-binary beatbox star, former world looping champion and disability and mental health ambassador SK Shlomo talks about beatboxing as a great way in to vocal work, and how anyone can get it going. With amazing honesty they open up about their own journey through music and battles with identity, mental health and suicide, which led to their extraordinary new project, Breathe. Inspiri...

Baz talks to leading researcher Professor Graham Welch about why humans sing, why and how it is good for our health and wellbeing, and how people involved in this work should become researchers themselves, to help increase our understanding. Inspiring Voices is the new podcast from the Sing Up Foundation. This season, join us as we explore the power of singing to transform children and young peopl...

Experienced community musician and trainer Mark Bick chats with Baz about the rise of the community music sector, and the attributes of a really effective music leader working with young people who are labelled as challenging or vulnerable. A must-listen for anyone working, or interested in working, in this context. Inspiring Voices is the new podcast from the Sing Up Foundation. This season, join...

Jane Wheeler has led singing across the globe, as well as setting up Living Song in the UK. She talks to Baz about the special power of the voice, and the amazing way that singing can connect people across countries and cultures. Inspiring Voices is the new podcast from the Sing Up Foundation. This season, join us as we explore the power of singing to transform children and young people’s lives. T...

What's it like delivering music sessions in some of the most challenging educational settings? In this fascinating extended length episode, Sheffield musician Chris Morris talks about his work with Yorkshire Youth & Music, finding ways to connect with young people through music, in particular through singing and songwriting - often with transformational results. Inspiring Voices is the new pod...

Baz chats to vocalist, clarinettist, composer and workshop leader Aga Serugo Lugo about the value of group singing, the power of performance and tips for leading singing successfully. Inspiring Voices is the new podcast from the Sing Up Foundation. This season, join us as we explore the power of singing to transform children and young people’s lives. Through conversations with singers, leaders, re...