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THE MIDI MUSIC COMPANY EVENTS LIMITED

The Midi Music Company Events Limited is the event management company of the respected South London music education charity The Midi Music Company (www.themidimusiccompany.co.uk) which has a 11 year track record of working with young people interested in the creative industries under the guidance of its Executive Director Wozzy Brewster OBE and its experienced Board of Directors.

URBAN UNLIMITED

Urban Unlimited was the brand name for a series of events which The Midi Music Company Events Limited staged between 2002 and 2004 in association with the Urban Unlimited Collective, a collective of over 80 'grass roots' organisations/individuals who work with young people across London and share industry intelligence and networks and support each other's events with the common aim of engaging 'hard to reach' youth, underpinned by resources made available by ITV.

BACKGROUND

In the summer of 2002 Urban Unlimited delivered SUMMER IN THE CITY - a range of creative industry masterclasses that involved young people across London. We worked in partnership with youth arts organisations including Stratford Circus, the Roundhouse, WAC Performing Arts & Media College and The Albany. The masterclasses were delivered by professionals and focused on comedy, cartoons, screenplays, hip-hop, percussion & music.

SUMMER IN THE CITY included performances & workshops by the Area Youth Foundation from Jamaica and, in collaboration with the Employment Café, an anti-gun music event at Brixton Academy called Edu-tainment. This initial project received £70,000 of financial support from the Splash Extra programme established by the DCMS in association with the Youth Justice Board.

In 2003 Urban Unlimited staged THE WORD in association with The Albany. This project provided young people with an opportunity to profile their creative works, in particular spoken word, new media & music. An important part of our approach was to involve young people as part of the production team, stimulating their interest in the creative industries whilst learning on-the-job.

Shovell from M People and Jazzie B of Soul II Soul fame participated in the two-night show at The Albany. Michael Groce, spoken word artist, hosted the shows and created a fantastic anti-gun musical composition with a private sector music group actively supporting us, Sensible Music Ltd. Young performers included Nathan (now a signed recording artist) and Phenzwaan who has just released his second spoken word album.

This project was financially supported by the Arts Council England, London and received over £10,000. We were also provided with funds from an individual private sponsor towards the cost of hiring The Albany. The anonymous sponsor wanted to make a contribution to increasing the opportunities for public performances for young people's creativity and the recognition of their ability to deliver professional artistic product.