Music Mark Annual Conference 2023: Call for Content

• Call out for content at our 2023 Annual Conference in Southampton, 27 – 28 November
• What does our conference theme ‘dynamism’ mean to you?
• Help us create a dynamic programme – propose a session or recommend a speaker by 11 April

Music Mark was established in the Spring of 2013 and is now approaching the ripe old age of 10! So much has happened in the past decade in music education across the UK that for our 2023 Annual Conference in November, we’d like to celebrate and learn from some of the work done on a local, regional and national level over the last 10 years and look ahead to what the future might hold. 

For our 2023 annual conference, we’ve chosen the theme of ‘Dynamism’ – a word open to many interpretations. 

What does ‘dynamism’ mean?

For us, ‘dynamism’ aptly describes how music educators in and out of school have continually developed their practice over the years to meet the changing needs of all children and young people across the UK. Again and again – particularly throughout the pandemic – the music education sector has proven itself to be nimble, agile, adaptable, resilient, and always keeping young people’s best interests at its heart. 

For Arts Council England (ACE), as one of their Investment Principles which we’ll work to adopt and encourage the sector to consider, ‘dynamism’ also means being able to respond to the challenges of the next decade. We don’t know what the next decade will hold, but we know it will have challenges – some we can already anticipate, and others we don’t yet know about. However, what we do know is that by looking at and sharing the work of others around us in (and beyond) our sector, we can learn how to respond to these challenges.

What does dynamism mean to you?

So, for our 2023 conference we now ask – what does dynamism mean to you? Do you have a dynamic programme or project? Have you developed an initiative you feel others could learn from to help meet the musical learning challenges of the next decade?   

We’re looking for presentations, workshops, or immersive experiences which provide tangible, useful, actionable content for delegates to take away and implement themselves. Presentations could include the voices of teachers and pupils – either live (in person or online) or pre-recorded.  

We’re committed to ensuring our 2023 conference is as diverse, welcoming, and inclusive as possible, so as well as thinking about what you might present yourself, we encourage you to share this call for content with your networks as we are always keen to be inspired and challenged by new voices.  

We’re also inviting you to recommend speakers or sessions that you have come across elsewhere. If you’ve attended an inspiring session at another event or heard someone give a talk that would be perfect for our conference, here’s your chance to tell us about them.

Share your proposals and recommendations by 11 April

An initial deadline for proposals or recommendations is Tuesday 11 April 2023. To propose or recommend a session, you can either fill in our simple forms below or you are welcome to email info@musicmark.org.uk with any thoughts or ideas in writing, as a video submission or even a voice note. We will then work with as many as we can to create an exciting, dynamic conference to celebrate 10 years of Music Mark!   

• Propose a session you’d like to deliver
• Recommend an inspiring session or speaker

Our 2023 Annual Conference will take place on 27 – 28 November at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton.