Do the songs matter? Repertoire, agency and young people’s mental health

What are we going to sing today, and why that rather than something else? It seems like a simple question, but the more we ask practitioners about it, the less simple it looks. And when we’re singing with young people whose mental health is fragile, what are those choices actually doing in the room?

We’ll be having an open conversation, but some of what we’ll be exploring:

• Certain songs and genres clearly appeal to young people. Does that mean we always follow their lead, or is there a case for widening the picture?
• Music doesn’t only lift people. It can unsettle them too, sometimes at a level nobody in the room could put into words. How should that shape our choices?
• We talk a lot about agency, and rightly. But what does it look like in practice? And when is it kinder to narrow the choices, or take them away altogether?

Words will come up, of course, but we’re planning to give lyrics a session of their own before long, so this time we’re staying with the wider question of what we choose and why. This conversation follows on from our publication Being Seen, Being Heard, Feeling Connected, which explores what singing and vocal work make possible for children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing. Our particular interest is in targeted work with young people who are really struggling, rather than singing for general wellbeing alone.

Who is joining us?

Three practitioners who come at repertoire from different directions. Each will open with a short provocation, then we’ll get into it together.

Mark Bick has spent decades as a community musician and trainer, mostly with young people facing significant barriers, including those excluded from school and those who are looked after. He founded what is now The Music Works in Gloucestershire, developed training courses including Quench Arts’ New Horizons, and sits on the board of Sound Sense, the UK professional association for community musicians.

Chanté Osagiede is an actor, singer and music facilitator, and Programme Co-ordinator at Living Song CIC. She grew up in the Living Song community and first performed at the Barbican at thirteen, so she has been on both sides of the repertoire choice. Since 2011 she has worked in music education with Ark Schools, Sing Up and iGospel among others, alongside a performing career spanning a wide range of styles.

Jenny Trattles is one of the two consultants leading ABRSM Voices and was musicianship director at the Voices Foundation. She works with schools, multi-academy trusts and music hubs on curriculum, staff training and singing strategy, and trains choral leaders in how to choose repertoire for young singers. Creating welcoming, safe and supportive environments for singing is, in her words, the heart of her work.