Our 2025 Annual Conference Programme is now live!

We are excited to share the 2025 Annual Conference programme, this year focusing on Ambition and Quality in music education. The full timings and details are available on the conference website, but read on to discover the sessions, performances, and some of the speakers we’ve got planned!

Monday

On Monday, we’ll welcome arrivals and start registration from 11am, when our exhibition will open and refreshments will be available before a busy day of inspiring talks and performances start in the main conference hall. As well as plenty of time to network and explore the exhibition, here’s what you can expect:

• The conference will be opened with a performance by young people from Leicestershire Music Service at 11.45am!
• After a short welcome from Music Mark CEO, Bridget Whyte, our first keynote session will begin at 12:10pm – ‘Composers in Conversation’. Michael Price will be joined by Aileen Sweeney and James B Wilson to discuss what Ambition and Quality mean as a composer, and how their work relates to children and young people in their music education.
• After lunch, we’ll hear from Music Mark Champion Nathaniel Dye as he shares his thoughts on Ambition and Quality in music education.
• After a break for refreshments, a chance to network and to get to know our exhibitors a bit more, we’ll hear a panel discussion from Music Education Council titled ‘Ambition for Whom? Three Strategies for Reframing Quality Through Equity’.
• The final session of the day will be a panel discussion exploring youth voice, with speakers from Merton Music Foundation, Southampton and Isle of Wight Music, and Orchestras for All.
• After some time to check into your hotel, our evening drinks reception will start at 7.30pm before the conference dinner at 8pm, which will feature the exciting 2025 Music Mark Awards!

Tuesday

On Tuesday we’ll have a total of 18 breakout sessions for you to choose from, as well as multiple performances and whole conference sessions in the main hall. But don’t worry, there’ll still be plenty of time for you to visit our Industry Partners in the exhibition, and to catch up with colleagues!

• We’ll dive straight into the first breakout sessions at 9am:
  • Quality Assurance: enabling your staff to enable your young people
  • Electronic Music-Making with Delia Derbyshire Day
  • From Local Passions to Lasting Provision
• Derbyshire Music Service will give us the first performance of the day, followed by a National Update and welcome from Music Mark.
• The second set of breakout sessions will start at 10.30am:
  • Engaging the disengaged through music: working in Alternate Provision and with young people at risk of exclusion
  • Ambition and Quality for Looked After Children
  • Musical Connections: Nurturing a music culture in specialist autism provision
  • Research perspectives on musical quality
  • The power of music to change place
• Then the third set of breakout sessions will begin at 11.45am, leading us into lunch:
  • Make Your Mark: Notes on Music Education podcast LIVE!
  • Arts & Music Education: Proving it should be a core subject
  • The Art of Listening
  • Music in Citizenship
  • How to use DJing to increase inclusion and engagement in music, while delivering the curriculum, on a tiny budget
• After lunch, we’ll head into the final breakout sessions of the day:
  • Career Routes: Preparing young people for the music industry
  • Promoting musical ambitions in young disabled musicians
  • Building capacity for music tech through teacher-led models
  • Supporting wellbeing and positive mental health with music
  • Research Shorts Live
• There’ll then be an exciting performance from Lincolnshire Music Service.
• Youth Music will close the conference with our final keynote in the main conference hall, titled ‘It’s time to redefine excellence’.

Visit the Conference Website

The full programme is now available on the conference website, where you can find more information about each session, daily timings, and speaker biographies. You can learn more about the Industry Partners who are sponsoring and exhibiting at the conference in our virtual exhibition.

The website also contains answers to frequently asked questions and an archive of information and resources about past Music Mark conferences.

And if you haven’t bought your ticket yet, what are you waiting for? Don’t miss your chance to join us for this fantastic programme to be inspired by our speakers and performances, meet with colleagues from across the UK and learn how our Industry Partners can support your work. Early Bird tickets close on Sunday 14^th September.

Book your ticket today!

Please note that the programme may be subject to change.