The Sixteen is pleased to announce the names of the 22 young singers who will join Genesis Sixteen’s 12th cohort this month.

Supported by the Genesis Foundation, Genesis Sixteen is The Sixteen’s free young artists’ scheme for 18-23-year-olds which aims to nurture the next generation of talented ensemble singers. Now entering its 12th year, Genesis Sixteen is the UK’s first ever fully funded programme of its kind. Participants, of which there are now more than 250, have gone on to perform, record and tour with professional groups, including The Sixteen.

The new cohort are:

Sopranos	Altos	Tenors	Basses
Elizabeth Ajao	Olivia Earl	Michael Burgess	Thomas Clough
Francesca Burbela	Grace Hewett	Zachary Smith	Edwin Hughes
Tallulah Horton	Tania Murphy	Robert Sotillo	Joshua McCullough
Rachel Howe	Hope Pugh	James Wells	Harry Mobbs
Emily Kemp	Stella Radić	Mark Ziying Zang	Ben Rice
Kizzy Lumley-Edwards
Áine Frances Smith

Each year, Genesis Sixteen also offers a conducting scholarship, which is fully funded and offers young conductors the opportunity to be mentored by conductor Harry Christophers CBE and associate conductor Eamonn Dougan, as well as the chance to work with some of the best young ensemble singers in the country. The scholar is given the chance to observe each course, sing with the choir, lead their own rehearsals, and conduct several pieces throughout the year, including for BBC Radio 3 broadcast. The ninth Genesis Sixteen Conducting Scholar will be Olivia Shotton, who recently received her MA Choral Conducting from the Royal Academy of Music, where she studied under Patrick Russill.

During the course of a year, a series of week-long and weekend courses are led by key figures from The Sixteen, including founder and conductor Harry Christophers CBE and Associate Conductor Eamonn Dougan, who provide one-to-one coaching to the singers. Participants also receive group tuition, individual mentoring, one-per-part consort training from members of The Sixteen and masterclasses run by some of the world’s top vocal experts. Support from the Genesis Foundation means participants receive free tuition and a bursary to cover all additional costs.

Harry Christophers CBE, Founder & Conductor of The Sixteen and Eamonn Dougan, Associate Conductor of The Sixteen say: “We are now embarking on the twelfth year of Genesis Sixteen and have assembled another excellent group of singers from all over the country. We cannot thank John Studzinski and the Genesis Foundation enough for having the vision and determination to help us make this programme the success story it is. Both Eamonn and I feel a buzz of excitement at each new intake. Allowing personalities to develop and express themselves through their singing and to communicate to everyone around them without inhibition is at the forefront of what we are about – the rewards are plentiful. But above all, singing is fun, it’s collaborative and with Genesis Sixteen lifelong friendships are created. We are so proud of what our young singers have achieved and will continue to achieve. This, our twelfth “cohort”, will be no exception.

John Studzinski CBE, Founder & Chairman of the Genesis Foundation said: “Since its inception in 2011, over 250 singers have now come through this ground-breaking programme. Our initial goal was to identify and nurture young artists with potential and provide them with world-class mentoring. To say the programme has surpassed our expectations is an understatement. Seeing the heights these singers and conductors reach as they come out of Genesis Sixteen is a testament to , their talent and passion and to the quality of the mentorship provided by Harry Christophers. We are so proud to have created and enabled this programme for as long as we have.”

Olivia Shotton, ninth Genesis Sixteen Conducting Scholar says: “I am really excited to get started as the Genesis Sixteen Conducting Scholar. The chance to work with singers of this calibre whilst being mentored by Harry and Eamonn is an amazing opportunity, made even more valuable by the fact that the courses are spread across a whole year, which will really allow me to develop as a conductor.”

Applications for the 2023-24 choir will open in November 2022, with applications for the conducting scholar opening in April/May 2023.

Images: Our Silence is Your Silence (Tangram), The Glee Club at Theatre by the Lake cr. Chris Payne (Stockroom), The Borrowed Condition Exhibition by Kira Freije (Strange Cargo)

Theatre

Dido’s Bar | Dash Arts

Dash Arts’ new immersive theatre and music production, Dido’s Bar, opens at the Royal Docks London on 23 September. 

Written by Hattie Naylor and performed by a multilingual international cast, Dido’s Bar is a retelling of Virgil’s poem ‘Aeneid’. It brings to life the classic myth of migration, love, and assimilation, through the eyes of refugees today. 

Inspired by director Josephine Burton’s encounter with Kurdish Iranian musician and composer of the work, Marouf Majidi. 
 
Dido’s Bar runs until 15 October in London, with additional dates in Manchester, Leicester, Portsmouth, and Oxford. 

Book tickets 

HAWK | Lewis Doherty 

Actor and Writer Lewis Doherty performed his one-man sci-fi action show HAWK at Nottingham Playhouse on 13 August. 

Armed with just himself and a chair, Doherty played over forty characters, mimed every prop, and created all sound effects. The piece was the third and final instalment of ‘The Beast Trilogy’. 

Stay informed about Lewis Doherty’s work 

Bridge the Gap | Stage One  

The 2022/23 producers for Bridge the Gap, a year-long development programme that supports 10 emerging producers each year, have been announced. 

Run by Stage One, the programme aims to support emerging producers who are under-represented in the theatre industry, giving them the skills they need to transition into commercial producing. Each producer is matched with a mentor and has access to Stage One’s other development programmes.  

After receiving over 80 applications, the successful applicants are Anya Winful, Beth Shouler, Catherine Leen, Gift Onomor, Harris Albar, Jennifer Leigh, Layla Madanat, Madison Parker, Rachel Westhead, Sophie Hack, and Winnie Imara. 

Read more on Stage One’s website 

Stockroom Freelance Producers Fellowship | Stockroom 

Applications are now open for the Stockroom Freelance Producers Fellowship. 

This is a programme for freelance theatre producers from working class and marginalised backgrounds who are passionate about working with new writers.  

Starting in September this year, the Fellowship includes 6 monthly in-person masterclasses and five Q&A networking sessions, in addition to mentoring opportunities and free desk space. 

The deadline to apply is Wednesday 21 September 2022. 

Apply for the Fellowship 

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Visual Arts

Acme Alternative Pathway Awards | Acme Artist Studios Ltd. 

Applications for the Acme Alternative Pathway Awards are now open.  

In response to the urgent need to address widening inequalities in the contemporary art field, the award was created by Acme Artist Studios to support artists within their first five years of practice that are from groups currently underrepresented in the arts.  

The three selected artists will share a studio for six months to work towards a public outcome of their art, as well as receiving mentoring and a £3,500 bursary. 

The deadline to apply is Tuesday 30 August, 11 am. 

Apply for the Alternative Pathway Awards 

Something New From Repetition | Kleiner Shames 

The latest work from Kleiner Shames titled Something New From Repetition will be open to the public from 23 – 27 August at the Jupiter Gallery in Newlyn. 

The piece takes reappearing shapes from Kleiner Shames’s practice as a painter and turns them into four three-dimensional, moveable, dismantlable and skateboard-able sculptures.  

Constructed from wood and painted in bold colours, they aim to invite people to explore a new environment, be experimental and playful. 

Keep up to date with Kleiner Shames’s work 

The Resident Platform | Strange Cargo  

The next artist in residence in Strange Cargo’s The Resident Platform programme, Kira Freije, is currently showcasing her exhibition The Borrowed Condition at Strange Cargo’s gallery in Cheriton. 

The Resident Platform programme aims to support an artist in developing a sculpture inspired by Cheriton.  

A new sculpture is made per residency, culminating in a series of 24 sculptures for the Cheriton community. 

The exhibition will run Fridays & Saturdays from 12 – 4pm, until 24 September. 

Find out more about Strange Cargo 

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Music

Revoiced | Corvus Consort 

Corvus Consort’s debut album Revoiced, which was released at the beginning of July 2022, has been featured in Apple Music’s Top 10 Classical albums of the month. 

Made in collaboration with the acclaimed Ferio Saxophone Quartet, the disc explores the blend of saxophones and voices, bringing new colours to music from the Baroque and Renaissance. 

Buy the album 

Our Silence Is Your Silence | Tangram 

Our Silence is Your Silence is a new immersive concert experience by London-based, Chinese music collective Tangram, which takes place at LSO St Lukes this month. 

The concert invites audiences to explore the boundaries between silence and sound, and its deep roots in East Asian philosophies. 

Performances will be held on 28 & 29 August, 7.30pm. 

Book tickets 

View all our Genesis Kickstart Fund projects

A study of dirty money in the art world, poems on the female body in pain and a contemporary update of Thomas Hardy are among the projects that will be explored by the 2022/23 cohort of the Genesis Jewish Book Week Emerging Writers’ Programme.

After a successful inaugural programme last year, culminating in a full-house event at the 70^th anniversary Jewish Book Week in March, the 10 writers for this year have now been selected. Drawn from across the UK, other projects will include the story of the four young legal graduates who took on the establishment to allow women to become lawyers in the early 20^th Century, a short collection as told by queer British Jews of Middle Eastern and North African descent and a novel exploring issues of identity, sisterhood and influencer culture.

The emerging writers will receive mentorship from established authors, bursaries of up to £1,500, peer support and specialist seminars. In the category of non-fiction Caroline Gardiner, Tilly Rubens and Aaron Taylorthe mentors will be Bidisha, Anne Sebbaand Dominic Selwood respectively; in poetry Oakley Flanagan, Rachel Lewis, Amelia Loulli and Natalie Perman will be mentored by Wayne Holloway-Smith, Ruth Padel, Clare Pollard and Jack Underwood; and for fiction Amy Abrahams, Helen Bain and Leeor Ohayon will work with Charlotte Mendelson, Ashley Hickson-Lovence and Philip Hensher.

Non-fiction mentor Bidisha, said of her mentee Caroline Gardiner’s Slow: “A very original study of two things which dovetail together beautifully: first, prejudice, fear and loathing of those who are divergent or differently abled, terror of loss of ability or loss of effectiveness within capitalism; and yet at the same time the concept of slowness may be exactly what saves society and the planet. Slow living, slow thinking, slower development and exploitation of resources. It’s an exceptionally clever idea and I can really see how Caroline could develop both her argument and her ideas and experiences into an idiosyncratic, powerful and extremely original work.”

John Studzinski CBE, Founder and Chairman of the Genesis Foundation, said:“The Genesis Foundation is pleased to partner with Jewish Book Week for a second year on the Genesis Emerging Writers programme. The topics tackled by this new cohort of emerging writers are promising in their relevance, diversity and complexity. The mentor/mentee relationship is vital to an artist’s development and Jewish Book Week have selected outstanding mentors to guide this new group of writers in their work. This project goes to the heart of what we have been doing for 20 years: supporting and nurturing creative and emerging talent.”

The programme will run over the next 10 months including a panel discussion at Jewish Book Week 2023 at Kings Place next March.

Find out more about the Writers’ Programme

The Genesis Foundation is pleased to announce that David Lan has joined its Board of Trustees, effective 30 June 2022, a move which takes a long-established partnership into a new phase.

As writer, producer and director, David Lan has won acclaim from critics and audiences in the UK and around the world. Throughout his career, he has made a priority of nurturing the careers of younger theatre-makers.

During his tenure as Artistic Director of the Young Vic (2000 to 2018), he spearheaded the redevelopment of the theatre and produced a stream of pioneering shows; many of these transferred to the West End and New York and won major awards. He recently acted as producer of The Walk, the ambitious travelling festival which in 2021 followed the journey of the 3.5 metre puppet Little Amal, a symbol of the world’s young refugees, from the Turkish city of Gazantiep to Manchester.

The association between David Lan and John Studzinski, Founder and Chairman of the Genesis Foundation, dates back more than 20 years, to Lan’s early days at the Young Vic. Together they established the theatre’s Directors Program, its Genesis Fellowship and the Genesis Future Directors Award, all with the aim of enabling the Young Vic to champion the training of emerging theatre directors. The Genesis Network, which now connects over 2,000 theatre-makers countrywide, became the first organisation to bring artists together on this scale for training, professional exchange and mutual support.

David Lan said:

“I’ve known the Genesis Foundation since I was writer-in-residence at the Royal Court in the mid-1990s.  The Court’s International Writers Program, enabled and supported by John, was an early example of his willingness to take big risks on big ideas – large-scale, highly imaginative ways of offering support to young artists.  Many of those who were part of the various directors’ projects we dreamed up with John and Genesis at the Young Vic over almost twenty years are now running their own theatres all over the country.  I was touched to be asked and am very happy to join the Genesis board in the hope and expectation that many new ideas will emerge through which young people can be supported to find their unique way to flourish as artists in our ever changing world.”

John Studzinski, Founder and Chairman of the Genesis Foundation, said:

“The Genesis Foundation believes in backing visionary artistic leaders who mentor and nurture talent, and over the years we couldn’t have asked for a more inspiring partner than David. In his work at the Young Vic and beyond, David has created a culture that allows artists to face challenges, to fly, and even to fail, while always giving them experience that has enriched and emboldened them. Such passion and vision is rare, and I am honoured to welcome David as a Trustee of the Genesis Foundation. This is a new phase in our relationship; David will bring an astonishing wealth of experience, skill and generosity of spirit to the Genesis Foundation’s mission.”

Chiizii, Digital Research Residency (Yinka Shonibare Foundation & Guest Projects Digital), Revoiced (Corvus Consort), MATCH/PLAY (tiata fahodzi)

Theatre

Creative Exchange | The Mono Box  

Creative Exchange, a 2-day festival celebrating cross-disciplinary artistry on stage and screen, will take place on 25 & 26 July at The Kiln Theatre.  

Hosted by The Mono Box, emerging artists will have the opportunity to attend workshops, panel talks and screenings, as well as network with theatre practitioners and film-makers. The festival aims to kickstart a new way of creating within the industry.  

View the programme 

MATCH/PLAY | tiata fahodzi 

tiata fahodzi has announced its 25th anniversary season, featuring its Genesis Kickstart Fund project tf MATCH/PLAY, a series of commissions where three pairs of artists based in Watford and the South East will work in their local area to produce a 15-minute piece that pushes the boundaries of what theatre is. 

tiata fahodzi is a touring theatre company, centring the work of British African heritage artists. 

Read more in The Stage 

Music

Blue Sky Counterpoint | The Cumnock Tryst 

Blue Sky Counterpoint, a collaborative project at Hillside School in Cumnock, Scotland, has now completed its preparatory phase. The project is run by The Cumnock Tryst, founded by composer and conductor Sir James MacMillan, and is designed for pupils with complex additional support needs.

The young people have been participating in workshops and last week, they were joined by eight singers from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

On 30 September, Blue Sky Counterpoint culminates with a performance by the Hillside pupils, Sir James MacMillan, composer Matilda Brown, and singers from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Book tickets 

Revoiced | Corvus Consort 

Corvus Consort’s debut album Revoiced will be released on 1 July 2022.  

The disc explores the blend of saxophones and voices, bringing new colours to music from the Baroque and Renaissance. The group has released Das Wort ward Fleisch (Heinrich Schütz), the first video from the Revoiced sessions recording, which was made in collaboration with the acclaimed Ferio Saxophone Quartet. 

Pre-order the album 

Treephonia:Live | Treephonia 

Treephonia hosted its first pop-up concert at Southall Park in Ealing, as part of Treephonia: Live, one of two strands of its Genesis Kickstart Fund project, which uses a series of concerts and educational workshops to encourage people to engage with natural spaces.  

Taking place at Ealing Tree Festival, the first Treephonia:Live performance gave audiences an experience of classical, contemporary and new music in a natural outdoor space.

Stay tuned for Treephonia:Live events 

Visual Arts 

Digital Research Residency | Yinka Shonibare Foundation & Guest Projects Digital

Chiizii, an interdisciplinary artist, designer and researcher, has been announced as the recipient of the Yinka Shonibare Foundation and Guest Projects Digital’s Digital Research Residency. 

The three-month initiative was created with an aim to provide an emerging, UK-based African and/or Caribbean diaspora curator or artist, with the opportunity to lead a collaborative research project investigating the intersection of art and design, ecology and food, or migration and identity. 

Born in London and raised in New York and Igbo, Chiizii’s work centres on the specificities of Igbo, Nigerian and African experiences and histories. 

Read more about the Residency 

View all our Genesis Kickstart Fund projects

Nancy Medina, 2017 recipient of the Genesis Future Directors Award, has been named the new Artistic Director of Bristol Old Vic. She will take over from Tom Morris in Spring 2023. 

Originally from New York, Nancy has lived in Bristol for 14 years, and is the current Co-Artistic Director of Bristol School of Acting. In relation to her new position at Bristol Old Vic, she said “I feel a great sense of awe and excitement to be embarking on a journey that will contribute to the great legacy of leading England’s oldest working theatre”. 

Nancy directed Yellowman (2017) at Genesis Foundation partner the Young Vic, as part of her Genesis Future Directors Award. She then went on to direct Trouble in Mind (2021) at Genesis Foundation partner the National Theatre, and Strange Fruit (2029) at the Bush Theatre. Next month, she will direct The Darkest Part of the Night by Zodwa Nyoni at the Kiln Theatre, which runs from 14 July to 13 August 2022. 

The Genesis Future Directors Award was established in 2012. It was created to support and nurture emerging directors by providing them with an opportunity to explore and develop their craft, as they create their first fully-resourced stage production. 

Bristol Old Vic is also where Genesis Foundation Prize winner George Turvey will be developing a large-scale new play with playwright Samuel Bailey. Listen to the two artists discuss this project on our podcast. 

Find out more about Nancy’s appointment 

Read more about the Genesis Future Directors Award 

On Saturday 2 July, Genesis Foundation partner The Sixteen will premiere three new Genesis Foundation commissions, joined by amateur singers from across the UK in their concert, Writing for Voices, at St Stephen Walbrook in London. 

 The performance will be the culmination of a day of workshops and rehearsals with Genesis Sixteen Conducting Scholar, Olivia Tait, and conductor and founder of The Sixteen, Harry Christophers. In addition to the new pieces, The Sixteen will perform a selection of complementary renaissance and contemporary repertoire in an hour-long programme. 

The three new pieces, written by Anna Semple, Eoghan Desmond, and Lisa Robertson, are featured on The Sixteen’s new choral album A Meditation alongside Genesis Foundation commissions by Sir James Macmillan and Will Todd, which received their world premiere in June 2021 as part of the live-streamed concert Newman: Meditation and Prayer. 

The Genesis Foundation has commissioned more than 30 pieces of sacred choral music in its 20 year history. The new pieces in Writing for Voices were commissioned to cement the Foundation’s commitment to providing new choral works for future generations, and in celebration of the writings and philosophies of St John Henry Newman. They were designed to be performed by professional and amateur choirs alike. 

Later in the month, singers from The Sixteen and Genesis Foundation’s training and mentoring initiative Genesis Sixteen will perform at The Sixteen’s Sounds Sublime festival, alongside other groups including Exodus Ensemble and Corvus Consort. The day-long event will take place on 23 July and will feature a number of performances and workshops on the theme of connections.  

Sounds Sublime will also be celebrating choral music on The Sixteen’s social platforms on 24 July, where audiences around the world will be able to watch specially curated performances from Genesis Sixteen, as well as Exodus Ensemble, Corvus Consort, Cantus Firmus, Capella Caecilliana, and Queenes Chappell. 

Purchase The Sixteen’s ‘A Meditation ’ album  

View all the Genesis Foundation’s commissions 

Images: Jungle Book reimagined cr. Ambra Vernuccio (Akram Khan Company), Brookland School (JAM), The Forsythe Evening cr. Laurent Liotardo (English National Ballet)

Dance

The Forsythe Evening | English National Ballet

English National Ballet presents The Forsythe Evening at Sadler’s Wells Theatre. The show honours master choreographer William Forsythe, in a special programme celebrating his enduring love and curiosity for ballet. The Genesis Kickstart Fund supported vital behind-the-scenes work,commissioning 10 freelancers to create over 75 costumes for the performances. The production runs until this Sunday (10th).

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “A dazzling joyride” – The Times

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Left a packed house on its feet, tipsy with delight” – Financial Times

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “All the dances are performed with precision, speed and an incredible amount of energy” – Jewish Chronicle

⭐⭐⭐⭐ “You won’t get a more feel-good night at the ballet than this” – Guardian

Purchase tickets

Jungle Book Reimagined | Akram Khan Company

Akram Khan Company’s Jungle Book Reimagined closes tomorrow at the Curve Theatre, Leicester.

Jungle Book Reimagined is a brand new dance-theatre production based on the original story of Rudyard Kipling‘s much-loved family classic. Akram and his team reinvent the journey of Mowgli through the eyes of a climate refugee.

The Genesis Kickstart Fund supported the production’s research and development.

Find out more

Theatre

LAMDA Mish Mash Festival | LAMDA & Emily Carewe

The LAMDA Mish Mash Festival, a 3-day theatre festival celebrating the self-created work of LAMDA Alumni and their contemporaries, opens on 29 April until 1 May. Founder and director Emily Carewe has created the festival in partnership with LAMDA and supported by assistant producers, and fellow LAMDA Alumni, Leanne Henlon and Selina Jones.

The programme features 26 brand new commissions, ranging from 10-40-minutes in length, in addition to 4 industry-led workshops and 3 panel discussions. It focuses on the empowerment of artists at every level.

View the programme

Photography

The Trace Mentorship | TRACE

TRACE has launched the inaugural TRACE Mentorship today, a year-long mentoring programme of workshops, masterclasses and industry networking opportunities for 24 female photographers over 35, led by Sian Bonnell, Sebah Chaudhury and Haley Morris-Cafiero. The programme will run from June 2022 – June 2023.

Learn more about TRACE

Music

JAM Education Resource | John Armitage Memorial Trust (JAM)

JAM’s Virtual Education Resource, a free teaching aid that helps young children to sing and enables enthusiastic amateurs to play instruments to a high level, has been in development.

The multi-arts organisation has been running after-school singing workshops to test the resource. These workshops, led by singing coach Rebecca Lodge, have been taking place at two Romney Marsh primary schools.

The project will culminate with a performance during JAM on the Marsh in July 2022, alongside the London Mozart Players, professional singers and conducted by Michael Bawtree.

Keep up to date

Horizon Project | DEBUT

DEBUT has announced its Horizon Artists. The group of emerging singers and instrumentalists will participate in a fully funded development programme, which includes filmed performances & artist spotlight interviews at Shoreditch Treehouse, a masterclass with Grammy-award winning pianist & festival director Christopher Glynn, 1-1 musical coaching, interview training and marketing consultations.

Read more about the programme

Total of 95 projects supporting more than 1,000 freelance creatives in the UK

In the final phase of its rollout, the Genesis Foundation has awarded a further £360,000 in grants through its Genesis Kickstart Fund to 36 arts projects run by creative freelancers throughout the UK. Since it started its distributions last year, a total of 95 future-facing projects have benefitted from the £1million fund, which was established during the pandemic to enable outstanding freelance talent to thrive in paid work. The first phase of grants, announced in 2021 and totalling £640,000, marked the Genesis Foundation’s 20^th anniversary.

The projects, running across the UK and involving more than 1,000 freelance creative professionals, embrace the visual, performing, digital and screen arts. They were nominated and selected by an advisory council of artists and cultural leaders including Barbara Broccoli, Farooq Chaudhry, Rupert Goold, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Kathryn McDowell and Rufus Norris. While representing a diversity of genres, subject matter, social causes and objectives, the projects are all marked out by their focus on quality. Their themes include climate change, inclusivity, migration, mental health, queer activism and ableism.

John Studzinski, Founder & Chairman of the Genesis Foundation, said:

“The Genesis Kickstart Fund grew out of our response to the pandemic, but we have always been looking to the longer term. Beyond enabling paid work on worthwhile, innovative projects, the grants are about nurturing resourcefulness and resilience – and developing ideas and momentum in a dramatically changed environment. 

“As we finally emerge from two years of Covid-19, our lives are now being shaken by a war. The creative community faces the prospect of a new and precarious world order and punishing economic pressures.  The Kickstart Fund clearly continues to have an important job to do. It has already mitigated society’s risk of losing outstanding creative talent through lack of opportunity, and it will continue to encourage some of today’s most inspiring artists to create the cultural memory of tomorrow.”

In addition to the £10,000 grant (£20,000 for the freelancers in projects led by Genesis partners) the freelancers involved will gain access to Genesis Connect, a network to enable artists and producers to meet, foster new collaborations and benefit from mentoring opportunities. The grants awarded apply to projects running for a maximum of two years and must be completed by March 2023. On completion, the impact of all projects will be assessed according to the following criteria: quality, innovation, value for money and benefit to society.

Rupert Goold, Artistic Director of the Almeida Theatre, says:

“It’s been a privilege to be on the advisory council for the Genesis Kickstarter Fund and inspiring to be part of the process. It’s an amazing range of recipients being supported from across the cultural landscape and crucially these projects will provide opportunities for hundreds of freelancers. Enormous credit must go to John Studzinski for his commitment to supporting artists as the sector continues to get back up and running.”

Anna Coombs, Artistic Director of Tangle, says:

“Winning a Genesis Kickstart Fund grant will afford Tangle, an award-winning touring theatre company championing African and Caribbean artistic excellence, a vital platform to expand and develop AMPLIFY over a two-year period. This important project, which addresses a chronic and historic lack of opportunity for Global Majority theatre makers to progress careers in offstage roles, will engage more than 30 freelance professionals and multiple national partners to pioneer genuine change in our sector.”

The 36 projects receiving grants in the final phase of awards are:

View all the Genesis Kickstart Fund projects

Find out more about the Fund