The Firebird Trust

Inspiring Action through Music

The Firebird Trust is a specialist music organisation based in the East Midlands. Working with freelance
musicians, we provide them with the tools and resources that develop ideas into innovative projects inspiring
positive action from everyone involved.

We work with professional musicians at all stages of their careers. Musicians involved with us are given
freedom to develop their ideas within projects and follow their own creative paths. Through the projects we
deliver we provide platforms from everybody to access music making in a creative and enjoyable way.

We work with partners in the arts, education, and local government and specialise in initiating and developing
cross-sector programmes that draw on knowledge and expertise from other sectors including health and
wellbeing, education and business.

Firebird Trust for Artists:

Our projects and activities are delivered by people who are passionate about what they are doing and
committed to working in a creative way so that everyone benefits. We work with artists to develop their ideas
and provide exciting environments for high quality projects throughout the UK.

We help artists at all stages of their careers and provide support to make a positive impact on their work
through:

Funding
Firebird can help with all aspects of finding funding from identifying potential sources of funding
through to proposal writing, devising a budget, managing finance and reporting.

Project management and evaluation

At Firebird we can assist you with any aspect of your project from conception to evaluation including a
wealth of experience, resources, extensive contacts, administrative support and office space.

Training through action learning

We build training into our projects giving artists the opportunity to manage their own projects and
timetables allowing for greater artistic freedom and ownership of the project.

Peer to peer networking

Firebird organises events that give musicians chance to network, discuss projects and collaborate with
each other. This is an important part of our organisation giving everyone working with us space to
reflect on their work as freelance musicians and discuss new ideas for collaboration.

Advice
As an organisation Firebird Trusts staff, musicians, trainees & trustees possess a wide range of skills,
qualities, experience, talent and attributes which we use freely to help everyone involved in our work.

Collaboration
Working with Firebird provides new opportunities, possibilities and challenges for all involved. This
leads to new partnerships and relationships between individuals and organisations that allow
everyone to explore new horizons, ideas, skills and ways of working.
 Current Initiatives:
KOMPOSIT:
Komposit is a new resource for the East Midlands providing composers with access to musicians to explore new
music across a range of different genres. Komposit provides collaborative opportunities for both musicians and
composers. Using a unique process, new compositions are created drawing ideas and inspiration from all
participants. Komposit creates work that forges links between composers, performers and audiences from all
backgrounds and musical genres.

Ripples and Waves:

This project brings people together through creative music making workshops run by highly skilled and
experienced musicians. Ripples and Waves uses music to unite people of all ages to get involved in music
making. This creates more cohesive communities by forging friendships and uniting people in a creative social
activity.

Digital Beginnings:
Digital Beginnings is a series of assistive music technology workshops designed specifically for people with
disabilities, providing pathways into music for people with additional needs of all ages. Using music technology
participants make musical sounds and create, play and perform music in a number of different ways. This
project actively encourages participants to be creative and to embrace their own musicality.

Employment Training and Internships:

The Firebird Trust periodically provides employment opportunities for young people. Roles within the
organisation that have been filled in the past include: trainee community practitioners, administration and
communications staff and project managers. This scheme enables young people to experience the world of
creative work and take responsibility for running projects. They work with us to ensure their experience meets
their needs and provides them with transferable skills and confidence. This project develops young people
personally and professionally with a view to them pursuing full time employment or professional careers as
artists.

Action Learning

Dr Daniel King, a lecturer in organisational development at Nottingham Business School is working with Firebird
on a research programme to examine Firebirds approach to action learning. In this project, action learning
refers to the way in which we support the musicians and other artists that we work with. It is a core component
of our activities and forms a common strand across projects where key personnel and musicians receive a level
of support coupled with artistic and managerial freedom not offered by other organisations.
Health and Well-Being:

Firebird is involved in working with hospitals to provide live music and participatory workshops within wards
and waiting areas. This engages patients with music in an environment where beeps are the main interruption
to silence. The introduction of music within the hospital environment is proved to reduce stress, anxiety and
depression, improve mood and raise spirits and enhance self esteem.

Heritage:

Firebird is working in partnership with museums and heritage sites across the East Midlands to creating exciting
and informative projects to raise awareness of local heritage among children and the wider community using
songs, artefacts, stories and inspiration drawn from traditional sources. This encourages people to explore their
personal and local history, helping them to feel a sense of place and belonging.

Firebird for Communities and schools:

We work with communities and schools to devise projects that meet their needs. Our work leaves a lasting
impact, for example:

Community Cohesion
Lincolnshire Wolds villages - songs written by the school in collaboration with the fire station, doctors surgery and tea rooms.
These opportunities are a great success and are talked about with enthusiasm

Intergenerational Interaction
Derbyshire Dales village - community choir and school collaboration.
The children gained a respect for their elders and an awareness of what it used to be like in the village.

Creativity
Derbyshire school - song-writing sessions focussing on key landmarks of the village that the children live in.
I most enjoyed being able to come up with our own song because it made it feel more like our own instead of being given
something to sing.

Skills Building
Lincolnshire village community - guitar club for children and parents run by a local musician.
This has the potential to be a self sustaining project which is entirely run by people within the community.

Tailor made activities

Leicestershire - space centre project for local secondary schools and special needs participants.
It was a challenge combining two very different sets of participants this was skilfully facilitated by the musicians involved.

Legacy
Derbyshire village - music workshops for residents of the village culminating in The Big Gig and the creation of an arts forum.
Fantastic to see the diversity of musical interest, talent and cross section of village residents taking part; a positive experience
that has raised awareness as to who can do what in the village - I hope that links will continue to form.
Firebird for Businesses:
Firebird musicians bring people together in new environments and promote creativity. We can help your
business to develop stronger teams. Using music as a creative tool helps people to look at things from a
different perspective and to listen to each other when every sound is important. In consultation with you we
will create a programme of bespoke workshops and activities that meet your business needs.

Firebird for Funders:

The Firebird Trust is a not for profit organisation that values every contribution towards its activities. We deliver
high quality projects that leave lasting legacies within communities, schools and participants. If you would like
to fund any element of a Firebird project please contact us for further discussion.

Creative Team:

Liam Robinson:
Liam Robinson works for Firebird as a freelance musician, project manager and a line manager for our current
Future Jobs Fund cohort. He runs his own company, The Mini Morris Company, which specialises in teaching
English folk dance and music workshops with primary school children being the main audience. As well as his
teaching activities Liam is a nationally and internationally acclaimed melodeon player. He also plays other
instruments such as the banjo. He leads his own group, The Liam Robinson Dance Band, which has performed
in various venues across the UK as well as in countries such as the USA, Holland and Lithuania.

Jo Freya:
Jo Freya is project director for Komposit, one of Firebirds current initiatives. Jo is a well known saxophonist,
vocalist and composer who can currently be seen with Blowzabella and Freya, Abbott, Ferguson. Known for
collaboration and composition she toured in the 90's with her own euro band, Freyja, and worked as Music
Project Director for the British Council in Egypt and Bahrain. Her specialism is Folk Music in the modern world.

Gary Hammond:
Gary works for Firebird as a freelance musician and project manager on our rural initiatives in Lincolnshire
alongside fellow artist, Liam Robinson. He also works along side Liam as a line manager for our Future Jobs
Fund music practitioners. Away from Firebird, Gary delivers workshops in schools across the country on a
variety of themes including: Soundscape Storytelling, African drums and even music-based numeracy work.
As a professional musician, Gary is a renowned percussionist having been a member of The Beautiful South for
many years. He has also worked as a session musician for a variety of different acts including Nina Simone.
Nowadays, he is part of folk world music duo The Hut People who are rapidly gaining national acclaim.

Dave Stickman Higgins:

Dave Stickman Higgins works for Firebird as a freelance musician and project manager. He currently works
alongside Rikki Thomas Martinez on our Ripples and Waves project in the Derbyshire Dales. Dave delivers a
wide variety of different types of creative workshops with all age groups covering subjects ranging from African
history to things such as poetry and percussion based activities. He is also an accomplished musician in his own
right playing with the band, Stickmanouvres, as well as writing and performing his own songs. He also takes a
very keen interest in researching his mixed heritage and uses elements of this in much of his work.

Rikki Thomas Martinez:

Rikki Thomas Martinez is currently active as project manager and freelance musician for Firebird working with
rural communities in the Derbyshire Dales alongside Dave Higgins. He is a very talented Latin-style classical
guitar player and performs with his group, Mas y Mas, whose repertoire mixes their own material with
traditional songs in the Salsa/Latin style. The group has performed all over the world including Cuba, Borneo
and Spain. He also delivers workshops where he helps people produce professional recordings of their guitar
playing.

Ling Peng:
Ling is an accomplished Erhu (Chinese fiddle) player, and has performed in many places around the UK. She
also runs her own workshops in schools covering Chinese music and culture, and Chinese calligraphy. In
addition to this she also has turned her hand to performing music to interpretive dance and theatre.

Shirley Novak:
Shirley Novak is a creative practitioner in music technology delivering music/media centred workshops
providing opportunities to enable anyone with an interest, or a range of skills experience and expectations, to
access music/media at all levels, on all scales and in a variety of roles whoever you are. Shirley was a
professional singer/songwriter touring nationally and throughout Europe, writing/recording four CD's of
original material. Her career currently includes delivering music technology centred workshops, arts
coordination in schools, she composes original royalty free music for a variety of applications and is a music
producer and arranger working from her cellar studio in the East Midlands. Her production technique is to
listen, centred around her philosophy that 'music is what feelings sound like'.
Firebird Staff:

Simon Steptoe:
Firebirds Executive Director, Simon Steptoe, is a qualified secondary school music and ITC teacher and a
specialist in Javanese Gamelan music. Prior to this his main interest was in C20th composition which he studied
through to postgraduate level at Durham University.

In the early nineties he taught music at a number of secondary schools across the North-East of England until
taking up an Indonesian government sponsored scholarship to study traditional Javanese music at the Institute
of Indonesian Arts in Surakarta (ISI), Central Java.

Returning to the UK in 1996 he was offered the post of Gamelan and Creative Projects Officer at the Hall
Orchestra which provided him with the opportunity to develop a programme of creative outreach work across
the North West. The culmination of his time at the Hall was a composition project that brought musicians
from the orchestra together with their counterparts from ISI Surakarta to exchange skills and create new work
premiered in both Jakarta and Manchester.

In 2005 he took up his present post at Firebird and, building on the organisations substantial legacy, he has
been instrumental in driving the Artists Association initiative forward and placing it at the heart of the
organisation.

Kayleigh Glasper:
Kayleigh Glasper graduated from The University of Nottingham with a BA Hons is Music in 2007. She joined The
Firebird Trust in 2009 to take over the administration requirements of the company. Since then her job role has
developed to include the management of various projects, project development specifically in the areas of
health and wellbeing and to act as a team leader for our recent Future Jobs Fund project. As well as being
Firebirds Programme Co-ordinator Kayleigh plays flute with the National Flute Orchestra and performs on a
professional basis. She plays Gamelan with Nusantara in Nottingham and does some private instrumental
teaching in her evenings. She has more recently started leading music workshops within the community and
education sectors.

Ross Taylor:
Ross Taylor completed a National Diploma in Art and Design in 2010 at Lincoln Art College and leaving with a
triple distinction. Whilst being involved with the Firebird Trust as part of the Future Jobs Fund Scheme Ross
has been working under Kayleigh Glasper as her administrative assistant as well as the companys graphic
designer, creating new graphics and redesigning Firebirds branding and creating new promotional materials.
Ross is staying on with Firebird as their in house Graphic Designer following the end of his contract with Future
Jobs Fund.
Getting Involved:
If you would like to join us on our journey as a musician, trustee, a volunteer, a funder or would like to be
involved in a project with us, then please contact us!

The Firebird Trust

The Stables

Wellingore Hall

Wellingore

Lincoln

LN5 0HX

Tel: 01522 811229

Email: admin@firebirdtrust.com

Web: www.firebirdtrust.com

To donate just text FIRE27 and the amount you wish to donate to 70070

Charity Number: 1120880

Company Ltd by guarantee: 6111626