Introduction

We have prepared this page to give an overview of our programmes to date and future plans and aspirations for workforce development and diversity.

Index:

About MishMash Productions
Our Role in Diversifying the Classical Music Workforce
The Need to go Further
What Needs to Change
Our Future Plans
Our Ethos and Approach to Creating Audience-Centred Performances

About MishMash Productions

MishMash Productions was founded in 2018 to reimagine classical music for young people and families—making it inclusive, engaging, and relevant. Our mission is to bring live classical music into venues, schools and communities, ensuring children and young people experience it in ways that inspire curiosity, creativity, and confidence. 

We became an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation in 2023. We moved to a new structure as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) in 2025.

Our work includes:

• Touring productions – touring high-quality productions where live music and performance brings stories, emotions and ideas to life.
• Cross-sector collaborations – in recent years we have collaborated with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Sinfonia Viva, and Scottish Ensemble to develop new work for our audiences, as well as collaborating with academics and students from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Royal Academy of Music, University of Leeds and the University of Nottingham on research and development projects. 
• Musician in Residence – a project placing classical musicians in schools, opening up a world where music becomes part of the fabric of school life.
• Diversifying our workforce – we are committed to developing a future musician workforce that increasingly reflects the diversity of our audiences. We create progressive, paid training pathways, nurturing and developing participants’ skills and ideas based on our central principles of connection and communication.

“Being POC comes with many barriers. It sometimes feels like your voice is less than. Actively seeing POC people on this course sprouted a feeling of hope. When going into the schools I saw a lot of other black young girls looking at me in awe as if to say to themselves that it is possible to do music and be good and make it. It was truly wonderful and gave me confidence I needed to get through some of performances.” Insight 2024 Participant

If you’d like more information about MishMash, visit our ‘About Us’ page 

Our Role in Diversifying the Classical Music Workforce

We are committed to developing a future musician workforce that increasingly reflects the diversity of our audiences.   This is a challenge given that our work is rooted in Western Classical Chamber Music, which as a sector is driven by a significantly privately educated and predominantly white workforce. To that end since 2018 we have been delivering a variety of workforce development initiatives specifically targeting early career musicians from currently under-represented groups[1].

To date this has included:

• Open call events – open to anyone interested in exploring this area of work with no application or prior experience required.
• Presentations at conservatoires raising awareness of this work and identifying pathways for those interested in exploring it further.
• Residential training courses – paid opportunities for early career musicians from currently under-represented groups to develop skills and understanding culminating in pilot projects supported by an experienced mentor.  Pre and post-course the cohort was supported by an experienced EDI consultant and the course also included mentoring and coaching from a team of diverse professionals with lived and relevant experience. 

The most recent of these courses was the Insight training course in January 2024.

 

“The project was felt to be an incredible success at breaking down some of the barriers identified by the participating musicians. A key barrier they ALL identified with was feeling like they didn’t belong in the classical music sector, however the sharings in schools highlighted how they themselves were breaking the stereotypes by showing classical musicians can be from all walks of life, races and backgrounds, and this was something they had not seen when they were younger.” Insight Evaluation Report

• Intensive development projects delivered with and for partner organisations – courses for mid-career (CBSO) or young musicians (National Youth Orchestra, CBSO Youth Orchestra, RBC etc) focusing on creative and audience centred performance practice.
• The MishMash Ensemble scheme providing ensemble development and mentoring for early career musicians to further develop their skills following participation in a MishMash training course.  This is a professional and paid opportunity for a group of musicians to create a new performance and tour to schools all the while being mentored and supported by experienced professionals.  Further information on the MishMash Ensemble initiative can be found here.
• One and two-day development projects for particular interest groups – such as theatre skills, specific instrument groups etc

Since investing in these kinds of initiatives we are actively seeing a diversification of our workforce, as is demonstrated in our 2025 workforce survey:

• In the 2025-26 year 26% of our workforce identify as ethnically diverse, contrasting to the 5% (of all staff working as part of an Arts Council regularly funded orchestra) reported in the Arts Council Response to the Fairer Inclusive Classical Music report (2021) and 18% in the 2021 Census. 
• Similarly, our workforce is more neurodiverse than is typical in the sector with 27% identifying as neurodivergent against a national average of 15% (according to DWP and the UK employability Hub data 2025).
• 17% of our workforce are from intermeidate or lower socio-economic groups (as opposed to professional) and 21% were the first in their family to attend university.

‘’MishMash is the only working environment I have ever worked in where I feel I can be truly myself, and feel truly seen, heard and respected.’’ Annual Survey Response

 

“When you spoke about representation, that really meant something to me. You mentioned that the kids would be happy to see representation in the workshop leaders, but I felt so happy seeing representation in the audience!” Feedback from Insight participant, 2024.

 

“Most companies are talking about accessibility and inclusivity at the moment, but MishMash is one of the few actually practicing it!” Musician, Training Project

If you’d like more information about our previous work in this area please visit our Workforce Development page. 

The Need to Go Further:

Developing a diverse workforce for the classical music sector requires more than just ensuring there are equitable routes into the profession.  Yet, while there are a number of initiatives focused on getting musicians from under-represented communities to enter Further and High Education, there are far fewer ensuring they enter the workforce, remain in the workforce, and that they have the same opportunities to pursue a long and successful career.

There are many factors that influence whether musicians are able to sustain their career, including:

• Employment opportunities – recruitment practices still vastly favour well-connected musicians from privileged backgrounds, making it much harder for those from under-represented groups to access
• Opportunities for learning new skills and professional development, enabling them to work on a wider variety of projects
• Creative satisfaction, including opportunities for creative expression and independence
• Whether there are sufficient audiences to sustain their work

The career of a classical musician has changed, with professional musicians expected to work in a wide variety of ways. However, most conservatoires and music colleges – still the principal route into the profession – continue to focus on a more restricted pedagogy under-pinned by what we might call Repertoire-Led Performance Practice.  For a more detailed explanation of what we mean by Repertoire-Led and Audience-Centred Performance Practice see below.

At the same time, the needs and expectations of audiences have changed, with increased competition from other forms of entertainment. This is especially true for engaging and retaining new audiences. Yet performance practices that place these needs at the centre of decisions relating to repertoire, venue, staging and structure are not prioritised.

At MishMash, our vision is: A bigger, more diverse workforce confident and able to provide audiences with relevant and accessible classical music experiences

To achieve this vision we need to address the following Problem Drivers:

1. Most Music Colleges & Conservatoires teach a narrow pedagogy, driven by a limited view of what a successful career in music looks like.
2. Opportunities to learn alternative performance approaches are only available to those in a position to invest in their own CPD.
3. The training opportunities that do exist mostly focus on workshop-leading or music education, with no comprehensive training for a variety of performance-orientated approaches.
4. Musicians from under-represented communities are less-likely to be aware of CPD.
5. There are few paid opportunities to create, develop and deliver audience-led performances, with most tied to one-off projects. In a time of budgetary pressure, organisations are not investing in this area.
6. Having a long career is reliant on the existence of new generations of audience members. Yet existing models are mostly geared towards the needs of an ageing audience.
7. Musicians often don’t have access to the support they need to turn their ideas into reality.
8. Organisations don’t invest in Audience Centred Performance Practice, or take a joined up approach to its development.

What Needs to Change:

To fulfil our vision a number of radical changes are required at various key pinch points on the musician pathway: from conservatoire training, to professional recruitment, through continual professional development opportunities, and into the financing and diversification of new work. 

We have broken this down into seven key objectives:

1. Diversifying the taught curriculum at HE/Conservatoire level will increase the number of musicians entering the workforce with the skills needed to meet the needs of modern-day audiences and, therefore, a modern-day career
2. Facilitating an increased number of paid training courses providing in-depth skills development on Audience-Centred Performance Practice will remove the barriers that prevent musicians developing these skills post-conservatoire
3. Increasing promotional activity and targeted recruitment will help reach musicians who would otherwise miss out on these opportunities
4. Providng paid opportunities to create Audience-Centred work will enable musicians to hone their skills while also providing more employment opportunities
5. Creating classical music experiences that meet the different interests, motivations and expectations of a new generation of audience member
6. Supporting musicians to develop their own projects increases both the employment opportunities and the opportunities for audiences
7. Raising awareness of Audience-Centred approaches and the benefit to audiences, artists and organisations.

Our full Theory of Change table can be found here →→→

Our Future Plans:

To consolidate our learning and build exponentially on our impact to date we would like to deliver a progressive pathway of initiatives and interventions aimed at tackling this issue at the various pinch points described above.

This combination of opportunities would provide a coherent pathway into a sustained and supported career delivering us a bigger, more diverse workforce confident and able to provide audiences with relevant and accessible classical music experiences.

The programme of initiatives would include:

• Partnerships with conservatoires to include Audience-Centred Performance Practice as part of the taught curriculum[2]
• Targeted recruitment to reach musicians from under-represented groups.
• Open Call day to enable people with an interest in learning ACPP to find out more.
• Annual paid residential course targeting early career musicians from currently under-represented groups providing in depth understanding of Audience-Centred Performance Practice.
• Annual MishMash Ensemble project each year recruiting those who have completed the training course to participate in further mentored development and deliver a professional touring project.
• Annual Partnership Ensemble project working with another performing group, such as Manchester Collective or Music in the Round delivering a mentored development and professional touring opportunity.
• Annual Creative Associateship allowing ongoing mentoring and coaching from the MishMash team to enable an individual music creator to explore making their own work.
• Ongoing advocacy across the sector via the Producers Forum[3]
• A programme of mentoring and consultancy support offered to mid-career musicians, ensembles and organisations to deliver professional development and embed ACPP more widely across the sector.
• A programme of evaluation, dissemination and advocacy to share our learning and advocate for further investment.

The flowchart below illustrates how this pathway of opportunities would work:

Our Ethos and Approach to Creating Audience-Centred Performances:

We believe that classical music is inherently worth sharing, and that it can resonate with both existing and new audiences when presented with care and imagination. By taking an Audience-Centred approach we aim to create classical music experiences that are exciting, engaging and, most importantly, relevant to the present.

Traditionally, classical music has taken a Repertoire-Led approach. Performances designed in this way focus on creating the absolute ideal circumstances for a perfect interpretation of music to be performed, or offered. Decisions are made based on the needs of the music. For example:

• Repertoire is chosen to show off a particular instrument, performer or composer, or to meet the needs of a specific piece
• Venues are chosen for their prestige and acoustic quality
• Staging arrangements are chosen to achieve an authentic sound and to enable musicians to communicate amongst themselves
• Training and recruitment prioritise technical mastery, precision and consistency

However, whilst a performer could be world class in their specific art, if the audience face barriers to receiving what is offered to them, that talent is utterly wasted.

At MishMash, we specialise in taking an Audience-Centred approach. This means our performances and experiences are designed in a way that focuses on creating the ideal circumstances for classical music to be received. Decisions are made based on the needs of the audience. For example:

• Repertoire is chosen to strengthen the cultural connection with audiences
• Venues are rooted in local communities that are familiar to each audience
• Staging arrangements are chosen to achieve greater connection with the audience
• Training and recruitment prioritises connecting with audiences, recognising their specific needs and working adaptively and flexibly

Some examples of this practice can be found in our performances inSync, Ruby’s Worry and Toot!

This is not about watering down, or fundamentally changing the artform. It is a recognition that the quality of classical music experience is determined by how it is received, as well as by how it is offered.

“What especially impressed about their approach was the way in which the welcome to families, particularly from areas with low engagement with the arts, was integrated into their productions. Everyone involved in the production, from the creative team to the venue staff in libraries was clearly committed to making every aspect of a family’s visit a positive experience.” Fantastic for Families Judge

[1] In our sector this means specifically those from the global majority; lower socio-economic groups; deaf, disabled and neurodiverse; and trans or non-binary.

[2] Partnerships are already in place with the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (RBC), Royal Academy of Music (RAM), University of Nottingham, University of Leeds and Trinity Laban; with further development underway with the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD), the Royal Northern College of Music and Drama (RNCM), and the Royal College of Music (RCM)

[3] See www.mishmashproductions.co.uk/producersforum for more information