The More Music Early Years Mentorship has supported two musicians, Bryony Jarman-Pinto and Jill Walmsley, to develop their skills working in early years music sessions and projects alongside our experienced music leaders Ben McCabe and Anni Tracy. As part of the mentorship, Bryony and Jill took part in training, networking, shadowed our early years sessions and were part of the delivery team for Magic Islands of Music, our immersive music and play experience for under 3s and their families. They also helped run our Walking Down The Street Gamelan at several outdoor events, including the Three Degrees Festival at More Music on 5 July.

Taking place from January to July 2025, the aim of the mentorship was to develop the skills and experience of music leaders to use music in early years settings. The mentorship was funded by Youth Music and Lancashire Music Hub.

Now the mentorship has concluded, we asked them about their experience during the mentorship and what they have gained from taking part.

Q: What has the mentorship experience been like for you? Has it been what you expected? Has it been different to what you expected?

Bryony: It’s been different from what I’ve expected, but not in a bad way! I had some really wonderful experiences being involved in the Magic Islands performances, which were more on the performing arts side, which I have not done before. Obviously, I perform as a singer all the time but I’m not an actor and a lot of what we were doing with Magic Islands had this acting side of it, so I really enjoyed that. That was a new experience and a new skill for me to figure out, I’d love to do it again. It was great, especially like the improvisational side of it and combining the music with the character, full play, playing and acting.

Jill: It’s been an amazing experience to meet so many people all working across the arts in different ways. I think that has probably been the most unexpected aspect – the number of ongoing connections I have made with other people and the potential to collaborate on exciting projects now.

Q: Do you think having the opportunity to observe and participate in a variety of sessions was helpful to you, and if so, in what ways?

Bryony: Yeah, definitely. I think it’s always helpful to watch somebody else work and see how they come at things, especially because Anni and Ben have different ways of approaching the role, but in such complementary ways. These different approaches meant that everyone was being catered for.

Jill: I’d say the most helpful thing for me to observe was the full process of putting on Magic Islands of Music. I now have a much better understanding of what it takes to create and deliver an interactive music experience for families. It is super useful to see how the ‘wow’, moments for children on the day and beautiful opportunities for families to connect came from careful consideration of the space, resources, people and activities as well as the music.

Q: What new skills do you think you have learned as a result of the mentorship, what have you gained?

Bryony: It’s given me the confidence to play in a much freer sense, allowing myself to not just be an adult playing, but to be a character within the play, within the game more than like I would in the other things that I do. The I See You Too project was interesting, hearing more from the play therapy and dance therapy side. I’ve heard a lot about it but I’ve never participated in that way. It was also interesting that they came at it from a research angle, as that’s something I may not have considered before.

Jill: I’ve come out of the mentee-ship much more ‘in the moment’ and knowing myself. Taking part in a series of very different experiences one after another has made it easy to figure out what lit me up about some more than others and to build on these.

Q: Has there been a particular highlight of your mentorship experience?

Bryony: The highlights have been the devising days for Magic Islands and having that chance to play. Coming from a few years of not really having much space as a new parent. It was very nice to walk into these days. I really enjoyed being a part of the Magic Islands performances, it was just wonderful to see everyone’s responses. The whole experience was great because obviously I have attended it on the other side and whenever I’m watching those sorts of things, I always think that it looks such fun.

The excitement of creating was really nice, I wasn’t expecting that from the mentorship.

Jill: I had a wonderful time on the first nursery visit I did with Ben as part of the I See You Too project. The quality of connection I was able to quickly develop with a young girl who was non-verbal through mirroring and call and response, building up a ‘musical conversation’ has really stayed with me. The nursery staff said they had not seen her so engaged before and would give her more opportunities like this.

What are the next steps for you after the mentorship?

Bryony: My next steps are obviously continuing with music and continuing singing.
Now that my children are starting to go to nursery and school, I’m thinking about restarting my early years singing circle project and making that more permanent.

Jill: I have been asked to deliver some outdoor music sessions in a nursery and also help them create a forest music area. I am in the planning stages of a project with someone I met through the mentee-ship to deliver ‘Djembe for Health’ sessions and am working out how to add music into my work with families who have experienced domestic abuse.

Q: What advice would you give to someone who wants to get into community music or who might be interested in a mentorship programme like this one?

Bryony: With the first one, I’d say the best thing you can do is go to these things as participants because they’re really hard to get involved in. If you’re just Googling creative leader jobs, it doesn’t come up as that’s not how they become available unless you’re very lucky as its dependent on funding. Join the community groups, participate in them, get an understanding of all the different things that are happening that are of interest to you and make yourself known to be useful. Obviously, most of the time you end up being a volunteer, but from my experience, it will lead somewhere.

As a mentee, I think you should be outspoken as I think you are expected to tell the mentors what you want from the experience. I think it’s an opportunity to embed yourself within an organisation for a certain amount of time and to use that time.

Jill: Surround yourself with different experiences and people and eventually something will stick! The mentee-ship has been great for meeting musicians, dancers, practitioners and families from a range of backgrounds. It’s really only by jumping in that you can decide what does/ doesn’t appeal to you and build up a network of inspiration.