Our focus on regular participation in music making has resulted in a number of our young singers expressing an interest in developing their talent and embarking on a career in the music industry. To facilitate this we created a platform of activities to support emerging young talent; providing them with the expertise to write, record, market and promote their own material. The aim is to support them in their development as artists, not necessarily to achieve commercial success but to provide real world experience of the music industry by accessing to knowledge and skills not readily available to young musicians. This has resulted in several new compositions released by our young artists with many going on to develop their own music careers.
'Breaking Through' was an exciting programme funded by Arts Council England and developed by The UVG to help nurture and direct up and coming talent and help them break through and take the next steps in their musical careers. It's activities were designed to support emerging talent through collaboration with established artists and industry professionals, enabling them to write, record, perform and promote their own music. The program included practical activities covering both the creative and commercial aspects the music industry; equipping young artists with the knowledge and experience to set up as professional musicians. One of the main strands of the project involved our young artists being mentored by established singer / songwriters.
The Breaking Through Artist Development project has impressed me on several levels. Firstly, the quality of the creative outcomes are very high and you have instilled a a sense of professionalism in these young people which will stay with them for the rest of their lives. The consistency in the performance, song writing and production is remarkable, and it gives me a great sense of confidence that you have taken such care to build in transferable skills such as project management, team building and innovation in digital marketing. You are preparing young people in such a way that they can approach working life in flexible, adaptable way, which is essential for the fast pace of change in today's workplace. We support your work whole heartedly' Bruce Dickinson - Co-Founder of The Brighton Institute of Modern Music (BIMM)
In August 2019 a total of 22 UVG singers past and present performed at Portsmouth's Victorious Festival
The UVG have helped young people in Portsmouth to thrive as singers and musicians and have made a substantial impact on the local music scene; not only with their own amazing group performances but also with their members performing as individuals and using all the skills they have acquired along the way”- Nick Courtney (Promoter)