Residencies and Alumni Fund

Space and resource for artists to master their craft

Musicians in Residence

Our flagship Musicians in Residence scheme is now in its fourth year. Each round provides two musicians or composers with a bursary plus wraparound budget and support from Paraorchestra’s artistic team in a programme designed to facilitate collaboration and unrestrained exploration. 

What form the residency takes is entirely decided by the artists themselves. Previous residents have used their time to record albums using cutting-edge spatial audio techniques, master new instruments, and explore new cross-disciplinary forms from audio-visual programming to aerial performance.        

Our current Musicians in Residence for 2025/6 are Simone Seales and Jason Yarde. 

Our previous Musicians in Residence are Asteryth Sloane, Liza Bec, Hattie McCall Davies, Rylan Gleave, Jonny Leitch, Patrick Phillip, Tilly Chester, Isaac Shieh and Calum Perrin.

Alumni Fund

Launched in 2024, these grants £10,000 have been created to help sustain the groundbreaking work undertaken by our Musicians in Residence once they have completed their year in the programme. The first two recipients of this commission are Rylan Gleave and Jonny Leitch, who are utilising them to produce brand new touring performances. 

Rylan Gleave is using the funding to create an ambitious live iteration of his second album Requiem, whilst Jonny Leitch is using the resource to develop a new theatre circus show with his company Head Over Wheels due to premiere in 2026. 

Additional funding for Modulate has been provided by the PRS Foundation Music Talent Development Network supported by PPL.