Drake Music NI had the incredible honour to be invited to a reception hosted by His Majesty The King at Windsor Castle, celebrating the very best of community music across the UK. We were delighted to be invited to represent Northern Ireland alongside so many inspiring organisations from across the UK who share our belief in the power of music to connect, uplift, and empower individuals of all abilities. The event was a celebration of creativity and inclusion. It was a chance

Drake Music NI had the honour of supporting students from Parkview Special School in a live, workshopped performance at Calebs Cause ‘Shine A Light’ – a moving and empowering event held at Stormont, Belfast. Our team worked closely with the students to help bring their creative vision to life. Their heartfelt rendition of Snow Patrol’s Run lit up the Parliament Buildings and left a lasting impression on everyone present. For many of the young performers, it was their first

An unforgettable day for Drake Music NI! Global music icons, and our new partners, Ed Sheeran and Gary Lightbody paid a special visit to us at the Oh Yeah Centre in Belfast, to connect with Drake Music NI ‘s team. In a spontaneous and electrifying moment, the duo jammed to ‘I Don’t Care,’ featuring a live beat crafted on the spot by Drake Music NI’s talented musicians. Ed Sheeran & Gary Lightbody jam ‘I Don’t Care’ with Drake Music NI’s musicians This is just the beginnin

Ed Sheeran made a special visit to Northern Ireland on Friday, but this time, it wasn’t for one of his usual sold-out concerts. The globally acclaimed musician, along with Snow Patrol ’s frontman Gary Lightbody , traveled to Belfast as part of the UK-wide launch of his new charitable initiative, The Ed Sheeran Foundation . Having founded his own charity, The Lightbody Foundation , in 2019, Gary Lightbody welcomed the arrival of Sheeran’s foundation and its commitment to supp

It has been a fantastic week filled with dedicated participants at the ‘Getting Started in Music production’ course, in partnership with The King’s Trust Foundation . Our young aspiring musicians have been challenged by our team of tutors explore new experimental ways to make music. One of this week’s challenge was based on a field recording, capturing everyday sounds to create a soundscape environment for new a composition. We are looking forward to see how they develop t

– GETTING STARTED IN MUSIC PRODUCTION – We are delighted to be launching our partnership with The King’s Trust for our Introduction to Sound Production training course, from the 25th to 29th of November. Our senior training team are all very excited to be working with some very creative young people as they commence their journey with us, and we are all looking forward to hearing some fabulous sounds over a week-long course! We are positive to experience incredibly creative

Celebrating a very magic moment! There can be no better cause for a smile – when a musician participant Conor Bruen in our Belfast studio space feels confident enough to come into a meeting happening in our studio office, and ask one of our best supporters if he would like to duet with him! Always delighted to be involved with our musicians, Gary Lightbody did not disappoint – and even appreciated all the musical direction that Conor had to give him! The most ordinary and

Performance without Barriers Drake Music NI, Sonic Arts Research Centre (SARC) and Brain Injury Matters present the Bounce Festival on Saturday, the 5th of October. A collaboration between “Performance without Barriers” Drake Music NI, Sonic Arts Research Centre (SARC) and Brain Injury Matters. “Through The Virtual Looking Glass” brings together musicians from Drake Music Northern Ireland and Brain Injury Matters in collaboration with Queen’s University Belfast’s award-

2023 was nothing short of amazing for us at Drake Music NI, filled with harmonies, breakthroughs, and boundless creativity. Watch this 2023 wrap to relive some of the moments that made an extraordinary year! Watch Drake Music NI’s 2023 recap here! Please get in touch to join us for a fabulous year of music in 2024!Let’s continue creating harmonious memories, breaking new barriers, and embracing inclusive music-making together. | https://youtu.be/DdQOuF0mc_o?si=wlIZGr-8xR3Zp2

Our founder and CEO, Michelle McCormack , shared our story with Steven Rainey on BBC Radio Ulster this past Sunday! They dove into our long-time partnership with BBC Children in Need ‘ charity appeal and the impact Drake Music NI has on personal and community development. Special guests Sean Gordon , a talented musician, and his mom Maureen joined in to highlight their inspiring journey with us. | Listen to the full interview here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001s

| A new project is helping musicians to play specially designed VR instruments. We take pride in our recent appearance on BBC News NI , where we had the opportunity to highlight the remarkable and ongoing efforts of our tutors, musicians, and partners at Drake Music NI . This project represents a partnership with Queen’s University Belfast and is a joint effort with Damian Mills , our senior tutor and PhD researcher. Through Damian’s research, musicians are empowered to use

Our workshops span a whole range of ages, interests, musical tastes and instrumental groups…We offer reminiscence workshops across Northern Ireland, in day centres, residential centres and arts venues. Music is a very powerful tool for unlocking precious memories, and provide a relaxing session for all involved.

Want to learn an instrument? Want to create and produce music with others? Want to listen and enjoy music with others? Then Drake Music wants to works with you! Drake Music NI is an arts charity that exists to enable people with and without disabilities to compose and perform their own music independently through the use of specialist music technology and electronic and acoustic instruments If you or someone you know would like to join us in music sessions across Northern Ire

On Thursday 10 th  December, Drake Music opened up their new studio space on the Springfield Road in Belfast. Not too far from their previous studio in the Westlink studios, this new space is an upgrade with a large studio space, a smaller music room with storage, a reception area, kitchen and office, with disabled access toilets opposite the studio door. This new space will enable Drake Music NI to double the amount of people it works with. Already a new intake of Drake Musi