Inspirational Voices from the Global Majority A series of workshops and talks from people of colour in music and the performing arts Sign up here, or email [email protected] for more information

Introduction to African Oral Storytelling, Thursday 22nd April, 6‐7pm Sign up here The evening will involve an interactive presentation of a traditional African myth, brought alive, using songs, movement, drumming, singing, etc. The performance will be followed by a Q&A and group analysis of the elements, techniques and themes explored in the story. Interested viewers will then be encouraged and invited to use some of the elements to tell their own short stories of approximately 3 minutes each. Full of fun and excitement!

Juwon Ogungbe: Making Music Theatre, Thursday 29th April, 6‐7pm Sign up here Music theatre is a performing arts genre that thrives in cultures across the globe, including Operas from Europe, Beijing, and the Yoruba Travelling Troupes of West Africa. Quoting Michael Bawtree ‐ ‘At the heart of the singing theatre, there is a performer who acts and sings a role, in a dramatic performance, with musical support, in a performance area, in front of an audience.’ Juwon Ogungbe is a singing theatre artist who has spent several decades exploring within the boundaries of the genre as a composer, performer, theatre maker and music director. In this online encounter he will share some of the lessons he has learnt along the way. Prema Mehta: Lighting Designer and Founder of Stage Sight, Thursday 6th May, 6‐7pm Sign up here Prema is a Lighting Designer for drama, dance and musical productions. A lighting designer is someone who works with the director (the person who decides what the overall event looks like and what it says to an audience) and other creative collaborators to tell a story with light. They decide what the lights look like in the performance space and work with technicians to make sure they use the right lights, in the right places at the right time. More info about Prema and Stage Sight. Suhayla El Bushra – Writer, Thursday 13th May, 6‐7pm Sign up here Suhayla is a screenwriter and playwright. Her plays have been performed at The National Theatre, The Royal Court, The Kiln and The Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, and she is under commission from Chichester Festival Theatre, The Bridge Theatre and ETT. She has written for TV shows and , and is currently working on a feature film script with the BFI. She has lived in and around Brighton for 25 years and has run writing workshops for New Writing South, Little Green Pig and Brighton People’s Theatre. She often writes for and about young people, and has recently started writing book and lyrics for musicals, which she loves. Nadia Khan: Women in CTRL, Thursday 20th May, 6‐7pm Sign up here Nadia Khan is a manager, music consultant and Chair of AIM, and has been working in the music industry for nearly 20 years. As a female entrepreneur, she is a pioneer in a traditionally male‐dominated part of the business. She has led multiple record labels to Top 20 success independently and her own label imprint CTRL Records is focused on spotlighting female talent. Nadia is a passionate champion for diversity, equity and inclusion, and her work in promoting gender parity and representation has been widely recognised, not least through her induction into Music Week’s Women in Music Awards Roll of Honour list in 2018. She is an advocate for sharing knowledge and education, recently creating and delivering the MMF Essentials of Music Management Level 1 training. Nadia is also currently working on a training programme for Women in CTRL, launching this year to help womxn in music overcome barriers to career progression. Tarik Elmoutawakil: Artist, Programmer and Creative Producer; Founder and Co‐Artistic Director at Marlborough Productions, Thursday 27th May, 6‐7pm Sign up here Tarik Elmoutawakil is an artist, programmer and creative producer as well as Founder and Co‐Artistic Director at Marlborough Productions in Brighton, the UK’s only performing arts organisation dedicated to intersectional queer arts. His current public work is entitled 'Brownton Abbey', an evolving Afro‐Futures Performance Party that centres disabled QTIPOC (queer, trans and intersex People of Colour). Brownton Abbey reclaims and reinterprets QTIPOC spirituality and ritual, channelling it into an out‐of‐this‐world, accessible party. Tarik is plugged into a network of disabled QTIPOC activists across the globe, contributing to an ongoing movement to reshape access and leadership. A spirited public speaker, Tarik uses his joyous brand of activism wherever he can to transform the perception and treatment of marginalised QTIPOC.