Powderham Live! is aimed at local teenage musicians. From all walks of life, artists are drawn to the enriching platform from which to be heard, seen and progressed. Participants are offered the benefits of collaboration with fellow performers, a vast range of workshops, participation in a professionally staged and recorded performance and the foundation of a supportive community of young musicians.
At its core Powderham Live! has the combined vision and passion for musical performance of its founding members, underpinned by their individual but complementary experience and skills.
Our aims
To honour the voices of teenagers. To empower and connect local young musicians. To raise funds in support of providing high quality music equipment, low cost rehearsal space and performance opportunities for developing arts in our area.
The teenage years are some of the most defining years of raw emotional experience and if we listen closely, their voices have an undeniable power to enlighten, connect, heal and inspire us all.
Sing loud, we're listening.
Our Values
Powderham Live! has developed from an annual event into a dynamic, collaborative community which aims to connect, support, empower and promote local teenage musicians. Participants are now engaged in a year-round programme of workshops, jam sessions, mentor support, performances and recording opportunities. With tangible outcomes of improved mental health and musical talent for our musicians, we want to grow and sustain this valuable initiative.
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Connect
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Support
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Empower
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Promote
Our Founders
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AJ Courtenay
Countess of Devon, AJ has lifelong experience of musical, stage and film performance, sharing her knowledge of grounding and voice and movement for the performer. AJ facilitates community building and is a champion of teenage voices being shared and teenage mental health being proactively supported.
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Robin Brown
As well as being an active musician, Robin runs a thriving low-cost rehearsal space with The Cave Music Project, based in Teignmouth. Robin brings his background as a youth worker and community music project manager to provide mentoring, coaching, sound and technical support. Robin also uses his musical network to provide performance opportunities for the musicians at venues and festivals across Devon.
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Kevin Ward
Kevin has worked with young people in an educational setting and is a long-time supporter of young musicians, individually and in local bands and orchestras, with experience of indoor and outdoor performance. He is the lead communicator with the artists, supporting the young people and their families throughout the project.
The Present
Our artists' Powderham Live! journey starts when they attend an audition event, receiving feedback on the day from our panel of experts about their performance. Once on the programme they have access to mentoring sessions, creative workshops, jam sessions and collaborative opportunities in preparation to perform live in front of an audience in the grand James Wyatt Music room within the extraordinary setting of Powderham Castle. In five years Powderham Live! has welcomed almost 200 teenage musicians to ‘storm the castle’. It is a richly diverse and inclusive event presenting bands, duets and soloists, spanning a range of musical genres. The content is unstructured which creates and holds a safe space for young people to play their passion.
The future
Over the next few years, our goal is to raise more funds in order to develop and grow the program. With some extra support we would like put more funding towards mentors and workshop leaders to support our young performers as professional artists, as well as aid in their youth development, mental wellbeing and route into the music industry.
Taking this a step further we have now begun to invite young musicians who have passed through our programme to come back as alumni and offer their support. watching them offer advice to the younger musicians, joining our panel of experts for our auditions and running workshop sessions is truly rewarding.
Our Partners
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The Helen Foundation
An arts-based charity to support and motivate young people in all branches of the arts in Teignbridge in South Devon. They offer everything from school awards, to workshops, bursaries, and major arts projects.
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The Cave
‘The Cave’ is a community music project based in Teignmouth for creative musicians of all ages to use. At The Cave there will be instrument lessons, master classes, basic instrument care and repair workshops.
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Showbitz
Providing technical services for the entertainment industry throughout the South West. We’re an expert event management company with both a busy hire department and a highly creative production team.
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Powderham Castle
Home to the Earl of Devon and his family, Powderham Castle enjoys a unique, picturesque setting within an ancient deer park beside the Exe estuary, just south of Exeter.
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Exeter College
Exeter College is an award-winning, world class college. We are Devon’s only Ofsted Outstanding further education college. Our vision is to shape the future by delivering excellence to realise the ambitions of our learners, city and region.
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The Golden Bottle Trust
The Golden Bottle Trust was set up in 1985 to further the philanthropic aims of the Hoare family and the bank. Each year, the partners donate up to 10% of the bank’s profits to the trust, which makes grants to a wide range of charitable causes.
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Our Mentors & Practitioners
All artists are supported throughout the year by an incredible team of mentors and have the opportunity to take part in a variety of workshops, offering support and learning opportunities. We are so lucky to have these incredible mentors as part of the program, helping support the artists in their journey.
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You
Over the past few years, Powderham Live! has grown to become a unique space relied on by many teenage musicians. We primarily run off donations, sponsorships and the small amount of ticket sales at the end of year show. If you would like to join the community and help keep us going, click below.
Previous Years
All of our performers live performances are recorded by professionals
and are now available to view by clicking here.