Zone Club Album Launch

Zone Club Album Launch:  Celebrating Creativity in Lockdown

Ever since the first lockdown in March 2020, Zone Club has been meeting online every month to support the creativity of learning disabled young adults across Wiltshire. By contributing images, stories and lyric ideas, the participants and dedicated staff have been able to write a unique collection of songs that are as diverse as they are musically spectacular.  Help us to record and prepare for the launch of their new album, which is a defining record of all they have created and achieved in a year of social distancing and online participation.

Supported by the Orinoco Foundation, the Nugee Foundation and the Ammco Trust.

About Zone Club

Zone Club is Wiltshire Music Centre's (WMC) monthly creative project for young adults aged 16+ with learning disabilities. Through monthly sessions, Clubbers come together to create their own music, lyrics, movement and films, expertly supported by professional musicians, music therapists, film-makers and theatre practitioners. Whether it's rapping, singing, song-writing, music tech, conducting or drumming - our Zone Clubbers always lead the way!

'Zone Club has encouraged his self-confidence and self-assertiveness immensely – he needs little support and has learned to cope with social situations that previously would have daunted him' Parent of a Zone Club Participant

Nearly 20 years ago, it was recognised that there was a lack of creative provision for people with learning disabilities.  Where WMC had been instrumental in supporting music-making in special schools for those with additional needs, once the young people left school there was nowhere for them to participate.  Zone Club sought to fill that gap, and continues to offer a safe and creative space to share their collective passion for music.

Over the years the Zone Clubbers have worked with WMC's resident youth orchestras and all manner of visiting artists including Kakatsitsi (Ghanaian Drummers) and long-standing WMC partners the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.  The Clubbers have shared their music across Wiltshire and beyond through public performances and regularly appear on stage at the iconic Bradford Roots Music Festival. 

The Zone Clubbers have been delighted to return to Music Centre in recent months, following virtual monthly sessions throughout the pandemic, and having been isolated, as we all were, during lockdown.  This album is the culmination of some amazing online song-writing and much dedication to the recording process.

About Wiltshire Music Centre

Wiltshire Music Centre is a professional concert hall in Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire. Recognised nationally, the Centre attracts world-renowned performers from across the classical, world, contemporary, jazz and folk genres, including trumpeter Alison Balsom, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, folk artist Kathryn Tickell and jazz legend Courtney Pine to present over 150 concerts a year, involving more than 1,000 professional, community and young musicians. 

The Centre provides a permanent home for local orchestras, choirs and music groups, and works extensively with young people locally through a vibrant and varied Creative Learning Programme in Wiltshire and beyond, encompassing 30 projects for over 5,000 young people every year. Over 800 young musicians rehearse here weekly, with 55,000 people using the Centre each year. The Centre works strategically with key local and national partners to deliver an exemplary programme of concerts, education and community work which encompasses all ages, abilities and backgrounds. It is a unique and contemporary architect-designed building comprising a first-class 300 seat concert hall with a superb acoustic and hospitality spaces. 

Wiltshire Music Centre Trust Ltd is a registered charity with charity registration number 1026160, and a registered company with a registration number 2661682.