THE music venue Upstairs@TheGather has been staging live music gigs since 2020.

It has now devised a series of five-day workshops this summer, free to youngsters aged 14-18, to introduce them to the performance technologies of lights, sound, filming, and streaming.

Young volunteers don’t have to be skilled in music or drama to take part the only requirement is having an interest in technology. 

The project is supported by Arts Council England is called, 'Young People, Technology and The Arts'.

Organiser Peter Maher said: “The young people arrive as novices. They get three days of intensive training from university undergraduates to bring them up to speed with the rudiments of operating performance technologies then, on day four, they meet their musician mentor and work with them over the final 2 days culminating in a performance on the last day.

 “On the fourth day, they will be working at a professional recording studio with their musician mentor to learn the complexities of sound recording. 

"The musicians will be working with Tom Tyson, at the Music Farm Studio, Egremont where the students will witness the impact of recording technology.

 “The musician mentors, who are all experienced professional musicians, will then provide guidance based on their work in live music shows.

"They will help them understand that it’s not just about equipment, but rather about developing a professional relationship and meeting the technical demands of the performer to produce the best from that performance.”

Applicants will have one of three workshops to choose from but they will need to guarantee their attendance for the whole five days. The workshops are during the school holiday time this summer.

The first workshop will take place from Tuesday, May 28 until Saturday, June 1. The second will start on Monday, July 22, and go on until Friday, July 26. The final workshop will go on from Monday, August 19 until Friday, August 23. 

Mr Maher added: “Over the three workshops we aim to have helped 18 young Cumbrians to see a different future for themselves in the arts, even if they are not musicians or actors.

"There is a paucity of such technical skills in the UK and we suggested this to Arts Council England as our model to try to build a new, technically competent generation.”