Kirsty Devaney – Project leader:

“I came from a non-musical family and only took up music when my school offered free music lessons. I wanted to play the saxophone, they gave me a flute…When I got to secondary school I really enjoyed music lessons and my teacher was very supportive and I found music a lot of fun. I soon took up other instruments such as the piano, guitar, singing, cello and finally the saxophone. I enjoyed being able to play lots of different styles due to playing the different instruments. I was in windbands, string quartets, Ska bands, orchestras,
(a rock band for a short time!), choirs, and jazz bands. I looked for as many different opportunities as possible as I lived in West Cumbria so there were few opportunities. I started to arrange music first for some of the ensembles, which lead into composing for them. Playing the different instruments meant I knew a lot about the different instruments and I often wrote for the players I knew. This way of composing has stuck with me and I still love experimenting with the different sounds I can get out of the instruments and working closely with musicians. Working with musicians and getting to hear your music live is an amazing experience and is so important as you learn so much.”