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Writing For Music Education: ABRSM supporting emerging composers

I started writing this on the train on my way to the celebration event of ABRSM’s composer mentoring programme, Writing for Music Education. I am one of six composers selected to take part in the 2025/26 programme and the past six months has been a journey of rediscovering my motivation for composition.

My journey as a composer #

But first, how did I get here?

My background as a musician is nothing extraordinary and, perhaps, quite familiar. I had music lessons as a child, went on to study music at university and established a career primarily in teaching. As a private teacher of piano and singing, as well as a peripatetic vocal coach and classroom music teacher with my local music service, I had little time or energy to develop my career as a composer. And with a young family — and the need to generate an income from my work — composing always felt like something I could only do in my ‘spare’ time when the kids were occupied and I could justify the luxury of indulging my creative interests.

Working in education settings did, however, provide opportunities for me to compose, even if not my primary focus. I have written many songs and musicals for schools and have had a few works published. Over the years I have tried to make the most of opportunities that have come my way, notably my work arranging and producing a series of albums for a local baby music group from 2008–12, which then led to my appointment as Vocal Composer in Residence for Services for Education in 2012.

I’m also an ABRSM examiner which led to me listening to a vast range of repertoire across different levels. I had prepared performances of pieces and songs for my own music exams and with my pupils. This often involved analysing the music in terms of structure, playability and what made them interesting and motivational for learners.

Time to compose #

Fast-forward to 2020 and the Covid pandemic.

Having been building my compositional repertoire as a songwriter, specialising in primary choirs and classroom music, I was looking forward to having my music featured at a Youth Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. It felt like things were beginning to gather momentum for me as a composer.

But, overnight, singing was banned and schools were closed. The event was cancelled and my motivation vapourised. What was the point of spending hours writing music that no-one could use?

The pandemic was a challenging time for so many of us — and yet it also created a space in my own life that I hadn’t had before. Improvising at the piano and composing has always been for me a way of expressing myself and of exploring my feelings. I find musical communication easier than spoken word in many ways. The emotional impact of the lockdowns and how it impacted us as a family needed some outlet in me and I turned to my well-loved friend and voice, the piano.

I had written piano pieces over the years, but these were few and far between. What happened in the spring and summer of 2020 was time. Being furloughed — and being paid — gave me time. What did I do with that wonderful gift?

I composed.

And I connected with wonderful people on social media who were promoting women composers and made me feel that what I was writing was worth listening to. The pianist Yuki Negishi performed a couple of my lockdown piano pieces, a significant motivation to write more.

ABRSM’s Writing for Music Education programme #

Fast-forward again, this time to 2025, and I decided to apply to ABRSM’s mentoring programme for composers interested in writing music for educational settings. Writing for Music Education is a six-month, structured programme, combining in-person events, mentoring and online discussions and conversations with composers and partner organisations. ABRSM sets a series of compositional tasks to help composers develop their skills in writing to specific educational briefs. Some relate to exam syllabuses, while others offer opportunities to collaborate with ABRSM’s partner organisations, including National Children’s Orchestras, the National Youth Jazz Orchestra and Open Up Music. Participants discuss their work with established educational composers such as Alan Bullard and Sarah Watts. These discussions create opportunities for personal development and to find out about processes and practices that could be conducive to establishing further connections in the composing field.

I didn’t know what to expect when I started in September 2025. I certainly felt nervous and had real ‘imposter syndrome’, worrying about what everyone would think about my compositions and whether I would be ‘good enough’. I was soon put at ease, though, and found the programme created a supportive, encouraging and nurturing environment for composers to flourish in.

Creative freedom within limitations #

How did the course change my thinking? I discovered that I loved having detailed criteria to consider when composing, giving thought to keys, rhythmic limitations and the confines of hand positions and movement when writing for any given level. At the early grades, I had to create a piece that was simple, yet inspiring, creative and musical. I could use all my examiner experience and think about what this would sound like in the exam room. I could draw on the experience of my own learning journey and my love of musical storytelling to create engaging sound worlds that would capture the imagination of performers at the start of their musical journey.

As I worked on the different briefs, I felt as if my experience as a teacher suddenly found a voice and credibility within the composing world. I could use all the years of watching people learn and channel those experiences into my music. More than that, I could draw on all those imaginative worlds of bedtime stories and my love of the natural environment. My years as a mum, trying to balance family and work, suddenly seemed rich and full of possibility, no longer the limiting factor in my career progression.

Broadening horizons #

Being tasked to write for different instruments was possibly the biggest game-changer for me.

I had previously felt compelled to stay within the realm of my own performing ability to be credible. Now I think about it, I don’t know why really — of course orchestral and ensemble composers can’t possibly play all the instruments they write for! But I had never tried, other than within the confines of backing tracks for songs created digitally and, let’s be honest, without always having to stick to exact parameters of what was possible.

I found myself composing for a variety of different instruments, including viola and double bass, as well an exciting accessible electronic instrument called the Clarion. Developed by Open Up Music, you can play the Clarion with any part of the body, including with head and eye movement, and it has recently become part of ABRSM’s Open Music Assessment offer. As a relatively new instrument, resources and repertoire are very limited, so we were encouraged to write simple pieces for the early stages of learning. This was a brilliant new experience and I enjoyed discovering how the Clarion works, including its limitations and possibilities.

Celebrating our music #

Back to the train … and now on the way home from London.

The celebration event was such a moving experience and a great finale to the programme. Composers from the programme showcased examples of the music we had written during the programme to an audience of colleagues and organisations from across the music education sector. It was amazing to hear the breadth and variation of pieces, all written to the same briefs and with the same parameters, yet so different and individual!

I felt a deep sense of gratitude for being able to share this unique time with everyone and I loved hearing my pieces performed live. What a privilege and joy to share the past six months in such a creative and inspirational way. I’m excited by what the future has in store — and am more motivated and energised as a composer than ever before.

Since writing this post, things have already started developing.

I have had my first collection of grade 1 piano pieces, My Piano Sketchbook Grade 1, accepted by Forsyth Publishers for publication later in the year and have composed a solo piano piece for the ABRSM piano for one hand syllabus.

A selection of my piano pieces has been recorded in the albums Love Notes and Transformations.

There's also a full list of compositions and a selection of scores elsewhere on my website.