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Guest Speaker Toks at Diversity Conference

18 October 2016

Filed Under:

Arts Management
Music
Strings

Graduate Toks Dada will be a guest speaker at the Diversity & Inclusion in Composition Conference in Manchester this Wednesday.

The conference aims to explore ways in which the classical music industry can work better together to get more black, Asian and minority ethnic composers heard and celebrated.

“Working on the UK’s largest classical music season outside of London, I find myself increasingly engaging with colleagues across the industry about the make-up of our audiences.

I believe that this is directly fuelled by a lack of diversity in the classical music industry’s workforce.

If the classical music industry is to truly attract diverse audiences, it needs to send out the message that the industry has a diverse workforce of individuals which a diverse population feel they can relate to.

These are some of the things I will be addressing at the Conference.”

Toks, who is also a member of the conference steering group, studied music at RWCMD before completing his postgraduate degree in arts management, and graduated from the College this July.

Toks pictured at work at Birmingham Symphony Hall

Toks pictured at work at Birmingham Symphony Hall

He is now the Programme Co-ordinator at Town Hall and Symphony Hall, Birmingham, and recently became a freelance assessor for the PRS for Music Foundation – the UK’s leading funder of new music across all genres.

While at RWCMD Toks founded Sinfonia Newydd, a company commissioning and producing new music, which boasts a portfolio of over 100 new music performances, including 70 world premieres.

Among the many strings to his bow while at RWCMD, viola-playing Toks was a Board member of the Wales-based chamber orchestra Sinfonia Cymru, and a freelance programmer and producer at National Theatre Wales and St David’s Hall.

He was also a mentor to other RWCMD students in his role as Chair of REPCO, the College’s student enterprise initiative.

The conference, supported by Radio 3 as part of its 70th anniversary year celebrations, will be held at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester.

It’s run in partnership with BASCA, the BBC Philharmonic and the Royal Northern College of Music, and in association with the BBC Black and Asian Forum.

 

Updates

  • In March 2017, Toks was appointed Board Member at Welsh National Opera