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Katherine McGillivray’s Get a Life Fund gives awards to musicians planning a sabbatical from their normal working lives.   The charity helps fund projects across a broad creative spectrum with the aim of re-inspiring and re-charging the artistic lives of the applicants.  Grants are given to individual professional musicians over the age of 30, born or domiciled in the UK or Eire.

The deadline for next year’s awards is March 19th 1012.

Find out more about the Get a Life Fund »

2011 Award Winners

Debra Salem

Debra currently works as a music specialist in primary schools. The 'Get a Life Fund' award has allowed her the time to develop her freelance work to the point that on returning to her job she'll be earning a viable living through a freelance musical career and can therefore teach for fewer days.

Read Debra's blog

Nuala Kennedy

Supported by the Get a Life Fund, the well-known traditional flute player and singer Nuala Kennedy will take a sabbatical from her busy touring schedule as a performing musician, and beginning in December 2011, will spend eight months immersed in the vibrant musical culture of New York City.  There she will focus intensively on songwriting and develop new skills in composition and whistle-making.

Read Nuala's blog

Zoë Martlew

Eight years ago Zoë launched a one-woman show comprised of her own compositions, monologues, songs and theatrical sketches called Z Unleashed. Over the years, the show has had quite a few excursions in different guises at venues home and abroad but, out of necessity, it has always been fitted sparingly around a hectic freelance existence as cellist, performer and sometime composer, improvisor and broadcaster. Thanks to the Get a Life Fund, Zoë now has the financial support she so needed in order to develop her ideas further.

Read Zoë's blog