Eight new arts projects will be brought to life with funding from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s Innovation Studio.

Innovation Studio, the two-year pilot programme for creative experimentation, interdisciplinarity, and collaboration for RCS students, staff and alumni, comes to a close with this final round of funding.

Deborah Keogh, Knowledge Exchange Manager and Innovation Studio Project Lead at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, said: “Innovation Studio was launched in 2022 to unlock the innovation and engagement potential of the RCS community and extend the scope of our artistic work into new contexts and sectors.

“During the pilot, Innovation Studio has supported 32 projects from students, staff and alumni with a total of £63,000 worth of funding.

“We are delighted to have been able to support such exciting projects, and to have begun connecting the innovation community at RCS.

“The Innovation Studio team will now enter a period of review. Between now and September we will review the outcomes of this pilot and begin to plan for an embedded support system for innovation at RCS.”

As well as the funding strand of Innovation Studio, the pilot also included Springboard (studio time and a scratch night for students and graduates), a mini residency for staff at Cove Park, and the commission of a piece of research on Creative Health.

Innovation Studio is coordinated by the Knowledge Exchange team and was supported by the Scottish Funding Council’s University Innovation Fund (UIF).

The awardees are:

Ben Standish (MA Classical and Contemporary Text graduate)

In collaboration with An Tobar and Mull Theatre, and Eve Jamieson (retired RCS staff member), Empty Chair develops a new strand of artistic practice: a socially engaged, community-based, verbatim theatre research model which explores the themes of loss and loneliness.

The project will culminate in an audio-guided walking play which takes people on a physical journey across the stunning and varied landscape of Mull.

The narrative follows the ‘true’ story of one woman meeting an island’s inhabitants and coming to terms with her own experiences of loss and loneliness.

Ben said: “In 2022 we held various workshops and interviews on the themes of loss and loneliness. Using a variety of verbatim material, we then reimagined the true story of this process to create a quasi-documentary theatre narrative.

“This funding takes us back to Mull where we will develop our story, travelling to various locations and allowing each environment to shape the piece. We will reconnect with local participants whose unique perspectives will help inform the work.”

Connor Bristow (BMus Composition student)

This project will focus on developing ideas with interactive electronic technologies that can be utilised to create community arts projects and workshops.

This will be the beginning of an exploration into these technologies and their possibilities that will offer a platform to develop community work.

Connor said: “There are many exciting and interesting opportunities within the technology that will be explored in this project.

“Receiving this funding from Innovation Studio will mean that I can do some valuable research into an area of great interest to me. It will also provide a paid opportunity for me, which will be extremely valuable given that I am soon to be a graduate.

“Funding will provide a beginning basis for this project and allow me to test its feasibility in a way that allows for great creative flexibility.”

Seyoung Oh (MMus Composition student), Adam Walsh (BA Filmmaking graduate), Layla Bruce, Sophie Gray, Sian Myfanwy James, Rose Barford, Miyu Takasugi and Zara Bell (all BA Modern Ballet students)

A Tree of Moulded Voices is a cross-department project between music, dance and film students. The process of creating choreography was done through close communication between the composer and dancers, which formed a deep integration between the two, and the filming was planned for each movement, delivering different perspectives of the choreography through the lens of the camera.

They said: “We intend to create a dance film that can demonstrate how three mediums create a synergy.

“Most importantly, Innovation Studio funding will make it possible to bring expertise of filming into our project. As filming is one of three core mediums in this project, we had to look for a film director who has enough knowledge and experience and a film graduate agreed to join.”

Isla Callister (MA Psychology in the Arts student)

Folk Together is a collaboration between folk musicians Isla Callister and Seán Gray and a small group of musicians in prison. Over the course of three days, the group will come together to explore folk music and song, collaborate, and create new original folk-inspired music.

Isla said: “With the Innovation Studio funding, Folk Together can now move forward with its vision to take folk music into new spaces and help increase access to the arts in prison.

“This project will not only impact our own practice as folk musicians, but importantly, create opportunities for exploration, creativity, and collaboration for all involved. We’d like to thank the Innovation Studio for their support.”

Lydia Davidson (Lecturer, Musical Theatre) and Filip Holacky (Lecturer, Junior Conservatoire of Drama, Dance, Production and Film, Musical Theatre)

They said: “Our project is a research and development residency where we can work on a new musical.

“The musical encompasses the artistry of stained glass, and we are so excited to spend some time learning to create glass art and then work that into the writing and composition of our new work.

“We are so excited to get to work on this project. We have been developing it for two years now and to be given the time and space to dedicate to development is a real gift!”

Ailsa Mooney (Lecturer, Junior Conservatoire of Music, Voice)

Ailsa said: “I was lucky enough in my singing education to be taught how to breathe and have developed my interest in this area over many years of teaching singing.

“It has led me to think about how breathing affects wind and brass players and pipers and whether there is a need for breathing to be taught to instrumentalists and vocalists of any genre who use breath in their playing/voicework.

“Innovation Studio funding will financially support me to provide four workshops for students of any breath-related discipline, to share experience and hopefully gain insight into the role of breathing for their instrument.

“I hope it will give students (and teachers) a start on an inspirational journey to develop this aspect of technique, which can hopefully lead to a deeper self-expression and playing of a higher quality.”

Althea Young (BA Contemporary Performance Practice graduate)

Althea said: “We will be undertaking further development of HOVER, a live duet between a performer and a drone. HOVER explores a relationship between a fem body and a drone that shifts through curiosity and play, into intimidation and coercion.

“A seemingly domestic exploration of stalking and objectification is ultimately blown into a broader metaphor for the ways in which humans surveil and commodify each other through the technologies of the digital image.

“Innovation Studio funding will give us the time and money we need to really see how far we can push the potential of this project, both in terms of technological experimentation as well as impactful storytelling.”

Aby Watson (PhD student)

HERE WE FLOW is a Scotland-wide pilot artist development programme for neurodivergent performing artists, alongside a process of strategic organisational planning for the Scottish Neurodiverse Performance Network (SNPN) led by Aby Watson, in partnership with and produced by Magnetic North.

Aby said: “The funding from Innovation Studio scaffolds an exciting opportunity for the Scottish Neurodiverse Performance Network (SNPN). It presents us with crucial means to strategically review SNPN and develop a sustainable roadmap for the future organisation of the network, through support from Magnetic North.

“With this funding, we can share this development process directly to the neurodivergent performance community through open dialogue, consultation, and neurodivergent-centre accessible resources.”