CCIN Conference Evening Programme

Read more about the evening's performers:

Sunderland Youth & Community Orchestra

Sunderland Youth & Community Orchestra is a place where young people can come together and experience playing as part of an orchestra no matter their standard of playing.

We have found that children who play sometimes have parents who play instruments too, and some of our "grown up" members do not want to leave! This makes for a great dynamic within the orchestra.

We often find players leave for university and then return and/or progress into the Sunderland Symphony Orchestra. We also have members of the Sunderland Symphony Orchestra that come to help and enjoy playing in the SYCO.

We rehearse every Saturday morning at Trinity Church, SR2 7AQ. If you would like to know more about SYCO please contact Emma Mapplebeck: emma.mapplebeck@togetherforchildren.org.uk

Sunderland Youth Choir

Sunderland Youth Choir is a group of passionate young singers from across the city aged between 7-18. We rehearse once a week at City Hall to develop our vocal skills, sing together and to have fun whilst doing it!

As a group we've performed at many fantastic events and venues, including Sunderland Empire and Summer Streets Festival, to not only make the audience smile and our families proud, but to also inspire other young people to do what they love and to have fun doing it!

If you would like to know more about Sunderland Youth Choir please contact Liam Huitson: liam.huitson@togetherforchildren.org.uk

The Lake Poets

The Lake Poets is Martin Longstaff, a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter from Sunderland, England - Inspired by artists such as Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, Villagers, Feist, John Martyn, Wilco, Damien Rice, & Bright Eyes, Martin aims and enjoys to write classic, engaging and relatable songs in an expanded band or solo singer-songwriter style.

Described as 'Quietly Devastating', 'Accomplished and Intelligent and 'Spellbinding and Heart-breaking, Martin's music regularly silences audiences and turns heads. Lead single 'Your Face' from The Lake Poets' debut album has received over 8 million+ Spotify plays as well steady daytime airplay on BBC Radio 2, Radio X, and BBC 6 Music, with follow up single 'Edinburgh' not far behind.

"Honeyed voice and beautiful intricate guitar riffs create a sound that soothes, understated like watercolours of an idyllic landscape. This sound, coupled with lyrics of love and heartbreak that rival Damien Rice's as a laureate of loss and despair, has situated Martin and The Lake Poets as a jewel in the crown of northern song writing"

Recorded at Blackbird Studio, Nashville USA and mixed in Los Angeles The Lake Poets' debut album comes as special edition double gatefold 12" vinyl including a bonus Live recording captured over two sold out launch nights in Martin's hometown Minster using equipment and personnel direct from Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios.

In 2019 album track 'Shipyards' was chosen to be the theme tune of internationally popular Netflix documentary 'Sunderland Til' I Die' leading to to a top 3 UK Christmas chart position and National TV performances. As a result of the success of the series Martin played The Royal Albert Hall as well as to 49,000 SAFC fans in the centre circle of the Stadium of Light Boxing Day 2019.

Martin also writes and records for, and with other acts, most notably London Trance Act 'Above & Beyond'. Martin has co-written and performed vocals on four songs to date, two being lead singles, as well as recorded an acoustic live album with the band which featured the London Philharmonic recorded at Abbey Road Studios. Martin continues to collaborate on songs with other songwriters in the North East, London, Nashville and L.A and runs a youth group in Sunderland that promotes original songwriting and performance opportunities.

"Somewhere between Bright Eyes and John Martyn. Something Special" - Mojo ****

"Stunning Debut from Sunderland Troubadour. Quietly Brilliant" - Uncut 8/10

"Martin's rich, spacious sound, his room-filling guitar style and soft, clear, sweet voice are so shockingly note perfect. The tracks he play ripple with wistful sadness and sharply observed lyrics and the images and lives he creates feel immensely personal" - For Folk's Sake

"For decades the sound of the acoustic guitar has pulled at the heartstrings of so many. Now Longstaff is carrying on that tradition with his beautiful, thought provoking, honest acoustic music. When I first heard The Lake Poets I was blown away" - The Guardian

"Stunningly heart-breaking music, beautiful and quietly devastating" - BBC 6 Music

Paul Callaghan, CBE, DL, FRSA, Hon.DBA

Paul is Chair of the Music, Arts and Culture Trust, which has developed Sunderland's £20m cultural quarter, including the restored 1908 Fire Station, the new auditorium, and the restoration of other Edwardian buildings. A member of 'New Philanthropy for Arts and Culture', he has particular interest in place-shaping and regeneration.

In his business life, Paul chairs the Leighton Group of technology companies which he founded. The Group includes Leighton, Salecycle, Workcast, and Footy.com. He also chairs My World, a publishing company, and Pub Culture, a hospitality chain supporting cultural venues. The companies are based in Tyne and Wear with offices in Europe and the USA.

In the public, educational and charity sectors he has been Chair of England's Regional Development Agencies, ONE North East, Sunderland University, Redhouse Academy, Live Theatre, Business Link NE, Sunderland Economic Leadership Board, the Regional Technology Centre North, Sunderland Software City, and the Newcastle Gateshead Initiative.

Previously Goldman Visiting Professor at Newcastle University Business School and Visiting Professor of Business at London Metropolitan University, he holds a BSc Economics from the LSE, a MA in Management from Newcastle University, a MSc Econ in Public Finance from Salford University, and an Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration from Sunderland University. He has been given Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Entrepreneurs Forum and from the NE Business Awards and the Special Contribution to Arts and Culture from the NE Culture Awards.

He is Deputy Lieutenant of Tyne and Wear, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and was High Sheriff of Tyne and Wear in 2018-19. He has written and edited several books on Business and Economics as well as the 'Official History of Sunderland AFC' and 'Culture in the City - Sunderland's Cultural Transformation'.

Breaking Tradition

A clash of folk and urban dance cultures that leaves you high on life!

'A full-on show of such blazing energy and joyous ingenuity you scarcely ponder on the apparent madness of trying to marry folk dance and hip hop' The Independent

Breaking Tradition is the UK's leading Folk & Hip Hop dance company.

Founded by Artistic Director Damien Barber, in 2005, the company has developed its own unique repertoire of folk and hip hop dance fusion.

It is this originality that has led to the company's critical acclaim, gaining 4 and 5 star national reviews for their high quality productions.

Affiliated to the BBC Radio 2 Award Winning 'The Demon Barbers', live music is an essential part of the company's work.