Those with Music Potential come together for a special evening at Oh Yeah

Music Potential is one of the largest talent searches and intense music training schemes to come out of the UK on such a wide scale with young people from London, Glasgow, Cardiff, Birmingham and Belfast taking part.

The music programme supports young people aged 18-25 improve crucial skills necessary in both developing talent and enhancing employability prospects. In February this year 60 young people took part in an intense round of workshops and training in music production, writing, performance and events management known as the MPX programme. They worked alongside some of the best in the industry, including Leah McFall, Callum Stewart and Iain Archer.

The programme helped sharpen young performer’s skills and increase confidence in areas that include of song writing, music and radio production and event management.

Now is their time to shine and for some it will the first time they have graced the stage to experience the buzz of live performance. Singer-songwriter Shauna McArdle will be performing a track written in collaboration with 18-year-old rapper Jack

​McQuillan​. Neither artist has performed in public before.

Shauna credits the ‘Music Potential’ programme with getting her back into music after taking a break due to personal issues: “Having written and sung privately for a long time, I had lost my confidence and couldn’t face the prospect of performing. However, this programme has really given me the confidence to sing in front of other people again and to just get out there and show people what I have got!”

Other artists like Rebekah Fitch and Conor Maley are seasoned pros at this stage. Both have been steadily making a name for themselves on the music scene in Belfast and see this as another step on the ladder to success.

Conor Maley, originally from Co. Donegal, signed up to the programme to get more experience of the industry and to hone his talent further: “Already on the programme, I have created strong networks and made great connections, so much so that I have already been offered slots on bills I wouldn’t have been considered before. It’s been a great next step for me and I can’t wait until the showcase to debut some of the tracks recorded with Start Together Studios.”

Come and support the best and brightest up and coming musical talent in the community on Tuesday April 17. Doors open at 7pm, admission is free but for strictly over 18s.