13 – 19 December 2025

“The flexibility and scope of what we were allowed to explore was very valuable. Also, meeting lots of different artists from very different locations with very different backgrounds was extremely inspiring, and great to make those connections with people that I'll be working with again in the future!”

BPYAP Composer 2023–24

Watch performances from our 2023–24 CAPPA courses.

CAPPA is for makers in sound, whether you are a composer, improvisor, sound artist, producer, songwriter, interdisciplinary artist, or any other music performer who substantially contributes to new original work (through, for example, devising, collaboration, and interpretation). The intention is to bring together like minded artists to foster conversation and potential collaboration across different approaches to making new work. The emphasis is on exploratory or experimental music (broadly defined), and a wide variety of sounds and approaches are welcome.

This course will be led by some of the leading experts in new exploratory music making, Larry Goves and Sarah Hennies. You will also be working and collaborating with the course resident ensemble The House of Bedlam and potentially other guest tutors.

You can expect to make new work and experiments towards new work in collaboration with other participants and the course tutors and ensembles. The ultimate aim is to contribute new work to a group show/concert at the Aldeburgh Festival in June 2026. The course is not, however, a residency, and is structured around provocations and responses to discussions about experimental music and performance art. In the past sessions have included a survey of recent and historical performance art work and concepts, alternative notational strategies, discussions of key repertoire, and introductions to the tutors’ practice. This year there will be a gentle focus on ‘kindness’. This will provide a starting point for considering personal interactions, collaboration, performer expectations, agency, ownership, commodification, and how new work is shared.

You will need to be at Snape Maltings for the full duration of the course, 13 – 19 December 2025. There will also be an introductory online meeting ahead of the course, dates for this will be discussed with you.

As with all BPYAP courses, there is no fee to attend, we will cover travel costs, local accommodation and most meals. Additionally, we have a small budget to provide financial support, including help with childcare costs and removing barriers to access.

Applications are invited from creative musicians who are prepared to work with others (whether you perform or not and whatever your approach to making music might be). We are accepting applications internationally, you do not have to be a resident of the UK or EU in order to apply for this course.

To apply for this course, click here.