We look forward to welcoming visitors to the National Memorial Arboretum this Easter holiday. Please be aware that planned improvement works on the A38 at Lichfield, in place from 27 March to 8 April, may affect some visitor road travel. The Arboretum will remain open daily as normal, from 10am – 5pm, and signposted diversion routes will remain in place to support journeys impacted.
Over eight weeks, aspiring artists work with Arboretum poet-in-residence Arji Manuelpillai, creative practitioner and writer Emily Summers and Associate Partners Black Voices to develop their skills and creative practice, build confidence and to share their unique lived experience.
Together, we create a safe and reflective space to recall, write, and shape songs or spoken word pieces that offer insight into personal experiences and lived stories. Participants are supported to create original material, develop arrangements that thoughtfully frame their work, and rehearse, present, and professionally record their pieces at the iconic Grosvenor Road Studios in Birmingham.
The finished works are shared through live performance opportunities and featured as part of services and events here at the National Memorial Arboretum.
Applications for the next Talent in the Ranks intake are now open!
Whether you are highly experienced or completely new to music or spoken word, this programme offers a welcoming and supportive environment in which to develop your creative practice, build confidence, share or strengthen skills, and support wellbeing through creativity.
If you wish to take part, please email us with the title TALENT IN THE RANKS and a few words about you and why you would like to be involved. Please include a contact telephone number so that our team can arrange a call back.
To commit to the project, you must be available for all of the following sessions held at the National Memorial Arboretum and two recording sessions at Grosvenor Road Studios:
| Sunday 13 September | |
| Sunday 27 September | |
| Sunday 4 October | |
| Sunday 17 October | |
| Friday 30 October | Performance Date |
| Sunday 1 November | |
| Saturday 7 November | |
| Sunday 8 November | Performance Date |
| Wednesday 11 November | Performance Date |
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Laura Kelly, a Talent in the Ranks artist, shares more about participtating in the 2024 programme.
"Talent in the Ranks has been the most incredible journey. With a gentle nudge from a great friend, I entered the process full of nerves and doubting whether I was good enough. I started as the girl who, in week one, was too scared to sing and played a recording instead. But by the end, I stood proudly in front of thousands at a remembrance service, singing with confidence I never knew I had. It was beyond my wildest dreams.
This programme provided the safest space to be vulnerable, to express ourselves authentically, and to create art from the things we once carried in silence. It found me at a pivotal moment in my life—when I was struggling with my past and unable to see a clear future. Through Talent in the Ranks, I found confidence, empowerment, and healing. It gave me the courage to speak, embrace my story, and to reconnect with the little girl who loved singing with her dad.
More than anything, I realized that what made me love singing so much was that, back then, that little girl believed in herself as much as her dad believed in her. Thanks to Rachel, Dan, Aliyah, Black Voices, and everyone at Grosvenor Road Studios, you’ve brought that little girl’s sparkle back. You’ve not only transformed my voice but also every aspect of my life and I will always be so grateful."
Laura Kelly, Talent in the Ranks 2024
