SINCE bursting onto the scene in 2000, Oxford’s Young Women’s Music Project has helped hundreds of talented female musicians make some serious noise in the world of rock and pop.
On Saturday the charity celebrates its 20th anniversary with a night of music featuring members and special guests.
The party, at the city’s Deaf & Hard of Hearing Centre in St Ebbe’s, Oxford, will feature performances from the project’s resident percussion troupe – Team Drum; Canadian artist Jenny Moore’s Mystic Business; Oxford new-soul vocalist Call.Me.Tiece; and energetic Bristolian post-punk band Slagheap.
As a special treat, there will also be a set by singer-songwriter and electronica artist Julia-Sophie of the band Candy Says (and formerly the rock band Little Fish) who performs her debut Oxford solo show.
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Project director Zahra Haji Fath Ali Tehrani said: “On Saturday we are celebrating 20 years of the Young Women’s Music Project.
“We would love people to join us for an evening of music to mark the project’s achievements over the last two decades, reflect on the impact YWMP has had on Oxford and beyond, and to celebrate the young people who have shaped and led the project.”
Zahra – who performs as an artist under the name Despicable Zee – adds: “We are proud to look back on YWMP’s growth, all the way from a one-off workshop in the 1990s, to a grassroots collective founded by Kate Garrett in 2000, to the registered charity it is today.
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“The story of YWMP is defined by resilience, with the project adapting in the face of struggles: surviving and thriving with thanks to the strength of the local community’s support.
“What underpins the power of YWMP is the unmovable belief that young women deserve to have their voices heard.
“We want to bring as many people from the Oxford. community together at our party to celebrate with us. We’re really honoured that some of our favourite acts will be playing for us, alongside our own Team Drum.
“It’ll be our biggest event yet, and unlike anything Oxford has seen before. And all proceeds from the event will go towards the running of the project.”
The YWMP is aimed at girls and young women, aged between 14-21 and of all backgrounds, to make music and is based at the Makespace community hub in Aristotle Lane, north Oxford.
It recently benefitted from a donation by Supergrass frontman Gaz Coombes, who played a fundraiser for the charity at Oxford’s Sheldonian Theatre last May.
Tickets from wegottickets.com/ywmp
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