Royal College of Music and Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability launch pioneering songwriting collaboration
Thursday 25 June 2026
The Royal College of Music (RCM) and the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability (RHN) have partnered on an innovative new project bringing together student composers and performers with residents to create a collection of original songs titled Sunrise: a song cycle created by residents from the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability and students from the Royal College of Music.
Developed by RCM Sparks, the College’s learning and participation programme, and funded by the RCM’s Knowledge Exchange fund, the project pairs three RCM composition students with four RHN residents, all of whom are living with the long-term effects of acquired brain injury. Working in close collaboration with RHN music therapists, residents have contributed lyrics, ideas and personal reflections to ensure their experiences are at the centre of the project. The composers – Josh Jarvis, Josh Clark and Leo McCormack – have used these lyrics and ideas to form the basis of the new works, supported by RCM composition professor Dr Deirdre Gribbin.
This project provides RHN residents with a meaningful and accessible way to express their experiences through music, offering a creative, patient-led outlet supported by specialist music therapy. For RCM composers, it represents a unique opportunity to work in a healthcare setting, developing new skills and perspectives while exploring the role of music in supporting wellbeing and communication.
This pioneering collaboration demonstrates the power of using music to support neuro-disability patients and creates potential for future research. The project also sits alongside wider research taking place at the RCM into the role of music in health and social care, such as its innovative Centre for Performance Science and the Musical Care International Network.
Professor Jonathan Cole, Head of Composition at the Royal College of Music, commented: ‘I’m incredibly pleased to see students from the RCM Composition Faculty involved in this rewarding collaboration with the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability. This opportunity has provided valuable experience working with trained music therapists and residents in a healthcare setting, and is a testament to how our composers, working with RCM Sparks, can contribute meaningfully to local communities.’
Josh Clark reflected on his experience: ‘Working with the residents and staff at the RHN has been an absolute joy. Bringing the words that Amy (the resident) and Will (the music therapist) had written to life in music has been a wonderfully collaborative project, and I think we have managed to produce a unique song that tells Amy’s story in a creative but moving way. The project has also shone a light on the wonderful work that music therapists do, to help patients and their families work through incredibly hard times. This whole project has been a testament to how music can break through barriers in speech to bring joy.’
Michael Jenkins, Senior Music Therapist at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability, commented: ‘This project has given residents from the RHN, who live with complex neuro-disabilities, a unique opportunity to express and share their experiences through songs created in collaboration with highly skilled students from the Royal College of Music. This opportunity has been deeply meaningful and therapeutic for our residents, not only because of the songs that they have created, but also because of the relationships they have formed with the students during the creative process.’
The completed pieces were performed by RCM musicians at a special concert at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability on Thursday 25 June.
Find out more about Composition at the Royal College of Music and the specialist care provided by the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability.
