Graham Dowdall

Graham Dowdall combines a practice as a performer, workshop leader, trainer, consultant and tutor in the field of Community Music. His passion for music and social equality run hand in hand and dovetail rewardingly into his portfolio career. As a performer, Graham specialises in electronic music and has a huge catalogue of contributions to commercially released recordings, as well as significant experience performing live around the globe. As a workshop leader he has spent the last 25 years working with a wide range of client groups, but specialises in working with young people in challenging circumstances — especially those at risk of offending and those with a variety of learning and physical disabilities and difference.

Academic qualifications

• BA (Hons) Law – Kingston
• Cert. Music Workshop Skills (Goldsmiths)

Teaching

Graham taught on the CMWS at Goldsmiths from 2001 until its closure in 2014, working for the first six years as a guest lecturer before convening and teaching as an associate tutor on the programme.

He now convenes and leads modules in Music in Educational, Therapeutic and Community Contexts, and Music Workshop Skills as well as leading all of Goldsmiths’ Community Music Short Courses for STaCS.

He also leads the Community Arts pathway of the MA Applied Anthropology, Community, Youthwork and Community Arts.

Graham has taught in innumerable schools, special school, care homes, prisons and other contexts.

He leads a programme – Music in Community for the Academy of Contemporary Music , has lectured for University of Porto, The Sage, Uni. Of Limerick and Hull and Nordoff Robins Music Therapy.

Professional projects

Graham has a wide training and consultancy portfolio working for many of the national Music Hubs as well as organisations like Live Music Now, Musicians Union, Drake Music, Sound Connections, Mac Makes Music, Youth Music and many more. He is engaged by Croydon Music and Arts as an Inclusion consultant and has designed large-scale projects for them achieving national funding.

Publications and research outputs

Article

Dowdall, Graham. 2015. Article on training needs for musicians working in community settings for Soundsense. Soundsense,

Research Interests

Primarily three areas – How technology can benefit people with disabilities and enable them to take part in meaningful music making ; the benefits of music making for young people failed by and failing in the education system and either at risk or already offending ; methodologies and approaches for training musicians to work in informal community settings in the 21^st century (in partnership with colleagues at Chichester and Sunderland Univs).