#BGFAcademyAlumni — Isha Sesay
Black Girl Fest Academy is a seven-month community-focused creative programme, created by Black Girl Festival, in association with Today at Apple and The Mayor of London.
Over the past few months, we’ve supported 30 Black women aged 17–25, equipping them with the tools to create events for their local communities. We’re excited to introduce our Academy Alumni sharing more about their event ideas.
Meet Isha Sesay, founder of Solar Sessions — an 8-week music industry course followed by a live music event. It is for 4 young (18–30 year old) up and coming R&B/Soul singers (African, Caribbean, Latinx backgrounds) from the borough of Haringey, North London. Unfortunately in the UK, R&B/Soul isn’t as popular as it is in America and the majority of the artists tend to go to the states to gain global recognition. For example, Ella Mai. I want to eventually change that narrative! Thought-provoking creative sessions will be taught by music practitioners, i.e Songwriters, A&R’s and Music Execs. Each session will take space via Zoom for virtual sessions, in a creative space or recording studio. The objective is to educate the artists on the following areas; Artist Relations, Songwriting and Production, Social Media Management, Money Management, Contracts, Bookings and Performing.
Helen Femi Williams
Tell us more about your event, How did you come up with it? What impact do you hope it makes for your community?
I’ve always wanted to create a music-related project for my community. Due to the current state of R&B in the UK being overlooked (I believe the UK music industry is very genre-specific), I wanted to create a course (and event) where young R&B singers from my borough (Haringey, North London), can have the opportunity to learn about the ins and outs of the music industry and connect with music practitioners that can help them create or improve the foundation of their music careers. I hope Solar Sessions can create an impact that forces some sort of change in the UK music scene. Because chilee... There are so many talented black UK R&B/Soul singers that do not get the push or recognition that they deserve. Tottenham specifically (where I’m from), is known for our established and rising stars in Rap and Drill mainly. For example, Skepta, Headie One, JME, OFB etc. Although this is amazing, the same attention should be given to black R&B singers.
What advice would you give to anyone who wants to sign up to the Black Girl Fest Academy programme?
DO IT! Nicole and the amazing facilitators on the programme will guide you through it and support you. You also get to be amongst black like-minded womxn that want to add to their communities too.
What have you learnt whilst being on the programme?
I’ve learnt so many things that I’m so grateful to the Black Girl Fest Academy. Budgeting and Pitching especially were two areas I didn’t have much knowledge in. Our sessions with the facilitators really challenged me to consider it if I want to plan a soon to be a successful event! I always have my budgeting plan updated and have created a pitch deck that I now use to send out to future sponsors and partners (need to speak it into existence lool).
Could you give 3 piece’s of advice you would give to someone who wants to run events for their community?
Do your market research! Find out what your community thinks.
Put a team together that you trust! There are some things you can’t do alone. Creating a team where everyone has their own roles and delegated responsibilities will prevent you from overworking yourself.
Believe in your sauce! Approach your networks, audience and potential partners with confidence. If you believe in what your event is about, they will more than likely believe it too.
