Favela Rising showed me how a grassroots movement can change the lives of young people. Its ethos is baked into the youth charity I work for – and where two of Ezra Collective met
• ‘Like painting with light’: photographer Temi Adegbayibi on capturing the energy of music
I grew up in Great Yarmouth listening to classical music, learning piano and violin, playing in an orchestra and singing the Beatles in choir. Music was something that was arranged and formal, a privilege handed to me. At 18 I moved to London to study it at university. But outside my small town, I quickly realised that I didn’t have what it took to make it as a performer.
There were, however, two course units that really resonated with me: music therapy and music in cultural industries. They weren’t about being a musician but about using music in the wider world. And so, as graduation approached, I determined that if I could build a career in organisations that helped people through music, that would be a valuable way to pass on the opportunities I’d been given to others.