Artists: Estates, Legacy, Money, Control: Eamonn Forde & Conor Mitchell

The life of an artwork - a piece of music - a poem - does not end when an artist passes. 

Who looks after it; who promotes its legacy; who controls how it is used? 

Join Eamonn Forde, author of Leaving the Building: The Lucrative Afterlife of Music Estates and Conor Mitchell, Director of the Belfast Ensemble, for a conversation about estates, control, access to information….and money!

Hosted by Charlotte Dryden, Director, Oh Yeah Music Centre. 

Eamonn Forde has been writing about all areas of the music industry since 2001. He regularly writes for Music Ally, Music Business Worldwide, The Guardian and others. He has published two music business books: The Final Days Of EMI: Selling The Pig in 2019; and Leaving The Building: The Lucrative Afterlife Of Music Estates in 2021. His third music business book will be published in early 2024. 

Conor Mitchell is a multi award-winning opera/music-theatre composer, librettist, and stage director. His music blends the worlds of stage design with contemporary visual arts and engages audiences through socially relevant, politically charged subjects. A double Ivor Novello nominee and double Fringe First winner, he is the recipient of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland Major Individual Artists Award and a life fellow of the Arts Foundation for composition, he is also the only non-American to hold 'best score' at the New York Musical Theatre Festival. As Artistic Director of The Belfast Ensemble, his opera Abomination: a DUP Opera was listed in the Top Ten Classical Works of 2019 and won Best Opera Production at the 2020 Irish Times Theatre Awards. He recently debuted his new musical, Propaganda, at the Lyric Theatre in 2022.

Charlotte Dryden is the Chief Executive of the award winning Oh Yeah Music Centre in Belfast, a dedicated music hub for the city. Charlotte has been involved in the northern Irish music community for over 20 years. She has a background in leadership, talent development, music and festival programming, venue and event management and music media. Charlotte has been a driving force for diversity and change in music and is passionate about promoting the cultural, social and economic contribution that music and creativity makes to Northern Ireland.