Grammy-award winning musician leads student songwriting workshop

Cardiff University’s School of Music welcomed singer/songwriter Amy Wadge to lead a student songwriting workshop on Tuesday 8 April 2025.

Amy, a 2016 Grammy Award winner for Song of the Year with Ed Sheeran, is one of the UK’s most successful and in-demand songwriters. In addition to her own critically acclaimed albums, she has written with artists including Kylie Minogue, James Blunt, Camila Cabello and John Legend. In 2022, Amy co-wrote the UK’s Eurovision Song Contest entry, Space Man. Performed by Sam Ryder, Space Man achieved the UK’s best result in almost two decades, finishing second.

Students were invited to submit songs for consideration ahead of the workshop with six songs (representing seven songwriters) selected to be presented either in live performance or in recorded format. The songwriters and songs selected were:

• Harry McInroy presenting Orbit
• Evie Loose presenting Summer/Autumn
• Katerina Li presenting Dream in Spotlight
• Tia Halliwell and Lucas Palenek presenting Separate Ways
• Lily Edmondson presenting Pools of Green
• Dahlia Binti presenting We'll Be Alright

Amy opened the workshop with a discussion about the start of her career, first as a recording artist and then as a songwriter before the students came on stage in turn and introduced their song. After the song was played, Amy gave her response before closing the workshop with questions from the floor. Many questions focused on the collaborative relationship between songwriters and artists.

Dr Charles Wilson, Director of Student Professional Development in the School of Music, commented: “To have a leading international songwriter, who has collaborated with the very best in the business, give her expert feedback on your own work is a privilege none of the students involved will forget.

“Amy gave each song the same care and attentiveness, showing how just the smallest change to melody or harmony or the simplest alteration of structure could help it take wing.”

Evie Loose, a Music and English Literature student, said: “As an aspiring singer-songwriter, having someone like Amy Wadge, a master of her craft, give up her time and share her wisdom with us has been an unbelievable opportunity. It reminds us that what we do as musicians has value and that our futures are worth investing in.”

As the workshop ended, Amy said it had been “an honour” to hear the music presented during the session. She also commented: “There is such a huge amount of talent in Wales, and I believe it is incredibly important to cultivate that talent by giving advice and guidance to young creatives before they embark on a career in music.”