Do the songs matter? Repertoire, agency and young people's mental health

What are we going to sing today, and why that rather than something else? It seems like a simple question, but the more we ask practitioners about it, the less simple it looks. And when we're singing with young people whose mental health is fragile, what are those choices actually doing in the room?

We'll be having an open conversation, but some of what we'll be exploring:

• Certain songs and genres clearly appeal to young people. Does that mean we always follow their lead, or is there a case for widening the picture?

• Music doesn't only lift people. It can unsettle them too, sometimes at a level nobody in the room could put into words. How should that shape our choices?

• We talk a lot about agency, and rightly. But what does it look like in practice? And when is it kinder to narrow the choices, or take them away…