Earlier this year, community musician, musical director and educator Jane Reeves joined Last Night A DJ Saved My Life in Tanzania, bringing her experience of participatory music into a week of creativity, connection and collaboration.
Now, just a few months later, she’s preparing for her second LNADJ journey of 2026, this time to Nepal.
Jane has spent much of her life creating connection through music. Born into a touring musical family and performing professionally from a young age, her career has taken her from the stage into prisons, mental health services and community spaces, using singing and music as tools for wellbeing, expression and human connection.
She is an accomplished musical director, arranger and educator, has founded and led award-winning community choirs and co-created Choir Player, a platform supporting choir leaders and singers around the world.
At the heart of Jane’s work is a belief that music should be participatory, accessible and shared. And her experience with LNADJ in Tanzania earlier this year only strengthened her belief in the importance of music and community.
This October, Jane will join us at the Girls Learning Centre in Nepal, developed as part of the Girls’ Empowerment Programme, a long-term LNADJ partnership supporting girls and young women to develop skills, confidence, leadership and opportunities for their futures.
Jane will collaborate with around 35–40 girls through singing, songwriting and participatory music, working particularly closely with a smaller group of young women who already have a love of singing and will help lead the activities alongside the local team.
The ambition is simple: create together.
Ahead of her trip, we caught up with Jane to reflect on Tanzania, find out what she’s looking forward to in Nepal and discover why creating music together remains so important to her.
You joined us in Tanzania earlier this year. What did that experience mean to you?
Since accompanying a wonderful team from LNADJ to Tanzania in February this year, I realised that the world is in need of community and music more than I had ever imagined.
Having identified that my mission and skill in life is to spread love and belonging through music, I am grateful to have these opportunities. They are truly life-changing experiences and remind us of the value of our work.
What are you most looking forward to about working with the young women in Nepal?
I am looking forward to meeting the girls I’ve been speaking with.
This project sees me working with them to create an exciting music programme to inspire future attendees of the Centre. I can’t wait to be led by their thoughts and ideas while using my own experience to create something really special that they can continue to deliver in an inspiring and exciting way.
What do you hope will come from your time together?
I hope that I leave behind a group of girls who have enjoyed an epic musical experience with me that will lead them to truly understand the power of music in communities.
Why is this work so important to you?
This matters because universal languages are so important. Music holds people and things together and yet it isn’t fixed.
The girls have already told me that music allows them to express themselves, and the more people we can inspire to use music as community healing, the happier the world will be.
Creating something that continues
This isn’t about arriving in Nepal with a ready-made programme. Jane has already begun speaking with some of the young women involved, and their ideas, interests and creativity will help shape what happens when everyone comes together.
Across the week, Jane and the girls will explore their voices, share ideas and create music together, with the hope of writing a song as a group.
Importantly, the Girls’ Empowerment Programme itself is built around peer-to-peer learning. Girls are encouraged to take what they learn, put it into practice and share it with others — gradually becoming peer educators, mentors, advocates and leaders within their own communities.
The hope is that music can become part of that same cycle. Jane will work alongside girls who are already interested in leading singing activities, as well as the local team, exploring how participatory music can continue at the Centre beyond the week itself.
For Jane, it will be another chapter in a year that has already taken her from Tanzania to Nepal with LNADJ — sharing experience, learning from others and discovering what can happen when people are given the space to create together.
Our partnership in Nepal
LNADJ’s work with the Girls’ Empowerment Programme is a long-term partnership, bringing together two of our core programmes: Get Equipped and Back on Track.
The Girls’ Empowerment Programme began in 2018 and has grown from an initial cohort of girls into a programme whose peer-to-peer work has now reached thousands of girls and young people across Nepal.
With the new Girls Learning Centre providing a permanent home for this work, we’re supporting our partners with the equipment, resources, skills and opportunities that can help the programme continue to grow.
The building is built, now we’re helping bring it to life.
And Jane’s work is one small part of what that long-term collaboration can look like.
Build hope through music. If you’d like to learn more about Get Equipped, head here. Please head to Jane’s Just Giving page here to support Jane and help fund this pioneering music education project.
Thank you, and as always, Big Love
Team LNADJ x
