Will Sherratt
Performing Arts –Musician
Staffordshire born musician Will Sherratt, professionally know as ‘Mr. Will’ has been instrumental in shaping the music and arts scene in the area for over 20 years. The creative talent behind the hugely successful musical outreach programmes ‘Planet Sound Community Arts’, “the Unity Foundation” and “Madula”, William Sherratt assigns much of the credit for his singular approach to the composition and playing music to his mixed-race background.
Born to a white English father and Filipino mother, the performer who would develop an international reputation as under the stage persona “Mr Will” first picked up a guitar at the age of eight, already understanding that there was a world of music beyond MTV and Radio 1.
By his early teens, and while his peers were aping the trends of modern rock music, Mr Will’s imagination had already long since been captured by the challenges of what he calls “the timeless precision” of classical guitar and the “random precision” of playing modern Jazz.
To commission or contact Mr. Will visit:
Mr Will has travelled the world and performed at a variety of events and venues including WOMAD, Lattitude, DrumCamp UK, Newcastle Jazz Festival, Lancaster Jazz festival in addition to international performances including Senegal, Gambia, Philippines & headlining on the Bayimba Festival, Uganda. He has a passion for music from Africa.
In 2012 he set up the Mr.Will Music band having composed & produced the album “Mga Kanta Ng Puso”. In 2016 Mr Will became guitarist & musical director of the Seby Ntege Band and produced the album “Five Notes” that toured throughout 2018. The “five notes” album featured two songs written by Mr.Will, with the track “Sing for the Moment” being played by BBC Radio 3 as track of the week. In 2022 Mr Will toured with the Sefo Kanuteh group and TNT (The Tri Nations Trio) where Mr Will collaborated with Bruce Ncube (Zimbabwean singer & percussionist) and Sefo Kanuteh (Gambian singer & kora player) to create a new and inspiring programme of music, exploring their cultures & musical traditions and creating a new, unique sound.
As part of Kwanzaa Collective UK, Will has performed and led drumming workshops for families under his organisation Madula.
Find out more about Madula here: