Had a great morning last week recording Drip Feeder for piano and electronics with the amazing Yshani Perinpanayagam. Looking forward to sharing with the world in April 2024 when Birmingham Record Company release a portrait album provisionally titled ‘Too Many Sweets’!
Author Archives: Ben
Playing the piano…
Back in March I played piano with the Dan Mar-Molinero orchestra on a strange gig bringing together AI and jazz. I’ve had a bit of a strange relationship with the piano over the years. I love playing jazz music in particular but also spent a lot of my 20s around serious players and lost confidence about my playing. Piano has remained central to my compositional practice though. More recently my mate Dan Mar-Molinero keeps asking me to do gigs like this one at Turner Sims. Playing with Jasper Hoiby and Julian Arguelles as well as many other great musicians in this project was fantastic. I like it. I want to do more. Here are some great photos from Ash from whatabouttheash.
Consequences Pics
Had a great time working with awesome University of Southampton students and colleagues on The Exquisite Corpse of AI (Consequences) back in February. Hope to have a recording/video soon but in the meantime here are some great photos from Ash from whatabouttheash.
Jazz as Social Machine
Excited to be playing piano as part of the Dan Mar-Molinero Jazz Orchestra at Turner Sims on 19 March. Super interesting project with another colleague from the University of Southampton Tom Irvine. We’ll be playing charts from Dan’s new album, sometimes with a jazz robot! What’s not to love!
Tickets available on Turner Sims website.
The Exquisite Corpse Of AI (Consequences)
I’ve written a piece for 12-piece ensemble as part of a project at University of Southampton created and led by my amazing colleague Drew Crawford: The Exquisite Corpse of AI (Consequences). My contribution is called Phat Feet and features 12 awesome undergraduate musicians from the Department of Music. Drew has brought together a bunch of us including Bella Barlow and Brona Martin to create this exciting new piece that we’ll premiere at Turner Sims and then perform at a private conference for the commissioners Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Intelligence for Automated Investigations for Scientific Discovery Network.
‘Too Many Sweets…’ premieres in NY
Dorothy Chan premiered Too Many Sweets (when Dorothy met Blake) for toy piano(s) and synth in New York last month. Here is a picture from her set. Dorothy is going to play the piece again soon in Illinois and also make a recording for future release (more on that soon!).
Dorothy Chan premieres ‘Too Many Sweets…’
Dorothy Chan will premiere Too Many Sweets (when Dorothy met Blake) for toy pianos and PICO synthesiser at The Cell, New York, on 15 December. Dorothy approached me to write this piece at the end of 2020 and it features 3 of her toy pianos (Lil’ Blue, Perry, Beu) and a new wavetable synth designed by Blake Troise (aka Protodome).
BOTC Photos
Here are a couple of pictures from recent ‘Birth of the Cool’ gig at Turner Sims from crazy talented photographer Ash Sealy: https://www.whatabouttheash.com/our-story
Was really fun playing jazz again, especially with some super talented musicians…
Soldier’s Tale Photos
Directing Stravinsky’s Soldier’s Tale earlier this month was a big highlight of my conducting career. Awesome music of course, brilliant musicians (including a number of great friends it was a delight to work with again), great cast and an awesome creative team. Hope we can do more PACS soon! Here are a couple of snaps from rehearsals from the project…
Conducting Stravinsky
I’m really excited to be musical director and conductor for the Performing Arts Collaboration South production of Stravinsky’s Soldier’s Tale. Lovely Turner Sims, great lineup of musicians, some wonderful actors and an awesome dancer. Should be pretty wonderful. Tickets: https://www.turnersims.co.uk/events/the-soldiers-tale/
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