Category Archives: Workers Union

‘Pythagoras’ Toolkit’

I’m really delighted that Pythagoras’ Toolkit, led by Ensemble Paramirabo (Montreal) and involving me as co-creator, composer and conductor, has been awarded funding from the Canadian Council for the Arts.

In Pythagoras’ Toolkit Rachel Warr (co-creator/director, Dotted Line Theatre) and I will bring to life, through puppetry and live music, a modern-day Pythagoras who will explore sound, space (conceptual/sound/realworld), rhythm, harmony and dissonance (order and chaos), instrument making/design, dance, musical textures and ways of constructing music.

The production, currently planning for a tour in 2021, will feature musicians from Ensemble Paramirabo (Canada), Workers Union Ensemble (UK) and two musically literate puppeteers working with a specially created Pythagoras puppet.

Rachel and I are concocting ideas already… more soon!

‘The Virus Within: Hearing HIV’ at Turner Sims

It was great to perform The Virus Within: Hearing HIV with Workers Union Ensemble and Chad Swanson at Turner Sims as part of the University of Southampton Science and Engineering Day 2019.

Some lovely feedback from the audience including:

” A fascinating window in composition”
” Amazing innovation. Meaningful. Science in musical language”
“Intellectual synethesia ending with hope”

My colleague Jeanice Brooks got some fantastic photos too…


SHIFTS

Super excited about a project I’m directing next month, SHIFTS, which will feature students from the University of Southampton Music Department performing as part of the Hartley Loop Orchestra at Turner Sims. We’ll be performing music by Steve Reich and Lois V. Vierk as well as new pieces by my super cool colleagues Drew Crawford and Brona Martin. I’ve written a new version of a solo percussion piece I wrote for the London Sinfonietta a few years ago – this time featuring large ensemble and called Changing Up + (rather than Changing Up!). Fellow Workers Union family member Joley Cragg is coming to play the solo part. More details on the poster below!

‘The Virus Within: Hearing HIV’ at Turner Sims

Really delighted to be performing The Virus Within: Hearing HIV again in March next year thanks to funding from the University of Southampton Public Engagement with Research Team. Workers Union Ensemble will perform the work twice at Turner Sims as part of the University of Southampton Science and Engineering Day 2019. Here’s a promo vid for the piece:

‘The Virus Within: Hearing HIV’ Premiere

Loved working with my friends Workers Union Ensemble and Dr Chad Swanson (King’s College London) on my newest piece The Virus Within: Hearing HIV. We premiered the piece on Thursday to a great crowd at Guy’s Chapel, King’s College London. Unfortunately the Southampton performance on 10 March has had to be cancelled but we will play at the University of Southampton Science and Engineering Day 2019 instead!

We asked the audience in London for five word reviews. Here are some of my favourites (!):

  • “Novel, exciting and inventive, complex piece”
  • “Head on crash with virus”
  • “Interesting but slightly anxiety inducing!”
  • “Brilliant translation: science to music. Thank you! One of the best pieces of scientific performance art I’ve ever seen/heard. Incredibly intellectually rewarding. Wonderful!”
  • “Top science/music mash-up”
  • “A structurally chaotic masterpiece!”

Recordings and video to come soon and, hopefully, more performances!

‘The Virus Within: Hearing HIV’ Premiere – 15 Feb 2018

I’m just putting the finishing touches on the first two movements (of three) of my 30-minute new piece for Workers Union Ensemble, The Virus Within: Hearing HIV. Workers (with two new lovely babies!) are coming for a November weekend in Southampton to rehearse the piece and do some recording for the electronics that will be involved in the piece. Then I have a few months to sort out the electronics stuff and write the short final movement for the premiere on 15 February at the Chapel of Thomas Guy, King’s College London (KCL).

I’m excited about this piece. It’s been great to collaborate closely with KCL virologist Chad Swanson in developing the music and I can’t wait to see it all come together.

‘Hearing HIV’ collaboration with Chad Swanson

I’m really delighted that the Medical Research Council have funded the development and London performance of ‘Hearing HIV’, which is a collaboration with King’s College London virologist Chad Swanson and Workers Union Ensemble. The idea of the project is to develop a new three-movement ensemble composition that musically depicts biological processes involved in HIV replication and how innovative ‘Shock and Kill’ treatments might provide a cure for HIV. Hearing HIV will enable audiences to develop an understanding of the HIV life cycle, cutting-edge therapies for HIV and innovative contemporary music structures. The premiere, in London, will be in February 2018 – watch this space for details!

‘HIV Translation’ illustration by David Goodsell, 2015 (click to go to original upload, reproduced under CC license)

Workers Union at the BBC

img_workersunionSeveral weeks ago I conducted the Workers Union Ensemble for a recording of a new work by Matthew Kaner, Collide, at BBC Broadcasting House. Matt is currently ‘Composer in 3’, a residency with BBC Radio 3 and Sound and Music and is writing ten new pieces to be recorded for broadcast on the station in the next ten weeks. The Workers Union Ensemble have a long, and happy, association with Matt so we were delighted when he asked us to record the first of these ten commissions.

Collide was broadcast for the first time on the Radio 3 Breakfast this week and is being played at some point during the Breakfast show every day this week. It’s available on the iPlayer and includes a short interview too:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04bs5fd

Workers Union Ensemble @ New Dots

Scores are arriving for the Workers Union Ensemble gig in collaboration with New Dots. We’ll soon be meeting in Southampton to rehearse new pieces by Monika Dalach, Nick Morrish Rarity,  Camilo Mendez and our Composer-in-association Seán Clancy. The gig is at The Warehouse in London on 16 April. Early bird tickets are now available!