Sounds New coming to the Colyer-Fergusson Building

April 22, 2014 Daniel Harding Leave a comment

The annual Sounds New Festival of Contemporary Music will blossom around Canterbury towards the end of next week, and we’re very excited to be a partner in this year’s festival as it brings two vibrant headline concerts to the Colyer-Fergusson Building.

The boundary-trashing Icebreaker Ensemble will be here on Saturday 3 May in a performance of Brian Eno’s Apollo for all Mankind, as well as the première of composer Ed Bennett’s Suspect Device and music by Julia Wolfe.

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The Brodsky Quartet will be here on Thursday 8 May with a celebration of the music of prog-rock legend Robert Wyatt; the former Soft Machine founder’s music will be realised in a blend of strings, improvisation and live electronics, including singer Elaine Mitchener and Matt Wright.

The festival also features the Sounds New Poetry strand, with members of the University Centre for Modern Poetry in site-specific residencies in the city. Find out more about all the events happening at Sounds New online here.

Keeping It Real: reviews.

Lost Consort makes its debut performance

April 4, 2014 Daniel Harding Leave a comment

The department’s newest (or oldest, depending on how you look at it) ensemble, the Lost Consort, made its debut yesterday in a lunchtime concert in the evocative Roman Undercroft of St Thomas’ Hospital, Canterbury.

Formed by Your Loyal Correspondent back in November in order to explore the music of Hildegard von Bingen, the group gave its first performance to a packed audience, with a programme including an evocative setting of the Kyrie and the luminous Columba Aspexit.

After the concert, the Choir moved out onto the high street in order to sing to one of the members of the audience who was unable to come into the Undercroft because of their wheelchair. Members of the public drew to a standstill to listen to a twelfth-century flashmob bringing medieval music to the ancient stones of the city.

Welcome to the newest, oldest, departmental ensemble; expect to hear more from the Lost Consort in the future.

Jazz Booth, Keeping It Real: reviews.

Speake the Truth: workshop with British jazz giant

April 4, 2014 Daniel Harding Leave a comment

After a mesmerising lunchtime concert from the Martin Speake Trio on Wednesday, some of the University students had the opportunity to work with the musicians in the workshop that followed.

Led by saxophonist Martin Speake, the students shared insights into aspects of jazz and improvisation with guitarist Mike Outram and drummer Jeff Williams, exploring in particular Secret Woods, one of the pieces the trio had played in the lunchtime concert. The musicians examined what working together as a group involves, the role of different instruments and aspects of space and silence in music; as Mike Outram put it, “I think of space [in music] as active, rather than passive. You’re actively putting it out there.”