There’s a feast of experimental sounds, live music, spoken word performances and more coming to Folkestone next weekend, as the seaside town presents a brand new two-day festival, Profound Sound, across a variety of venues.
Friday 12 February sees a collection of premieres from the Montrose Composers’ Club, led by local composer Anna Braithwaite, whilst Asda – yes, you read that correctly! – will play host to LIFTED, an installation for choir and beat-boxer by Emily Peasgood which premiered at the Turner Contemporary recently.
The festival also offers site-specific sound-installations, spoken word performances and live music; the Quarterhouse will also welcome a Panel Discussion addressing the future of DIY spaces and how they can foster new creative ideas. Folkestone will be buzzing. Probably quite literally.
Find out more about the festival online here.
Fleeing the country and re-locating to England, the Bauhaus-trained Grete Marks had to sacrifice her successful pottery factory – all her pottery and paintings that were left behind were either lost or destroyed. Kurt Schwitters, a leading figure of the German avant-garde, fled to Norway prior to being interviewed by the Gestapo, eventually also travelling to England where, selling small paintings for small fees, he eventually died in obscurity in London in 1948.
The works on display in the gallery, predominantly pictures and some surviving pottery by Marks, include stark portraiture of friends made in England, as well as landscape views created in the Lake District and Spain. The images speak of loss, the post-emigration portraits looking out at the viewer with a sense of isolation. The floating colours of Two Boys from 1930 have a life and movement absent from stark portraits made after her arrival in England, whilst the landscapes seem to show a desire to engage with and to find a new home – they speak of new efforts to build a connection, a need to continue to create.
Amidst the mute testimony the exhibition provides, there is a particular poignancy about some of the music in the programme which Minerva Voices will perform at the #EarBox event next week. Gounod’s intimate motet, Da Pacem Domine, ‘Give peace, Lord,’ acquires a greater profundity in the context of the upheaval and terror implicit in the paintings. The medieval Kyrie setting, written by Hildegard von Bingen, sees two creative women looking at one another across the intervening centuries. There is also something especially moving about Brahms’ famous lullaby, Wiegenlied, which bids a moving, poignant farewell;’ Lullaby, good night…Tomorrow morning, if God wills, you will wake once again.’
The new exhibition reawakens the importance of Marks and Schwitters; come and experience the dialogue between art and music for yourself on Friday 12 February; admission free, more details 
I have been very lucky in terms of my musical experiences before I arrived at the University of Kent. I have been playing the flute now for 12 years and during these years I have been playing in many ensembles, bands and orchestras at both my Secondary School, Bullers Wood School for Girls and my music school The Bromley Youth Music Trust (BYMT). BYMT played a significant role in my life before leaving for University. Once I had started secondary school I played in the wind bands on a Saturday morning, starting in Training Band and working my way up to Symphonic Winds and the Concert Orchestra playing both the flute and piccolo. Prior to this I had played in the Junior Band when I first started playing the flute. Playing in these wind bands gave me wonderful opportunities such as playing at the Fairfield Halls in the Bromley Schools Proms. In my final year at BYMT I played with the touring Youth Band (Bromley Youth Concert Band), and we toured to the South of Spain playing 6 concerts, two of which were a part of the Granada Music Festival. As well as the Wind Bands and Orchestras, I was lucky enough to play with the award winning group ‘40 Flutes’. As a part of Music for Youth, we played at the Royal Albert Hall, twice, which were extremely memorable and rewarding experiences.
Now all I have to do is persuade all the instrumentalists and singers to don period costume…
I have also been a member of the Royal Navy Volunteer Band in HMS Drake situated in Plymouth for three years, which holds many concerts throughout the year. I was the soloist playing bass in the Ballroom for Volunteer Band in their annual competition against the other Military Volunteer bands across the country. The band was awarded runner-up for that year. The volunteer band also trains for marching and I have learnt many marching routines throughout the time I have been there.
Where do you come from?
What music-making are you involved in?
Our annual visits to Canterbury Cathedral sees Minerva Voices in the Crypt next month in Vivaldi’s Gloria, whilst the Chorus and Orchestra come together in Beethoven’s Mass in C and the Symphonie fantastique by Berlioz in March. The first of two concerts from the Cecilian Choir and Sinfonia will recreate the era of Louis XIV in a lunchtime concert celebrating the music of Lully in February, and at the end of March they bring two dramatic choral works by Vivaldi to St Peter’s Methodist Church in Canterbury. You’re also invited to leap aboard the Musical Express! with the Concert and Big Bands later in March, with a steam-driven programme including music by Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington and Philip Sparke.
The Lunchtime Concert series continues, with music from Total Brass and the Native Oyster Band, and our resident ensemble, CantiaQuorum, brings Wynton Marsalis’ Fiddler’s Tale to the concert-hall on 19 February – the American theme continues in April with a concert by the Chorus and Orchestra including Gershwin’s popular Rhapsody in Blue with pianist Helen Crayford. And the #EarBox series exploring links between music and visual art returns to Studio 3 Gallery in two events – choral music from Minerva Voices and a concert by the Flute Choir. The Music Theatre Society takes the stage with some furry friends in a combination of puppetry and show-tunes, and there’s even some musical wizardry as part of ‘A Wonderful Week of Words’ in an informal lunchtime concert featuring music from Harry Potter and other magical pieces. There’s also a brief look ahead to come of the events taking place as part of Summer Music Week in June.
We’re also pleased to welcome many external concerts and events to Colyer-Fergusson over the coming months, including pianists Malcom Binns and Imogen Cooper, the Aurora Orchestra, and many local ensembles; see all that’s to come in our online calendar 