E. C. Essex News
composer
- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
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2024-04-25
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2024-02-28 08:30:00
A playful look at mathematics: Keisha Thompson's DeCipher project wins the fifth Opera North / University of Leeds DARE Art Prize
[…] was awarded one of Opera North's Resonance residencies to develop The Bell Curve, a new play exploring the ethics of DNA hacking technology commissioned by Eclipse Theatre, Yorkshire Theatre Royal and Pilot Theatre.The four past Prize winners have each interacted with the work of the University and Opera North in unexpected, illuminating and very different ways, from working with infrasound, climatology, the environment and the paranormal, to exploring AI and insect biodiversity. Last year’s recipient, Essex-based sculptor Katie Surridge, worked with teams at the University to address the problem of e-waste and the valuable resources, including gold, silver, copper, platinum, aluminium and cobalt, that are present in discarded electronic devices. Katie used these to produce new sculptures, one of which has been purchased by the Science Museum in London, redefining perceptions around what is considered redundant and worthless.Further details from the Opera North website.
2024-01-12 07:27:00
Byrd Compared: Phantasm & Anna Prohaska celebrate the consort song
[…] how vain setting Sir Philip Sidney, along with Lullaby, to create a picture of music that was simple yet complex, and often with a familiar feel to it. We ended with Fallen Heroes, the sober Fair Britain Isle which lamented the death of Henry, Prince of Wales, and finally My mistress had a dog, a perkily characterful piece that was deceptive as the whole was an allegory of the demise of Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex.Throughout the programme the viols slipped in instrumental numbers, each giving us a lovely taste of the way Byrd clearly enjoyed the sociable polyphony of the viol consort and the music, whatever its mood, often well articulated, the whole enlivened with rhythmic detail.This was an enjoyable and illuminating programme, and whilst Prohaska's approach to the music did not quite satisfy me in terms of text, there was no doubting the wonderfully vivid sense of line […]
2023-12-16 09:42:00
A sense of dramatic narrative: Wild Arts in Handel's Messiah at The Art Workers' Guild
[…] choruses that come after feeling like group response.Now, this is not an approach to Messiah that would work for me every time, but in terms of bringing the work to life on a small scale whilst avoiding any sense of a cut-down version, this was a winner. The performance on 14 December was the third of four in a short tour to London and Sussex, ending on the company's home turf of Layer Marner Tower in Essex. As such, the production felt well bedded in and whilst there was the odd wobble in ensemble due to sight lines, the whole felt very natural and engaging, really drawing us in. Bear in mind that even on the third row, we were very close to the performers. The sound was strong and vivid, in what proved to be quite a lively acoustic. In the choruses we had the sense of a vocal ensemble, with […]
2023-11-14 08:54:00
Engagement, exploration & discovery: London Handel Players return to Handel at Home for Total Eclipse
[…] of engagement, exploration and discovery is here. Along with a wonderful sense of style, of course.Handel at Home: Total EclipseChamber arrangements of music from Handel's Rinaldo, Samson, Radamisto, Giulio Cesare and The Choice of Hercules, plus Sonata a 5 in B-flat majorLondon Handel Players (Rachel Brown flute/recorder, Adrian Butterfield, Oliver Webber and Naomi Burrell violins, Rachel Byrt viola, Gavin Kibble cello, Carina Cosgrave double bass, Silas Wollston harpsichord)St John the Baptist Church, Loughton, Essex 16–18 May 2023SOMM SOMMCD676 1CD [75.48]Never miss out on future posts by following usThe blog is free, but I'd be delighted if you were to show your appreciation by buying me a coffee.Elsewhere on this blogPlenty of food for thought & some terrific singing: Oliver Mears' staging of Handel's Jephtha at the Royal Opera with a towering performance from Allan Clayton in the title role - opera review A shadow land where ideas of what music could be are […]
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