A couple of notable gigs coming up this month that I felt warranted a blog post, weirdly both happening in universities…
And then the next thing you know with Tullis Rennie at INTRASPECT VII
Over the past couple of months, Tullis Rennie and I have been working together to develop a new iteration of our duo practice. It’s been a while since Blurts/Growls came out in 2017 (!), and although we’ve worked together loads since then it hasn’t been in duo format. The catalyst for this new chapter was an invitation to be part of INTRASPECT VII, a concert series at University of Surrey organised by Bill Thompson. Bill was keen to bring my 2021 hcmf//project And then the next thing you know to Surrey, and rather than repeating it exactly as it was then, I decided to create a totally reworked version for this performance, collaborating with Tullis.
In the studio in Hastings, earlier in March
Whereas in 2021 the cardboard fragmented score object was suspended from the ceiling and was not interacted with by the players, this time I wanted to make it a changing, shifting structure that we can alter. So there will still be hanging elements, alongside new standing elements and smaller parts that we can add or remove from the main structures. Working with the physical objects will be part of what we’re doing on stage, alongside electronic and acoustic sound-making. It will basically be, as Tullis said in one of our rehearsals, a giant playground…trombone, saxophone, electronic instruments, and a table of small objects/instruments will all be available. If this sounds like the kind of thing you’d like to see and hear unfolding live in front of you, the gig is happening on Thursday 3rd April in PATS Studio One at the University of Surrey and tickets are free.
Work in progress table structure
CUEE end of year concert 2025
It seems unbelievable that another year has passed, but coming up the week after the Surrey gig is the final concert of my current cohort of students at the City St Georges Experimental Ensemble! On Wednesday 9th April we’ll be descending on the Performance Space at City with guest artist Iris Colomb, and sharing the bill with the Field Recording Ensemble led by Kate Carr. The students have been exploring new sonic territories this year and it promises to be an exciting night of improvisation, collaboration and…experimental room layouts?! Free tickets are available on the university website, and you can also catch Iris and me playing duo at BRÅK on Saturday 12th April.
My collage for the CUEE/FR gig listing