An eclectic mix of contemporary music will be on offer at venues across the North-east when the region’s new and exciting music festival – sound – launches next week.
next week.
sound is an initiative of the University of Aberdeen and Woodend Arts Association (WAA), which has been set up to promote contemporary music from classical and traditional, to pop, jazz and experimental to a large and varied public.
The festival is the only one of its kind in the North-east and has attracted some of contemporary music’s best-known names, including Evelyn Glennie, Frog Pocket, Pete Stollery and James MacMillan.
Concerts, workshops and masterclasses will take place at venues across Aberdeen City and the Shire throughout this month.
The sound festival will launch on Tuesday, November 8, 2005, with one of the University of Aberdeen’s most prominent music scholars, Dr Pete Stollery, who will premiere two new pieces of sonic art composed during his year-long project to capture the sound of the culture and traditions of North East Scotland. Dr Stollery, a composer and sound artist, will showcase his works, Still Voices and Fields of Silence, in Inverurie’s Thainstone Centre.
His project, entitled Gordon Soundscape, explores our responses to our aural environment, our sense of belonging to a particular place, and our ability to remember through sound. Funded by Gordon Forum for the Arts, the project is a piece of aural cinema about the North-east through recording sounds associated with it.
The concert, which starts at 7.30pm is free, and will also feature sonic art by schoolchildren from Aberdeenshire schools, created during the Sonic Postcards project mounted by Sonic Arts Network and Aberdeenshire Council, as part of the Youth Music Initiative.
Dr Stollery said: “sound is Scotland’s first festival of contemporary music in the North-east and the University is delighted to be driving this together with Woodend Arts Association.
“The idea for the festival stemmed from a realisation that there are so many organisations running their own events throughout the region and we really wanted to bring all these energies together into one, big, celebration of contemporary music.”
“The line-up features such an exciting mix - there’s something to suit all ages and tastes.”
Other concerts organised by the University of Aberdeen during sound include a Recital by pianist Russell Riepe and clarinet player David Pino, on Friday, November 18, in the Picture Gallery, Marischal College, at 5.15pm. Admission to this event is also free.
On Sunday, November 20, four of the University’s musical groups will unite for a concert in the Mitchell Hall, Marischal College. New Voices in Music will feature the university’s Chamber Ensemble, New Music Group, Choral Society and String Ensemble. To book contact (01224) 641122 or www.abdnboxoffice.com
One of the highlights of the sound programme is the celebrity percussion masterclass, being led by Evelyn Glennie. This event takes place on Monday, November 21, at 11.30am in the University of Aberdeen’s Elphinstone Hall. The masterclass is open to the public and tickets are available on the door.
Evelyn Glennie will also perform in Aberdeen with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in the Music Hall on Thursday, November 24, at 7.30pm.
Dr Stollery added: “There has been a tremendous amount of interest in sound from composers, performers, and contemporary music enthusiasts throughout the UK, and we are thrilled to welcome such a high profile figure as Evelyn Glennie to the line-up.
“With such a broad range of events taking place, together with the support of some of Scotland’s best known contemporary musicians, we hope sound will attract attention from across the country, putting the North-east on the map as a home for contemporary music making and performing.”
Inverurie Town Hall will be the venue for an evening of sound by young artists on Tuesday, November 22, at 7.30pm. See, Hear, Inverurie, will involve the youngsters working with artists to produce sonic and visual compositions of their impressions of Inverurie. Their works will be projected over a multiple loudspeaker system and performed using visual turntables using cutting edge technology.
One of Scotland’s most talented composers, James MacMillan, will lead a workshop for orchestral musicians on Sunday, November 27. He will work with an orchestra composed of local musicians of all ages on his work Into the Ferment, giving an informal performance at the end. A Day with James MacMillan takes place between 2pm and 8pm in the Elphinstone Hall, University of Aberdeen.
Other events taking place during sound in association with the University of Aberdeen include a composing workshop with James Clapperton who will be working with Aberdeen students on Friday, November 14.
Also during November at Aberdeen Railway Station will be a sound installation entitled, in/transcience, by Bill Thompson exploring the transient nature of public spaces, specifically the city’s train station. Much of Thompson’s work involves exploring sounds that often go unnoticed either because they are too quiet, or too obvious – and thus ignored – as we bustle about our busy day. His interest is in tuning us into these sounds and refocusing our attention to hear them, as though for the first time. For more information visit: www.billthompson.org
For the full programme of events taking place throughout November during sound – North East Scotland’s Contemporary Music Festival visit: www.sound-scotland.co.uk