Thanks to all those involved and everyone who came to see our exhibition Cities of Sound at FutureEverything Festival two weeks ago. For posterity, here are some photos from the exhibition at Kraak Gallery. (Photos by Sam Salem & FutureEverything.)

You can also find a few photos and a video of Pond Life on Fat Roland’s blog.

Read more about the artworks in our exhibition booklet (PDF, 750kb)

The Raise Your Voice Ensemble perform new works from Manchester’s rich and varied offering of composers, mixing acoustic instruments and electronic sound, as part of the FutureEverything Festival Showcase. Come and experience challenging and original music in the relaxed atmosphere of Centro Bar in the Northern Quarter (next door to Matt & Phred’s). Followed later by chilled DJ sets from Al Sonar (of Hit&Run).

Line-up

• Passacaglie, for cello and electronics — Martin Suckling
• I Don’t Know What To Do With My Life, for clarinet and kick drum — Luke-Matthew Iveson
• The Golden Lion Hotel, for percussion and electronics — Chris Swithinbank
• Avian Riots, for ensemble — Tom Coult
• Richter VS Dragon, for ensemble and backing track — Steve Pycroft
• Aqueleyo-yo, for string quartet — José Guillermo Puello
• Dubsteps, for string quartet — John Davies

Venue

Centro Bar
74, Tib Street, Northern Quarter, Manchester, M4 1LG, UK (View map)

More about the people involved

Tom Coult is a third year student at Manchester University, and will begin a Masters course next year. ‘The Candle’ is being performed on 16th May in York and 8th June at the RNCM. He has composed a score for a 2009 production of Sinbad at the Camden Roundhouse and music used in ‘Is This Love?’, a 2008 short film.

Luke-Matthew Iveson (b.1990, Manchester) currently studies at Birmingham Conservatoire, for a BMus in composition, under the tuition of Joe Cutler and many visiting tutors. His works have been performed by the CHROMA Ensemble, Sarah Leonard & Robin Michael, Rowland Sutherland and the East Midlands CoMA Ensemble. Luke enjoys working with theatre and external arts such as dance, arts and literature. His theatre piece Ophelia:the death of was awarded joint Second Prize and the Audience Prize in the 2009 Philip Bates Prize. The Nutritional Value of Dreams was recently workshopped by Louis Andriessen.

José Guillermo Puello is a Dominican composer currently doing a Masters in Composition at Manchester University under the supervision of Camden Reeves, having done his undergraduate degree in Music at The University of Birmingham. He is currently working on merging Latin-American rhythms with Western contemporary harmonies. On the 21st of May, 2010, Manchester Camerata will perform Cojuelo Spirit at the Bridgewater Hall.

Steve Pycroft is a freelance drummer, percussionist and composer living and working in Manchester. He graduated with a Masters in Composition from the University of Manchester in 2009, studying with Camden Reeves.

Al Sonar is one of the new breed of Manchester-based talent that has surfaced on the DJ scene. As resident for Hit&Run his “Deep” style of set has been instrumental in creating the warm vibe at the night. Originally from London, he moved to Manchester in 1999 and has run a host of different Drum and Bass events. Al has worked as a tour manager and sound engineer for Manchester based Ska-Punk band, Sonic Boom Six. This has seen him touring the majority of mainland Europe and working as a freelance sound engineer in the UK.

Martin Suckling writes music, plays the violin, recently moved to Manchester and consequently spends a lot of time on trains.  He is currently writing some songs for the London Sinfonietta.  These other folks have also played his music: LSO, BBC Scottish SO, DSO Berlin, Grimethorpe Colliery Band, RSC, Britten Sinfonia, Aronowitz Ensemble.

Chris Swithinbank is currently completing a Masters in Composition at the University of Manchester with the generous support of a Harry Clough Bursary. He works with both acoustic instruments and electronic sounds and has recently had works performed at New Music North West, MANTIS Festival and Wrexham Arts Festival. Upcoming premières include Wegen & Waldstille for Psappha and Mikrokonzert: I Swear I Saw the Sun Falling to be performed by Vaganza at York Spring Festival of New Music in May and at the RNCM in June.

Links

• FutureEverything Listing
• Last.fm
• MySpace
• Facebook
• Sound and Music

We are pleased to be able to unveil the programme for our night on Friday 14 May as part of the FutureEverything Festival Showcase. We had a wonderful response to our first ever open call for works and it wasn’t easy picking out our final programme, but we are very excited to be performing the following pieces at Centro Bar that night:

• Passacaglie, for cello and electronics — Martin Suckling
• I Don’t Know What To Do With My Life, for clarinet and kick drum — Luke-Matthew Iveson
• The Golden Lion Hotel, for percussion and electronics — Chris Swithinbank
• Avian Riots, for ensemble — Tom Coult
• Richter VS Dragon, for ensemble and backing track — Steve Pycroft
• Aqueleyo-yo, for string quartet — José Puello
• Dubsteps, for string quartet — John Davies

These will be followed by a set from DJ Al Sonar of Hit&Run fame. Keep your eyes peeled for more details about the night coming soon.

We had our first ever rehearsal with the Raise Your Voice Ensemble on Tuesday. This fantastic group of young musicians will be performing new music by Hannah Ashman, Francesca le Lohé, Mauricio Pauly, Steve Pycroft, Richard Scott and Chris Swithinbank on February 28th at Centro Bar, Tib St., Manchester, UK. The musicians are: Jenny Dyson (flute/piccolo), Jonathan Guy (clarinets), Steve Pycroft (drums), Christopher Jones and Michael Jones (violins), Rob Guy (viola) and Anna Menzies (cello).

Photographer, musician and all-round good guy Simon Bray was good enough to come along and take a few pictures, so we’re delighted to be able to show you some shots of what we’re up to. Check out Simon’s Flickr for some more of his photography.

Raise Your Voice Collective’s very own in-house band perform their very first concert, featuring new works from acoustic and electroacoustic, Manchester-based composers, and an improvisatory collaboration with special guest Richard Scott. All this and more in the cosy confines of Centro Bar in the Northern Quarter (next door to Matt & Phred’s).

Line-up

• Laptop set – Heather Bamforth
• focusinfocusoutfocusinfocusout, for flute, clarinet, drum kit and cello – Hannah Ashman
• Public Bodies, fixed media – Sam Salem
• New work, for ensemble – Steve Pycroft
• Waves on the ebb, for ensemble – Francesca le Lohé
• This is Water!, for ensemble and tape – Chris Swithinbank
• Clinamen clinamen clinamen, for clarinet and string quartet – Mauricio Pauly
• Onomatopoeia, improvisations for ensemble & electronics – Richard Scott

Venue

Centro Bar
74, Tib Street, Northern Quarter, Manchester, M4 1LG, UK (View map)

More about the people involved

Hannah Ashman is 19 years old and currently in her first year of a music degree at the University of Manchester. Her interest in composition resulted in her spending her gap-year at Trinity College of Music, where she studied with Paul Newland and Ollie Leaman. Her musical interests are eclectic, encompassing such diversities as experimental Hip Hop artist Flying Lotus, Debussy, and contemporary Danish composer Hans Abrahamsen.

Heather Bamforth studied Music at the University of Manchester at undergraduate and postgraduate level before going on to complete a PGCE. She now teaches very small people how to write and in her spare time enjoys performing on laptops.

Francesca Le Lohe is a second year music student at the University of Manchester whose major interests are in composition and ethnomusicology. She is especially interested in the relation and crossover between the two fields. Francesca is fascinated with Japanese music and aesthetics, which is a dominant influence in her current compositions.

Born in Costa Rica, composer Mauricio Pauly is currently based in Manchester. He has recently been awarded the prestigious Staubach Honoraria commission for a new work to be premiered at the 45th International Summer Course for New Music in Darmstadt, Germany, in 2010 by Oslo-based ensemble Asamisimasa. His new string quartet will be premiered in New York by the JACK Quartet in February 2010.

Steve Pycroft is a freelance drummer, percussionist and composer living and working in Manchester. He graduated with a Masters in Composition from the University of Manchester in 2009, studying with Camden Reeves.

Sam Salem is a multimedia artist and acousmatic composer whose music has most recently been performed/exhibited in Montreal (ICMC09), New York (NYCEMF), Berlin (SMC 08), Valencia (Digital Media 1.0) and around the UK and Scandinavia (as part of the Wet Sounds ’09 tour).

Starting out as a jazz saxophonist, Richard Scott has found his way to using experimental electronics in conjunction with live instrumentalists to perform improvised music. He has lived in Manchester for almost twenty years and has recently worked in Amsterdam as Artist-in-Residence at STEIM.

Chris Swithinbank came to Manchester to study music and is currently completing a Masters in Composition at the University of Manchester with the generous support of a Harry Clough Bursary. He works with both acoustic instruments and electronic sounds and has recently had works performed at New Music North West, MANTIS Festival and Wrexham Arts Festival. Upcoming premieres include …going back to the skies, for Trio Atem, a new work for Psappha and Mikrokonzert: I Swear I Saw the Sun Falling to be performed by Vaganza at the RNCM in June.