About
The V&A Museum of Childhood
Cambridge Heath Road, London, E2
Entrance is free, please RSVP to christinejanssen@drakemusicproject.org by March 16th.
Featuring students from Arnhem Wharf, Beatrice Tate and George Green's schools, as well as participants from The Roundhouse Project.
Drake Music has commissioned a team of outstanding composers, artists and musicians to create and direct the performance of a new work on the theme of Connecting Across Difference. A season of creative workshops with young musicians from mainstream and special schools in the borough of Tower Hamlets and from The Roundhouse Project in Camden will culminate on Friday 20th March with a live multimedia performance at The V&A Museum of Childhood.
Connecting Across Difference is inspired by visits to the Museum of Childhood and imaginative and playful explorations of the challenges and excitement of encountering and coming to know people who are different; who speak differently, have different ambitions, interests, skills and abilities, or who have different traditions and histories. These ideas are played out in the narrative of the piece, a journey unfolds where creatures from different worlds go on a musical adventure to discover new ways to talk and play together using old and new instruments. A sculptural installation provides a visual analogue to the new musical performance.
During the workshops students have used cutting edge assistive technology and custom made experimental instruments, as well as traditional instruments and song. This has been an excellent opportunity for young people of differing abilities and musical experience to be involved in the development and performance of the final piece, in unique and exciting ways.
The project blog www.connectingacrossdifference.net has made it possible for participants from different school groups to share their work in the form of images, video and sounds. This has enabled them to respond to and work with each others' musical ideas throughout the project towards a final performance that reflects their diverse musical enthusiasms and talents.
Connecting Across Difference features a mentoring programme for the project's three associate musicians, providing opportunities to develop their skills and experience in a participation and outreach setting. Throughout the creative process, the associates have worked closely with their mentors and collaborated extensively with all members of the team, creating an environment for artistic exchange and exploration, mutual learning and development.
Commissioned by Drake Music
Directed and Produced by Furtherfield.org in partnership with Drake Music
Partners: THAMES, V&A Museum of Childhood, The Roundhouse
The Team
Director: Carien Meijer (ceo Drake Music)
Artistic Director: Ruth Catlow (Co-director Furtherfield.org)
Lead Composers: Kerry Andrew and Ed Farmer
Music Technologist: Nick Wilsdon
Media Artist: Nick Laessing
Associate Musicians: Melanie Clifford, Victoria Oruwari and Anya Ustaszewski
Mentors: Daryl Beeton and Lynn Cox
Project Manager: Miranda Peake
With the support of Anna Thorpe -Tracey and the rest of the Drake Music team
Funded by: THAMES, City Bridge Trust, State Street Bank, Richard Reeves Foundation, Helen Hamlyn Trust, Youth Music, John Lyons Charity, Richard Cloudesley Trust, PRS Foundation, Promenaders.
About the Artists:
Ruth Catlow
Ruth is a media artist, educator and co-founder and co-director of Furtherfield.org and HTTP Gallery in North London. She works collaboratively with other artists, technologists, musicians, writers, activists and thinkers from around the world, to devise and realise artistic projects that explore relationship, connectedness and participation; developing platforms with their own distinct artistic and social contexts. Her work has been exhibited internationally and in the UK at venues including the CCA, Glasgow and The Baltic, Gateshead. www.furtherfield.org
Kerry Andrew
Kerry Andrew is a composer, performer and educator specialising in contemporary vocal music and music-theatre with a twist of pop, jazz, folk, world music and everything in between. Her choral work is published by Oxford University Press; choral and experimental work has been heard on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, Classic FM and on national news channels. She performs with the experimental vocal trio juice, the avant-jazz groups DOLLYman and metamorphic, and as a leftfield pop soloist.
www.kerryandrew.net
www.juicevocalensemble.net
Ed Farmer
Ed is a composer, performer and musical director, based in London, working in film, television, theatre, and music for the stage and screen. Since studying at The Royal College of Music he has been nominated for the European Film Music Award, and written music for numerous documentaries, animations, dramas and comedies. Ed's concert compositions have been performed at London's National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery and Victoria and Albert museum. Current concert music commissions include a new chamber opera, and a piece for the ensemble Unit Six.
www.edfarmer.co.uk
Nick Wilsdon
Nick Wilsdon is a Sound Designer & Artist based in South London. A graduate of The University of Edinburgh's MSc Sound Design programme, Nick builds bespoke software and reappropriates technologies to create instruments, interactive installations and improvised music.
www.xahdrez.com
Nick Laessing
Nick Laessing is a British artist based in Berlin. His diverse work incorporating video, sculpture, performance and kinetic works, investigates scientific inventions and the relationship of science, belief, and unproven scientific phenomena. His work has most recently been performed and exhibited at the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London, 2008, and throughout 2008-9 in commercial galleries in London, Paris, Geneva, Berlin and Bologna.
www.arcadefinearts.com/artists%27%20pages/nicklaessing.html
About Drake Music
Drake Music is a music and technology organisation. We provide disabled musicians of all ages with progression routes into music and the cultural sector in general. We work primarily with people who have severe physical impairments, using assistive music technology to explore, create and perform music. Increasingly, we also collaborate with a much wider range of musicians, including people with cognitive and sensory impairments. Our work takes place in the South West, North West, East Midlands, London and the South East. Drake Music's team of musicians, technologists, educators and artists has a unique track record in the creative use of assistive technology and new technologies. We provide a diverse range of music & cross-arts initiatives and connect disabled and non-disabled musicians, artists, and many others, - locally, nationally and internationally.
Drake Music is an Arts Council RFO
www.drakemusicproject.org
About Furtherfield.org
Furtherfield.org is an artist-led organisation that provides platforms for creating, viewing, discussing and learning about experimental practices in art and technology. We work online and in physical space from our North London based gallery, where we collaborate with a community of artists, musicians, technologists, thinkers and educators. We engage with people through our programme of commissions, exhibitions, internships, networking, participatory projects, peer exchange, publishing, research, residencies and workshops. We believe that through creative and critical engagement with practices in art and technology people are inspired and enabled to become active co-creators of their cultures and societies.
Furtherfield.org is an Arts Council RFO
www.furtherfield.org
For enquiries please contact Miranda Peake:
furtherfield@drakemusicproject.org
07813 295919
For information regarding access to The Museum of Childhood please visit the website www.vam.ac.uk/moc/your_visit/access/index.html
