Wednesday 9 January, 12-4pm (CM.107) We focus on play in Lab 20, with visiting composer Michael Wolters considering interdisciplinary approaches that stem from playful approaches to ideas and concepts. In the second half, James Saunders will present some work that deals with playfulness in performance, showing a recent piece and trying out some new ideas….

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Wednesday 5 December, 12-4pm (CM.107) In Lab 19 Andy Ingamells joins us to talk about playfulness and fun in serious music, followed in the afternoon by Robert Luzar considering thinking, politics, and art. Both Andy and Robert are regularly involved in performances of their own work, and we will consider approaches to thinking through practice…

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Wednesday 14 November, 12-4pm (CM.107) For Lab 18 we welcome composer Thomas Meadowcroft from Berlin to talk about his recent work, focusing on composing and neoliberalism. In the second half of the Lab, PhD composer Goni Peles will present his recent CompositionCloud project, with some opportunities to create content and explore distributed creative practices.   12-2pm…

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Wednesday 3 October, 12-4pm (CM.107) The first lab of the year features a visit from composer-performer Laura Bowler, who will talk about extremes and autobiography in her work. In the second half of the lab, Alex Mah and Harry Matthews report back from the KLANGRAUM and CAMP summer schools that they attended this year, and will…

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This year we had two more filming sessions in the Bath Spa TV Studios. In January, Alex Mah and James Saunders performed Luke Nickel’s Transcribing, a piece Luke wrote for Parkinson Saunders to play at the Wellcome Collection in London, broadcast by BBC Radio 3. In July Anton Lukoszevieze and Amnon Wolman recorded two of…

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Wednesday 9 May, 12-4pm (12-2pm, CM107 / 2-4pm CM137) The final lab or 2017-18 features two visiting artists exploring interaction between bodies, technology and environment. Australian artist and musician Alexandra Spence presents recent work using resources drawn from specific locations as compositional material, while Atau Tanaka considers the body as a musical instrument, capturing physiological…

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Wednesday 18 April, 12-4pm (12-2pm, CM107 / 2-4pm CM137) This month we welcome Bristol-based double bassist, improviser and composer Dominic Lash to talk about his work with Éliane Radigue on her Occam Ocean series. Dominic will play the piece and discuss the working process for making the piece with Radigue. In the first half of the lab,…

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Wednesday 14 March, 12-4pm (12-2pm, CM107 / 2-4pm CM137) In Lab 14 we welcome composer and vocal performer Andrea Young, who will present her Digital Voice Interface and discuss vocality in relation to her work. In the second half of the lab, composer Ron Herrema will present recent work focused on audiation and specification, ending…

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Here are videos of the two pieces by Amnon Wolman performed by Anton Lukoszevieze in the Michael Tippett Centre last week.

Anton Lukoszevieze (cello and voice) Amnon Wolman (electronics) Wednesday 7 February 2018 7.30pm, Michael Tippett Centre, Bath Spa University Cellist Anton Lukoszevieze presents recent pieces for cello, voice and electronics by composer Amnon Wolman as part of their ongoing collaborations. A’s Album (2013) Dangerous Bend (1999) Use Crosswalk (2017) I have known Anton the cellist…

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Wednesday 7 February, 12-4pm (CM107 / CM137) Visiting Research Fellow Amnon Wolman will present his work in Lab 13, focusing on his collaborations with cellist and inter-disciplinary artist Anton Lukoszevieze. Amnon and Anton will present some new work exploring narrative fiction for discussion in the first session (12-2pm, CM107), prior to their performance in the…

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We recorded a new piece today in the Bath Spa University TV studios, following the session last year with Bastard Assignments. As part of our developing series of videos of new work, we filmed Luke Nickel’s Transcribing, a piece written originally for Parkinson Saunders and premiered at the Wellcome Collection in London in October, broadcast…

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Hearing Motion in the Moment – New Forms of Interactive Soundmapping Eric Powell (Concordia University) Wednesday 31 January, 3.00-4.30pm / CM.107 Presentation and workshop co-hosted by the Research Centre for Environmental Humanities, the Open Scores Lab, and the Global Academy of Liberal Arts. Eric Powell is a PhD candidate, sound-artist, and researcher in the Communications Department at…

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Wednesday 10 January, 2-4pm (CM119 / CM106) Claudia Molitor will present some recent work in Lab 12 that explores listening and looking in relation to environment, and ways this is altered through technology. In the first half of the lab, Louis d’Heudieres and James Saunders will test some new work involving instructions, consensus, and association….

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Wednesday 6 December 2017, 12-4pm We welcome Berlin-based composer Joanna Bailie in Lab 11 to talk about her recent audio-visual work and its use of synchronisation and sampling. In the first half of the lab, Caitlin Rowley will discuss her recent work using handmade boxes as scores, and Matthew Sergeant will demonstrate a new project…

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We’ve begun to film performances of work related to the Lab’s focus in the Bath Spa University TV Studios. In July, Bastard Assignments came in for a day to shoot two pieces, Josh Spear’s Extended Play and Edward Henderson’s Blow/Suck. We did a lot of takes, working with three cameras and green screen, then Josh and Edward…

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Wednesday 8 November 2017, 12-4pm In Lab 10 our visitor is celebrated composer Howard Skempton. Howard joins us as part of a two-day celebration of his music, with performances by staff and students. As a founder of the Scratch Orchestra with Cornelius Cardew and Michael Parsons, Howard has been at the forefront of exploratory music…

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Three pieces by Lab members Caitlin Rowley, Luke Nickel and James Saunders were presented last weekend as part of BBC Radio 3’s Why Music? The Key to Memory series at the Wellcome Collection. Caitlin’s Aides Memoire was performed by Bastard Assignments, framing memories evoked by her personal field recordings accompanied by live photography of the performance space….

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In the first lab of our second season we welcome back recent PhD graduate Luke Nickel, who will present a new piece for performers transcribing speech, in advance of its live premiere on BBC Radio 3 on 14 October as part of the Why Music? The Key to Memory event at the Wellcome Collection in London. Luke will…

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We are pleased to announce the visitors for the 2017-18 labs following on from our first series in 2016-17. Each lab is on the first Wednesday of the month in term time from 12-4pm, and features a visiting speaker alongside presentations by staff and PhD students from Bath Spa. The lab is a mix of…

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The September issue of The Wire includes an article by Tim Rutherford-Johnson on scores that are brought to life by performers bodies. It includes discussion of work by current and former lab composers Louis d’Heudieres and Luke Nickel.

Lab members Matthew Sergeant, Louis d’Heudieres and James Saunders have presented papers at three international conferences so far this summer. James’s paper ‘What’s the point? Balancing purpose and play in rule-based compositions’ was given at the Performing Indeterminacy conference at University of Leeds on 30 June, followed by a performance of his piece sometimes we do…

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London-based collective Bastard Assignments were with us this week filming in the Commons TV Studio. This is part of a new project we’re beginning to develop, bringing in performers to make films that use the studio as a resource, trying to do more than is normally possible with concert documentation. Today we filmed two pieces…

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We’re really pleased to announce that Amnon Wolman will be a Visiting Research Fellow in the lab from January-April 2018. Amnon will be developing his work on scores that investigate memory and imaginary sound during his residency. He says ‘In the last fifteen years my research-based music composition focused the use of text to initiate…

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New pieces by Lab members Louis d’Heudieres and James Saunders are being broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Hear and Now programme on successive weeks in June. On 3 June, James’s new orchestra piece alternate between attention and ease was broadcast as part of the feature on the Tectonics Festival in Glasgow where the piece was premiered…

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Last week Material were joined by OUT-TAKE Ensemble from Southampton to perform a set of pieces in the Ludo2017 conference at Bath Spa University. This is part of a developing collaboration between composers at the two universities, and it was great to perform together for the first time. In addition to new pieces by Oogoo…

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Wednesday 3 May, 12-4pm, CM108 In the final lab of the year, composer Tim Parkinson will talk about material and post-history in relation to his recent work. In the first half of the lab, Roger Clarke will present his Record Player Orchestra. 12-2pm: Roger Clarke – Introduction to the Record Player Orchestra Roger Clarke will…

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Wednesday 5 April, 12-4pm, CM108 In Lab 7 we welcome Cathy van Eck who will present recent work that explores microphones and loudspeakers as instruments, as well as ongoing work by Lab composers Louis d’Heudieres, Oogoo Maia and James Saunders. 12-2pm: Cathy van Eck – Air, Electricity and Movement Cathy van Eck composes relationships between everyday objects, human performers,…

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Wednesday 8 March, 12-4pm, CM108 In Lab 6 we investigate interdisciplinary approaches to scoring, considering uses of different media and modes of realisation. Caitlin Rowley explores the hidden space of the rehearsal as a site for performance, and Vassilis Chatzimakris looks at interfacial scores. Our visitor is Peter Ablinger, one of the most consistently inventive…

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Wednesday 1 February, 12-4pm, CM108 In Lab 5 we feature work that uses found materials and processes, considering the way music references and translates aspects of the world. We welcome Matthew Shlomowitz, who will discuss his Popular Contexts series, and he is joined by two of his PhD students from Southampton, Ben Jameson and Alex Glyde-Bates. The…

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Wednesday 11 January, 12-4pm, CM131 In the fourth lab we explore physicality and scoring. Robert Luzar will present recent video demonstrations and discuss their relationship with live performance, and Oogoo Maia considers the musician’s body as a site of music-making through a series of interactive games. In the second part we welcome composer/performer Jennifer Walshe who will present…

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Open Scores Lab members Louis d’Heudieres and James Saunders had pieces played in November at series in London and Manchester. Louis’s new piece Vox Pop was performed at Bastard Assignments’  New Teeth 3 show at Block 336 in Brixton on 4 November. The piece extends his use of audio scores, using Wagner as source material for a…

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Wednesday 7 December, 12-4pm, CM131 The third lab considers the nature of scoring and its relationship with digital technologies. We welcome composer David Pocknee to talk about the grid, completeness, and divination, following a presentation and discussion led by Andrew Hugill on human and machine creativity and their impact on score paradigms. 12-2pm: Andrew Hugill…

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Wednesday 2 November, 12-4pm [12-2pm, CM131 / 2-4pm CM225] The second Lab focuses on vocality and verbal communication, featuring a visit from Canadian composer Cassandra Miller. Cassandra’s Duet for Cello and Orchestra was performed at last year’s Tectonics festival in Glasgow, and she will speak about transcription and vocal quality. The Lab will also include new…

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Matt Robertson is performing in Vocal Vertebra Bcn on 5 October at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona. The performance is drawn from his work with the experimental poetry workshop Writers Forum initiated by Bob Cobbing at Goldsmiths College and ‘invites the audience to the sound and visual exploration of gestures, accents, sounds and movements of the performance.’…

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Robert Luzar and Francesco Gagliardi’s collaborative video and text work Demonstrations is available to view at SKELF virtual project space. Demonstrations is a group of four videos, showing how certain actions may or may not be made by viewers. The first piece, How To Outline Through Elastic and Red Tape, is now available to view and the whole series…

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Caitlin Rowley‘s Fortune Favours the Brave was broadcast on Hear and Now last weekend. It was part of a programme curated by Bastard Assignments, the London-based cross-arts collective that she works with. Caitlin’s piece for flute and objects was played by Jenni Hogan and uses a crafted silk and rice paper hand scroll that the performer works…

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Lab 1: Wednesday 5 October, 12-4pm, CM131 In the first lab of the year we welcome American composer Michael Winter who will talk about combinatorics in his recent work. For more information about Michael, please see his website. Michael will also be speaking to the Centre for Creative Computing on 11am on Thursday 6 October in the Riding…

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