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 present some recent work.
12-2pm | CM.107 | Laura Bowler: From Music of Cruelty through to an Emoticon Call to Arms
I will be talking about my exploration and application of different theatre practices ranging from Stanislavski to Grotowski in my work alongside the necessity of the extreme in my creative process as both a performer and composer. The session will also include some practical work. I will also be talking about the creative process of a project in development- Laura Sings an autobiographical work co-created by myself, Philip Venables and Patrick Eakin Young.
A part of this session will include reference to rape and sexual violence.
Laura Bowler is a composer, vocalist and the Artistic Director of Size Zero Opera. She has been commissioned by ensembles and orchestras worldwide including BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Quatuor Bozzini, Ensemble Lydenskab, Linea Ensemble, Den Jyske Opera, The Opera Group, ROH2 amongst many others. Laura is currently Composer-in-Residence with Manchester Camerata, for whom she has written several works including a music theatre quadruple concerto premiered in 2015 at the Bridgewater Hall. As a vocalist, Laura has premiered many composers’ works including Arne Gieshoff, Jennifer Walshe, Darren Bloom, Diana Soh and Michael Cutting and performed in Austria, France, Singapore and Canada. Laura was also the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Lands End Ensemble in Canada from 2012-2014.
Laura is currently working on a new chamber opera with British playwright, Edward Bond, commissioned by the Arcola Theatre. Aside from being a Professor at the Guildhall School, Laura is also a Lecturer in Composition at the Royal Northern College of Music.
Laura completed her BMus at the RNCM and Sibelius Academy studying with Adam Gorb and Tapio Tuomela, followed by her MMus and PhD at the Royal Academy of Music with Gary Carpenter, David Sawer and Sir Harrison Birtwistle. Laura also studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts on their MA in Theatre Directing.
2-4pm | CM.107 | Harry Matthews / Alex Mah
Harry Matthews will talk about his time at CAMP, an arts and music residency, studying with Apartment House in the French Pyrenees. He will discuss his experiences, provide recordings of the workshops, and invite a collaborative performance of Jackson Mac Low.
Alex Mah will discuss his participation in KLANGRAUM, an interdisciplinary arts festival in Düsseldorf, Germany. During the session, he will be talking about the work he premiered there. This will include a demonstration of observing-recording-reliving, a participatory piece involving perception as a creative act and the transmission of ideas through scoring and bodies. Alex is a composer, musician, and dance artist from Canada. His scores and research explore the possibilities of verbal scores and the body in performance and non-performance.
We made our first TV studio project after Covid last week, recording four new pieces by Lab members. It was great to be working with the studio crew again, and we had a fun couple of days trying out some new kit and making some sounds. We recorded two new pieces by Harry Matthews – […]
Wednesday 13 February, 12-4pm (CM.107) Emmanuelle Waeckerlé: Playing (with) and becoming I will share a few projects, VINST, JUNGLE FEVER, PRAELUDERE, Ode (owed) to O, specualting on where my attachment to spoken/written language and the voice may come from, and how a few conceptual strategies I have used over the years have recently led to […]
Misha Penton and Caitlin Rowley (Bastard Assignments) have both been selected for Classical:NEXT’s Encore Showcase this year. Misha will be showing her (micro)REQUIEM while Bastard Assignments will show the first performance of Alexander Schubert’s Browsing, Idling, Investigating, Dreaming from their series of Lockdown Jams. More information on the series and links to the performances can […]
