London Sinfonietta Collective

More reviews

2010-06-08T03:24:00.000-07:00

Two more great reviews! Check them out:

Telegraph

Classical Source

Thanks to everybody who came to see the gig - it wouldn't have been half as good without an audience!

FIVE STAR REVIEW

2010-06-06T11:25:00.000-07:00

Composer and critic Stephen Crowe came to SHADOWORKS and gave us a glowing FIVE STAR review

Here's an especially great paragraph about the Collective's involvement in the foyer spectacles

"During the intervals there were informal Foyer Spectacles from The London Sinfonietta Collective- a multi-discipline outfit who produce sound and installations in all possible manifestations. The most notable of the troupe were some improvised electronic jibbering from Alex Cook and Daniel Harle, and a hammed-up homage to the pangs of inspiration by writhing Jordan Hunt and his alluring cohorts"

stills from the dance/animation film

2010-06-02T07:05:00.000-07:00

A few images to capture your imagination and entice you to come to the performance tomorrow night at Queen Elizabeth Hall, 7.30pm!

See you there!

Just Hanging Around--installation rehearsal (part 2)

2010-05-28T06:37:00.000-07:00

We decided to take this rehearsal outside. Given the costumes, Greenwich seemed apropos.

SHADOWORKS // 3 / JUN / 2010 // QEH / LONDON

2010-05-26T04:58:00.000-07:00

3rd June 2010 Queen Elizabeth Hall Southbank Centre

See you there!!!

Just Hanging Around--installation rehearsal

2010-05-24T03:08:00.000-07:00

Just Hanging Around had a mini rehearsal of parts 1 and 3 (pre-show and 2nd interval) in the foyer of the Laban Centre. Not too many people around Laban on a Sunday afternoon so the space was devoid of passersby and potential audience members. There will be 10 performers in total at QEH but for this rehearsal, 4 were present. More rehearsals are being scheduled throughout the next week and a half so all performers will be able to attend at least 1 before June 3rd.

Clearly, costumes are still being completed...
Part 1

Part 3

Post-concert miniatures

2010-05-21T12:15:00.000-07:00

After the main concert on 3rd June there will be a post-concert event featuring a selection of miniatures originally written for the accordion by the British experimental composer Howard Skempton. Members of the London Sinfonietta Collective (Alex Cook, Daniel Harle, Laura Jayne Bowler and Stephen Mark Barchan) have created orchestrated versions of these pieces, which the Azalea Ensemble (conducted by Stephen Mark Barchan) will perform on the stage in the QEH foyer. The miniatures that will be presented - One for the Road, Yes, yes, Annette, Deeply shaded, Berkley Street and Pendulum - have been written at various points during the last thirty years. This will be an opportunity to hear both the original pieces (performed by accordionist Amadej Herzog) echoed by the orchestrated versions for large ensemble, along with Stephen Mark Barchan's Always Together - a homophonic chorale dedicated to Howard Skempton.

Canvas

2010-05-12T12:21:00.000-07:00

Canvas , the interactive painting installation, had a test run this past weekend in the foyer of the Cornell University Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts in Ithaca, New York. It was set up during a 3-day dance festival so audiences were able to play with it during the performance intervals. See our video clips below.

For more extensive information on Canvas, where it's been and where it's going, I'll refer you here.

The Shoot

2010-05-10T14:34:00.000-07:00

Some images by photographer Ellie Keeble, who came with us on the day of the shoot for the dance animation film, in Epping Forest.

More to follow soon...

Costume design

2010-05-07T08:25:00.000-07:00

Hi there!

Well we've been making the costume for the dance film, and here it is! Made by Jordan Hunt, the dress and horse's head evoke images of a mystical figure/creature from the forest...
We are also planning to use white body paint and red hair dye black eye make up and red lipstick, inspired by the Japanese art form Butoh.

More to see from the shoot soon...

Location scouting for dance animation film

2010-05-05T09:54:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

We've been scouting for locations to shoot the dance animation film, set with Aldo Clementi's Triplum played in the main concert hall, the film will be screened on large projections close to the musicians playing live.

We found a gorgeous curved pathway snaking its way round the trees, we have ideas to create a dance circuling its way to inside the forest.

Inside the forest there are fallen trees across huge spaces like alcoves surrounded by trees, this is where the dance and animations can happen.

Here are some traces on the forest floor of a dance rehearsal for the film shoot next week.

More to come soon from the shoot on Saturday...

Music Mouse Variations - First Rehearsal

2010-04-28T05:58:00.000-07:00

Daniel and myself (Alex) will be performing a piece of electronic music in the foyer during the first interval.

It's based around some software designed by Laurie Spiegel called "Music Mouse" which we'll be running on an old Atari 1040ST.
The software is basically an interface for controlling lots of notes and chords at the same time using a computer mouse and keyboard and then sending that data to other devices which can then provide a variety of sounds.

Here is what the Music Mouse interface looks like:

Yesterday Dan and I had our first rehearsal.
I was at the Atari while Dan was controlling loop and delay pedals, and during the session we tried out a variety of sounds that the Atari would trigger, including a drum machine which actually worked quite well despite being sent information designed to be played on a keyboard.

We recorded most of the rehearsal and ended up with over 2 hours of audio, but I've edited that down to 8 minutes so you can hear some of the sounds we managed to create.
We'll need to work quite a bit on structuring the piece into something that will work well and also on creating some effective transitions between parts.
Overall I'm just happy that most of the technology actually worked!

Shadoworks

2010-04-12T15:08:00.000-07:00

Today the collective met to discuss the first marketing ideas, to finalise a name for the event on June 3rd and to discuss creative ideas for special events in the foyer.

We spoke with Mark Lewis, the Marketing Manager at the London Sinfonietta, who planted seeds for how we might market the event, and gave us some deadlines to work towards!

We had a chance to discuss further in depth some of the brilliant ideas people have been coming up with for installations / performances and interval / post-concert events at the QEH. It's shaping up to be a really exciting evening

We finally reached a decision on the name for the event, that is sympathetic with the programme and all the ideas for interval performances and work we've come up with so far:

SHADOWORKS

The general concensus is positive, and we're really excited to get on with the creative part of putting on the concert now!

More to come...

NEW MEMBERS 2010

2010-04-08T09:32:00.000-07:00

STEPHEN MARK BARCHAN
My name is Stephen and I work as a freelance composer, conductor and music copyist. At the moment I'm writing a string quartet called Trapped Inside which was inspired by Sylvia Plath's novel The Bell Jar. For me, the most enjoyable part of the Collective meetings so far has been the opportunity to explore pieces by composers who I'm not familiar with. www.stephenmarkbarchan.co.uk

KATIE KEEBLE
Hi, I'm Katie, I am a contemporary dancer and choreographer. I have been working with the Culture Collective in their last performances and am happy to return for this new venture! As a dancer I have been working with choreographers Jacky Lansley, Kim Brandstrup, Hubert Essakow and mentor Rosemary Butcher. I am looking forward to working with people from different disciplines. http://katiekeeble.blogspot.com

NI WEN
Hi, I am Ni. I am studing moving image in Central Saint Martins now. I always love performance and theater, I think this is a very good chance to know people from this area and work with them. I come from Shanghai, China. I was studing Marketing four years.

JORDAN HUNT
Hello, my name's Jordan and I'm a composer and violinist amongst other things, and I've been working with the London Sinfonietta Culture Collective since its inception in 2008. I'm currently working on a dance-theatre piece for the Aldeburgh Festival 2010, and touring with my band The Irrepressibles www.myspace.com/theirrepressibles. I love having the chance to curate work around some of the world's best contemporary music, performed by some of the worlds best players, and collaborating with artists and dancers in performance.
www.jordan-hunt.com

ALEX COOK
Howdy I'm Alex and I will soon be studying Music Computing. In the mean time I have been experimenting with music and computers.

KATHLEYA AFANADOR
My work falls mostly within the realm of choreography but always involves close collaboration with other artists working in areas such as music, computer programming, architecture, and visual arts. I’m a co-founder of Armadillo Dance Project and currently we’re preparing for summer presentations at the ABUNDANCE Festival in Karlstad, Sweden and the World Dance Alliance Event in New York City. This is my first year working with the London Sinfonietta Collective.

DANIEL HARLE
I'm a music student from London.

I write a lot of electronic and acoustic music.

At the moment I am especially interested in library music and video game soundtracks.

Sophie Gate

Yo. was I supposed to post this here?

Studying moving image at Central St Martins, but mainly interested in animation. I have a bronze medal in the national yo-yo championships in the under 16's category.

SION will post a little information about themselves soon

London Sinfonietta Collective Night // 3 / JUN / 2010

2010-04-08T09:31:00.001-07:00

The date for first London Sinfonietta Collective Night of 2010 has been announced!

3 JUNE 2010
Queen Elizabeth Hall
London
7.30pm (plus pre / post concert events!)

Find out further details at the London Sinfonietta website

We are currently finalising the programme, which will include a UK premiere by Dai Fujikura and new work by Larry Goves.

Expect an evening of contrasts and experiments where contemporary music is mixed with video, installations, dance, new music compositions and collaborations.