The cover artwork for The Entire City, the impressive debut album from Gazelle Twin (aka Brighton musician and artist Elizabeth Walling) depicts a ruined and heavily overgrown cityscape, a skyscraper-scale Macchu Picchu. The inner sleeve photo depicts a dark, shambling shape walking (with dog) away from a shingled landscape with a nuclear power station looming in the distance.

Somewhere in between these two images lies Walling’s moody musical vision. Industrial, yet ethereal. Organic, often ephemeral, but diamond-hard on occasion. Sometimes the sound captures more than an echo of the 1990s Warp records ‘post-rock’ roster of acts such as Seefeel, Autechre and even the mighty Aphex Twin — and yet there’s a defiantly 80s feel to some of the synth sounds and percussive samples that provide the rhythmic drive for exquisite melodic lines provided by Walling’s beautiful and beguiling voice. Atonal harmonies glide alongside delicate, often alien chord changes. Vocoder effects, backwards voices and briefly repetitive modulating tones descend from the aether — it’s a heady, toothsome brew, resembling nothing if not some form of otherworldly communication: an electric seance.

Architecture, it has been said, is frozen music. Walling’s walls of sounds sweep and spread expansively, horizontally as well as vertical, to create considerable sonic edifices, each different, yet somehow unified. A disturbing sonic conurbation. An entire city, in fact.

Paul A. Murphy

Blog: http://paulmurphyandthebishops.blogspot.co.uk/

Gazelle Twin has co-curated Flow Forms as part of Associate Artist Scanner’s mini-series in our Summer Festival. Taking place on Friday 21 & Saturday 22 June, Flow Forms explores hidden underground spaces around Spitalfields via a trail of pop-up performances and installations by juice vocal ensemble, Anna Meredith and Laura Moody of Elysian Quartet. The secret locations will be disclosed to ticket holders at the time of the event.

Tickets for Flow Forms can be booked via our website or by calling 020 7377 1362.

On Saturday 15 June, Powerplant will perform at Bishopsgate Institute from 8.00pm. Led by Nonclassical collaborator and eclectic percussionist Joby Burgess, Powerplant also features visual work by sound artist Kathy Hinde. Together they will premiere 24 Lies per Second in a spectacular audio-visual show including works by Graham Fitkin, Dominic Murcott, Steve Reich, Conlon Nancarrow, and Gabriel Prokofiev’s Suite for Global Junk.

Kathy has gained recognition for her kinetic sound sculptures, in particular Piano Migrations. By projecting videos of birds onto the insides of an old upright piano, Kathy creates an ever-changing musical score which uses flight patterns to activate the piano strings. In her words, ‘nature controls machines to create delicate music’. All technical information is available on Kathy’s website so it’s really worth checking out.

“The best work of the festival, however, was an unassuming installation in the foyer of the Scottish Music Centre. In Kathy Hinde’s Piano Migrations, a piano becomes a bird cage (or should that be a Cage bird)…”  The Arts Desk review from Sonic-a Festival, Glasgow.

If you can’t wait to see Powerplant perform on Saturday, see the taster video below of their landmark collaboration with Gabriel Prokofiev IMPORT/EXPORT – Suite for Global Junk.

‘Powerplant – an inspiring collaboration between percussionist Joby Burgess, sound designer Matthew Fairclough and visual artist Kathy Hinde – give electronic music a multimedia makeover.’ The Scotsman

On Saturday 15 June, cellist David Cohen and Rambert Orchestra will be performing contemporary pieces written by recent Rambert music fellows Gavin Higgins and Mark Bowden, and current music fellow Cheryl Frances-Hoad.

The programme will include works by Bach and Britten alongside a world premiere of Cheryl’s Katharsis, a new work inspired by the dance movements of JS Bach’s iconic Cello Suites.

Andrew Clements from The Guardian has said about Cheryl’s work, ‘At a time when it is harder and harder for young composers to establish a distinctive voice – too many styles, too much music easily available to them – Frances-Hoad’s approach is individual, quirky perhaps, but distinctly special.’

David Cohen and Rambert Orchestra will also perform Bowden’s Viriditas, a work which he wrote during his residency with Rambert, and Higgins’s Atomic Café.

Both Mark and Gavin have Soundcloud pages at which you can listen to some of their compositions.

While you’re at it, why not watch and listen to Mark’s New Music 20×12 commission from Rambert, What Wild Ectasy, a modern-day take on Nijinsky’s 100 year old L’Après-midi d’un faune.

http://thespace.org/items/e00015gw?t=ccgwz

David Cohen will be performing Rambert Orchestra on Saturday 15 June at Shoreditch Church (St Leonard’s). Tickets are available via our website.

Vivien Ellis

Vivien Ellis is an Associate Musician of the Digital Miscellanies Index at the Bodleian Library, working to extend public involvement in and awareness of Broadside Ballads, and other popular early vocal material.

“I am working Spitalfields Music as a specialist folk support musician in a project at Phoenix School. The school admits children with language and communication difficulties whose needs lie within the autistic spectrum. The young people on this project, the majority of whom are boys, are aged 14-16 years old and are from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds. This project is very exciting, and I think the result will be amazing.

The project is an eight-week series of folk music-themed workshops culminating in a performance in Platform in Spitalfields Music Summer Festival,  on Monday 17 June, 6.30pm at Shoreditch Church; the young people, together with a team of five professional musicians, will perform  their own short suite of folk music with original material written on the project.

The project is led by oboist Julian West, who is Head of Open Academy, the Royal Academy of Music’s creative learning and participation programme. Emily Askew, a versatile young fiddle and bagpipe player, is teaching one of the students to play the pipes. Double Bassist Rus Pearson is teaching three students and one of their teachers to play the double bass and Spitalfields Music Core Trainee Music Leader Katherine Tinker, a talented young pianist, is teaching one of the students keyboard skills. Alongside the development of everyone’s instrumental skills, I’m turning the group into a choir and supporting an emergent percussion section of cajon, bodhran and frame-drums.

We’re creating a ‘dronescape’, recording sounds we hear around us in the school and in Bow which will form part of the sound score in the concert.

My brief was to find suitable material for use in the project. I used the indices at the Bodleian Library to find something relating to Bow, and of popular origin.  I went to the ballad index and found Bow Fair which turns out to be an absolute gem – I think that our performance of this ballad will be the first in the modern era. I have also found a jig entitled ‘Bow Bells’ which imitates a peal of bells.

The origins of Bow Fair lie in an annual 15-day fair which, from at least 1686, took place each May in Haymarket, and then moved to the site of today’s Curzon Street and Shepherd Market giving the area the name Mayfair. In 1764 the well-to-do residents felt it lowered the tone of the area and the Fair moved to Fair Field in Bow. It flourished in Bow until the mid 19th century, when the drunken rowdy behaviour of the crowds caused the authorities to ban it.

Puppets were evidently a popular entertainment at the Fair. Mr Flockton, who is mentioned in the ballad, was the last great proprietor of such shows and whose puppets were at the height of their glory in about 1790. Other attractions, mentioned in the ballad, included jugglers, fencers and boxers, ballad-sellers, swings and roundabouts, sausage stalls and gambling tables. An eccentric character called ‘Tiddy Dol’, who sold gingerbread in ornamental dress at the fair in Haymarket, figures in Hogarth’s picture of the ‘Idle Apprentice’.

We are on a wonderful journey of discovery together, learning the Bow Fair ballad. As no melody for the song is indicated we’ve found and adapted our own. Wanting our performance to be interactive, with audience participation, the students have created their own chorus made up of cockney rhyming slang.

Within the sessions we are having lots of discussions about what we recognise in the song – what is it talking about? Where are all the local places mentioned in the song, and do they still exist? What kinds of people are mentioned in the song, and would we recognise them in Bow today? It’s a really great process and we all love singing the song. It is unfolding a whole vibrant world to us – a ‘peep through the casement’ – without hyperbole, without mentioning the word ‘history’.”

The Bow Fair Ballad comes from a collection of popular musical and poetic ephemera bequeathed to the Bodleian Library by Walter Harding. The Harding Collection represents the largest of its kind collected by a private individual in any library in the world.

More information about Walter Harding and the Harding Collection can be found here: http://digitalmiscellaniesindex.org/about/harding-collection.php

Hi Tony! Could we start by asking you to tell us a little bit about your background?  How and when did you get into dance, and what does dance mean to you?

I was born in Bristol, but grew up and still live in Hackney. My mum was a dancer in Nigeria, so as a family we were always dancing. It was second nature and now I have taken it on and made a career out of it. In primary school I had two passions, football and dance. Every Wednesday there was a student assembly and there would be an opportunity to present something. Each week without fail, I would come up with a new routine, rehearse all week and present it. I was having fun, but now I realise that I was choreographing from a young age to Vanilla Ice, Salt n Pepper, MC Hammer. I was hugely inspired by Michael Jackson and learnt all the moves from watching him on TV.

I went to study computer science at university but instead of making computer programmes, I was more interested in listening to music and going to the studio to make moves. I dropped out, kept teaching myself, and then got recruited to choreograph Mel B’s world tour. I founded Avant Garde Dance in 2001 and I have not looked back.

Dance is my output for my passion for music. Music is the driving force and dance is the way that I show my appreciation.

How would you introduce Avant Garde Dance to audiences who are unfamiliar with your work?

We use hip hop at our core but we deliver it in a contemporary package. The movement is theatrical, abstract and focuses on musicality. There are no typical street dance formations here. We are constantly playing with styles and genres, and have developed a unique approach to what we produce. We strive to create fresh and exciting work that moves forward. We embrace new concepts, challenge conventions and break boundaries.  I really enjoy challenging myself and our audience, and have worked with circus, chinese pole, clowning, theatre, film, projection and unusual sites in my dance shows.

How would you describe your choreography for Monteverdi Ballets? What should we expect?

I usually work with beats, finding the musicality and quality of the sound, which then informs the choreography. In opera it’s the vocal that creates both the musicality and the structure, so this is a new challenge for me. We are attempting a collaboration between dance and opera. We do not want to just dance in front of the orchestra and singers. We are working with Thomas Guthrie (music & dramaturgy advisor) to really understand the relationship between the music and vocal, researching the context of the opera, what is being said and the story of the characters. We are also watching how the orchestra move when they are playing the music. The musicians become at one with the music and the instrument is translated in their bodies, similar to how the dancer becomes at one with the music. We want the vocal to translate in the body – this is what is inspiring the movement. The choreography will be daring and stem from those that are singing and playing.

Monteverdi’s Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda was written in 1624. How have you and Avant Garde Dance approached working with such an old piece of music? Have you had to try different ways of working?

Music is always key to my work – the difference is that the vocal is creating the rhythm so we want to respect the vocal and marry the movement to it. We are analyzing the vocal musicality, analyzing the speech patterning and in addition, are taking into consideration the translation. I’m constantly asking, ‘What are the core moments of the narrative and how can we stay true to that?’ We are aware there are audiences that know the music, so we want to stay true to the meaning somewhat, but move it on.

And finally, what do you enjoy about working with live music and how often do Avant Garde Dance get the opportunity to do so? What are you looking forward to most about working with Christian Curnyn’s Early Opera Company?

I love live music. When I went on tour with Liberty X (in 1999), it was the first time I danced to a live band and it was incredible.  The energy and vibe you get from another human playing a live instrument right next to you is amazing. Every night was different and that was so exciting. Working with dance and live music brings my two worlds together, so I am really excited to be working on this. It’s a palpable energy that is incredible.

Avant Garde Dance have only worked with live music about three times. We are a large company, and with a live band we would need much bigger budgets, so to have the opportunity to do this is really enjoyable. Like I said, this is a collaboration but it’s pretty tricky to do over email and skype, as we do not have too much time in the rehearsal studio together (dancers, singers and orchestra). I want to try and integrate all of the performers into the story, modernise the way that they all move in this opera.

Monteverdi Ballets will take place on Monday 17 June at Village Underground from 6.30pm-7.30pm and 8.30pm-9.30pm. Ticket prices vary from £5 to £15, and can be purchased via our website.

Hi Charlotte! In May 2012 you were the first recorder player to reach the final of the BBC Young Musician of the Year. What has this meant for you over the past year? Do you think it has changed how people may think about the recorder?

Performing in the BBC Young Musician competition is unlikely to be an experience that anyone will forget very quickly. I had a really great time preparing for it and got an unbelievable amount of support from my teacher, mum, accompanists David Gordon and Hristo Duchev, Junior Royal Academy and my school. Also, the opportunities that have come up over the past year have been amazing and I’ve had a fantastic time; I’ve been able to play in some really great venues whilst meeting and working with loads of different musicians who all have new musical ideas that I can learn from.

I do think the publicity given to the recorder through the BBC Young Musician 2012 competition has changed a lot of attitudes amongst both musicians and non-musicians. Many of my friends who were previously unconvinced now think very differently about the recorder, which is a nice change! However, these new attitudes will be forgotten quickly and certainly won’t spread unless people continue to be presented with evidence that the recorder is more than a toy instrument.

Talk us briefly through your programme for 11 June; why did you choose to perform a mix of baroque and contemporary music?

I’ve always thought the more varied a programme is, the more interesting it is! It also gives a better indication of the different styles in which composers have written for period instruments such as the recorder and harpsichord. The programme begins with the medieval and early baroque, moving on to baroque compositions from Germany, France, and also Portugal and the Netherlands. To end, our programme progresses to the contemporary recorder and harpsichord scene, including one of David’s own compositions.

What’s at the top of your iPod playlist at the moment?

Mussorgsky, St John’s Night on the Bare Mountain. Before my AS music exam I got a little bored of my set work (Beethoven’s 1^st symphony, 1^st and 2^nd movements), mainly due to listening to it on repeat, so I listened to this instead; it would have been my set work of choice.

What do you get up to when you’re not playing music?

Mainly schoolwork, but when I’m not doing that I like reading, listening to music and going to the cinema or theatre with friends/family to relax.

And finally, what are your ambitions for the future? Are there any venues that you dream of playing in or any artists that you’d like to work with?

My immediate plans are to read History at university for an undergraduate degree, and then to do a postgraduate degree at a music college. If my future career is anything like the year I’ve had after the BBC competition I will be more than happy! I’ve been unbelievably lucky so far in meeting really inspiring musicians (especially David) this year and playing in some great venues, like Cadogan Hall and St Martin in the Fields. David and I are both really looking forward to performing in Hoxton Hall. The recorder isn’t very well suited to huge venues, so I tend to prefer smaller spaces.  I particularly like performing in old churches; the acoustics are brilliant for the recorder. I would welcome the opportunity of working with Pamela Thorby, who is one of my favourite recorder players and who has incredible musicianship.

Charlotte will be performing works by Panufnik, Bob Margolis, Bach, Castello and Ortiz at Hoxton Hall on Tuesday 11 June. Tickets are available to purchase via our website.

‘When an adolescent in a rural town learns from his flamboyant teacher about Julius Caesar’s many lovers, he begins to experience intrusive thoughts about himself as a Roman Emperor, in very bizarre situations…’

Details of timings are below.

Photos by Ludovic Des Cognets.

Monday – Wednesday, Friday, Saturday: 11.00am – 7.00pm
Thursday: 11.00am – 8.00pm
Sunday: 12.00pm – 6.00pm