Bristol New Music

Bristol New Music

Five key organisations across Bristol join forces to present Bristol New Music from 21 February until 23 February. Colston Hall, Arnolfini, Spike Island, St George’s Bristol and the University of Bristol work together to bring the very best international new music to the city, while working to create opportunities for emerging regional artists. Over the weekend in February there will be a stimulating programme of events to showcase a variety of musical talents.

Highlights of the weekend include the UK premiere of Harry Partch’s seminal work from the 1960s, And on the Seventh Day Petals Fell in Petaluma. The piece is to be performed by Cologne-based contemporary supergroup Ensemble musikFabrik. Ensemble musikFabrik have recreated the microtonal Partch instruments, the originals being too fragile to travel from the US, and this will be the first time these instruments will be performed on in the UK. The programme is completed by Ensemble musikFabrik’s particular interpretations of the music of Frank Zappa.

Another UK premiere comes in the form of US composer/inventor Ellen Fullman as she performs on her remarkable self-designed Long String Instrument, in collaboration with German experimental guitarist Konrad Sprenger. The Long String Instrument is an installation of dozens of tuned wires 50 feet or more in length, which will be suspended across the top floor of the Arnolfini building. In addition to this, Ensemble MAZE from Amsterdam perform the UK premiere of Christian Marclay’s The Bell and The Glass – which juxtaposes two of Philadelphia’s famous icons: the Liberty Bell and Marcel Duchamp’s The Large Glass.

Quatuor Bozzini, Canada’s leading new music string quartet arrive in the UK to perform a programme of music including a Bristol New Music Commission and world premiere by Claudia Molitor alongside music by John Cage and Koan by James Tenney. The event also presents a new installation by artist Louisa Fairclough at Arnolfini called Jeannie, based on the visions 
and auditory hallucinations of a young composer living on the River Severn. The work comprises 
a recording on dubplate vinyl and live vocal interventions throughout the building, and is a Bristol New Music Commission in association with ICIA University of Bath.

In a celebration of music from all over the globe, Bristol New Music brings together a number of outstanding artists. At 7pm on Friday 21 February audiences are invited to take the Ferry from Arnolfini to Spike Island and experience a Ferry sound installation by Turkish artist Cevdet Erek. The installation is a world premiere and Bristol New Music commission to accompany Erek’s eagerly anticipated first solo show in the UK Alt Üst currently on display at Spike Island.

Bristol New Music, 21 February – 23 February, more information at www.arnolfini.org.uk/whatson/series/bristol-new-music.

Credits
1. BNW, Cevdet Erek.