Thank you to our brilliant audiences, artists, partners & funders, for all your support this year.
In 2022 we produced a wide variety of new projects, bringing together music creators and the public to experience new music. We reached over 31,000 live and digital audiences.
Here we look back at some of our project highlights from 2022.
In February we produced a 6-date tour with singer Keeley Forsyth, marking the release of her second album, Limbs.
Following this tour, we commissioned Bog Body, a new piece by Keeley Forsyth and Ross Downes, which premiered at PRS Foundation and Southbank Centre’s New Music Biennial Festival in April 2022.
Our nationwide project A Song for Us concluded with 3 new county songs performed live and released as films online in March 2022.
These beautiful songs full of love, hope and community feature hundreds of young people performing in amateur choirs and groups.
In total across the project, we worked with 18 partners and produced 14 new county songs, working with 17 composers, 27 youth, school and adult choirs, and 680 performers.
We delivered 61 workshops to 405 participants, helping and inspiring young people to write their own songs.
“The song articulated so much that we experienced during the pandemic - being part of this project has been both cathartic and deeply moving.” - Choir member
Watch Just Breathe, A Song for Wales, which premiered on St David’s Day at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, featuring Only Boys Aloud here.
In June we released two new self-guided audio trails for Reading’s High Street Heritage Action Zone, commissioned by Reading Borough Council and created by local artists Aundre Goddard, Fiona Talkington and Richard Bentley.
The audio trails take listeners on a journey of discovery, celebrating Reading’s heritage and revealing hidden histories. You can find out more about them here.
Between May - October, we produced and toured Arun Ghosh’s The Canticle of the Sun to beautiful church settings around the country.
“I feel reborn after listening to this gorgeous jazz rendition in a 1000 year old venue.” Audience member after Arun Ghosh’s The Canticle of the Sun.
Read more about the tour here and watch a short film about the project here.
In July we produced the debut tour of Sankofa, an immersive sound and visual experience from DJ and Turntablist NikNak.
NikNak was one of our 2021 Sound Generator artists and the Sankofa project developed out of this R&D programme.
You can watch a short video of NikNak discussing Sound Generator and Sankofa here.
Looking forward to more live dates in the New Year at Kings Place (22 Jan), Cambridge Junction (28 Jan) & Beast in Birmingham (4 Feb).
This autumn we toured Arcadia Live with a specially curated 9-piece band, bringing Paul Wright’s captivating film and Adrian Utley and Will Gregory’s critically acclaimed soundtrack to life.
“Certainly one of the greatest and most beautiful live cinematic experiences I've ever seen.” Jason Solomons, Film Critic
More live dates are coming up in March 2023 at Howard Assembly Room Leeds (3 March) and London's Barbican Centre (4 March). You can find out more here.
In year 2 of our artist development programme, Sound Generator, we supported another 6 early-career artists to research and develop bold new ideas with support from industry mentors.
“This opportunity has been so significant in pushing me forward as an artist; to have the funding to allow creative room in realising something so ambitious is a valuable thing.” Piera Onacko, Sound Generator artist 2022
And that's our 2022 highlights in review. To see a full list of projects past and present, including upcoming projects in 2023, visit our events section.
We look forward to sharing more inspiring new music with you in 2023.
