As we approach our 25th year, we are taking a moment to celebrate the breadth of extraordinary musical encounters created in collaboration with the artists we work with and presented to audiences.

First up, we look back at some of the rural tours we have produced over the last 25 years.

Polly Eldridge, Sound UK's Director says:
"Maija Handover (co-Director) and I grew up in villages, having to travel many miles on buses or cadging a lift to go and hear music in the nearest towns and cities. We loved bringing innovative and memorable events into the heart of village life, building relationships and creating work with villages and rural communities. The sense of community and close connection was incredibly special, and it was an absolute joy to work with many brilliant people and to visit beautiful places from Shropshire down to Cornwall."

Earth Machine Music

In 2008, we worked with Finnish musical adventurist and ‘Jimi Hendrix of the accordion’, Kimmo Pohjonen who collaborated with agricultural machines to create an extraordinary event on farms. We teamed up with media partner Farmers Weekly to reach rural audiences in Bury St Edmunds, West Sussex, North Devon and Oxfordshire.

Ice Music

In 2012, we toured a unique winter experience from Norway to Cornwall, Devon, Wiltshire and Oxfordshire. We brought acclaimed Norwegian composer and ice music pioneer Terje Isungset’s ice music to these rural communities. Screenings of The Idea of North accompanied the live performances. Using rare archive film and new footage recorded by artist Mariele Neudecker for Opera North’s production of Winterreise, Terje Isungset and filmmaker Phil Slocombe created a film which evokes the frozen landscape of the far North.

Since then, we have continued to work with Terje Isungset, bringing his ice music to UK audiences. This November, we present the Ice Music Quartet at 7 venues across England.

Watch the project film:

Playing the Field

Sound art meets the village fete. In 2013, we produced Playing the Field – a project where mechanical and electronic sound sculptures were installed in school and public playing fields in Wiltshire, Devon and Cornwall, lending an interactive sound installation to village fetes and school projects.

We commissioned 3 artists, Mark Anderson, Leslie Deere and Chris Stanley, to create new works that played and animated with local fields.

Watch the project film:

Forever England

In 2014, to mark the centenary of the First World War, we produced Forever England – a unique project working with award-winning folk singer Sam Lee, Rachel and Becky Unthank - an evening of music in rural locations inspired by the folk song, stories and poetry of the First World War.

Unearthing the folk songs and personal stories from wartime Pewsey, Braunton, Calstock and Witney, Sam breathed fresh life into centuries old traditions through new arrangements and songs. Becky and Rachel Unthank also created new music set to First World War poetry as well as new arrangements of songwriters from the North East at the time of the War.

Find out more on our event page: Forever England - Time and Place

The Little Radio

"With their sheer virtuosity and sense of joy you feel like a kid about to step onto a twinkling, old-fashioned merry-go-round." BBC

In 2015, we produced The Little Radio rural tour with internationally acclaimed jazz artists Iain Ballamy and Stian Carstensen. Ahead of the tour Iain and Stian visited local schools, residential homes and elderly groups to unearth songs and tunes with personal significance. They then created new songs inspired by these locally loved songs and returned to deliver an imaginative and compelling performance in each location.

Find out more on our event page: The Little Radio

Watch the project film:

Ghost Stories – The Paper Cinema

In 2016 we worked with The Paper Cinema to develop a new show based on ghostly tales from Cornwall, Devon, Wiltshire, Shropshire and Barking in London.

The local ghost stories for the rural locations were researched during visits to each village in April 2016, which also included workshops in local primary schools. These gave Year 5 students an overview of how to create the imagery and music for a short animation, culminating in a short performance by the children. The Barking story was commissioned by local crime writer Linda Rhodes who draws on the tragic Barking boiler explosion of 1899 to create a visually arresting ghost story for the show.

Find out more on our event page: Ghost Stories

Watch the project film:

Keld: Freshwater Songs

"It was really exciting to have contemporary art happening in the village (!) and to be able to attend an event like this locally, relating to our own environment." Audience comment about KELD: Freshwater Songs

In 2017, we collaborated with award winning singer and composer Kerry Andrew to produce Keld: Freshwater Songs. A project combining her passions for wild swimming and gathering songs, it celebrated freshwater folklore inspired by a variety of sources including the Cornwall, Devon, Wiltshire and London locations of the tour.

Find out more on our event page: Keld: Freshwater Songs

Watch the project film:

The Fleet featuring Jason Singh's Drifters

“Such an incredible event, with such talented artists. I feel privileged and grateful for the Arts Funding which allowed such a phenomenal event to come to our local area. Huge congrats and many thanks to all involved.” Audience feedback

In 2024 we toured to rural venues around the South West of England with The Fleet – featuring Jason Singh’s live soundtrack to John Grierson’s monumental silent documentary film Drifters and a newly commissioned piece by Sarah Acton called Seiners. This new piece weaved ghostly fragments of the south west seine fishing heritage alongside atmospheric visuals by Common Ground.

Find out more on our event page: Fleet

Watch the project trailer:

Sound UK's online flyer archive - 25 years of extraordinary musical encounters

Explore our online flyer archive to see the variety of projects we have commissioned and produced over the last 25 years.

View the archive