spnm Solo Spotlights
Solo Spotlights is a series of concerts of cutting edge music each Tuesday in March in the atmospheric setting of London’s Wapping Hydraulic Power Station.
Four outstanding solo artists explore new territory for their instruments in events that provide a feast for the senses, with stage and lighting design by multimedia artist Julia Bardsley and food from the Wapping Project’s renowned restaurant.
As part of spnm’s Second Sight series, spnm artistic director Rolf Hind has curated a series of solo evenings which empower the performers to shape their own events and to showcase their remarkable abilities. Against a spectacular backdrop of hydraulic machinery, harpist Ruth Wall, harpsichordist Jane Chapman, violinist David Alberman and percussionist Damien Harron conjure new sounds from their instruments, using new performance techniques, electronics, movement and theatre.
The programmes include new music by some of the world’s leading composers, as well as works written especially for the events by the UK’s best up-and-coming composers from the spnm Shortlist, with first performances of pieces by Christopher Best, Richard Glover, Liz Johnson, Richard Glover, Kataryzna Glowicka, Robert Percy, Nick Redfern, Anastasos Savvopoulos, George Holloway, Chris Johnson, Evis Sammoutis, Tazul Tajuddin, Amber Priestley and Evangelia Rigaki. For details on these composers, see www.spnm.org.uk/shortlist
Ruth Wall is one of the UK’s only leading harpists specialising in new music and inspiring the creation of new repertoire. She has collaborated with visual artists, choreographers, writers and film makers. Using ancient and lever harps with live electronics, she produces a remarkable range of sounds from the harp from filigree textures to aggressive distortion. Her programme includes pieces by two of the UK’s leading minimalist composers, Graham Fitkin and Laurence Crane, cult American composer David Lang and new works written especially for the event by spnm shortlisted composers Christopher Best, Richard Glover and Liz Johnson.
Jane Chapman is the harpsichordist for the 21st century. 'The sorceress of the harpsichord' (Radio Times). Equally passionate about contemporary and baroque music, she has revitalized new repertoire for the instrument, using amplification and electronics, inspiring the latest generation of composers. She has premiered over 50 solo works and numerous electroacoustic and chamber pieces by leading composers, and is at the forefront of developing collaborations with composers and video artists. Her programme includes György Ligeti's stunning work 'Continuum' and 'Birl" by James Dillon, plus new pieces written for the event by spnm shortlisted composers Richard Glover, Kataryzna Glowicka, Robert Percy, Nick Redfern and Anastasos Savvopoulos. Also premieres by Rhian Samuel and Nick Rothwell, whose piece reprocesses all the works previously heard in the concert.
Violinist David Alberman has been at the forefront of the international contemporary music scene for over 20 years. In 1986 he joined the world’s leading string quartet specialising in new music, the Arditti Quartet, and in 1995 he formed a Duo with the virtuoso pianist Rolf Hind. He is currently a Principal of the London Symphony Orchestra and plays as guest concertmaster in groups as varied as the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Recherche Freiburg and the London Sinfonietta. Alberman’s concert at Wapping showcases the violin in surprising roles, with the ‘white noise’ sounds of Lachenmann’s Toccatina set against the manic theatricality of Berio’s Sequenza for Violin. Alberman has also worked with spnm shortlisted composers George Holloway, Chris Johnson, Evis Sammoutis and Tazul Tajuddin on the creation of new pieces written especially for the event.
The series finale is performed by percussionist Damien Harron, a fascinating musician whose performance focuses on physicality and theatre as much as it does on rhythm. Harron is a founder member of percussion quartet BackBeat and is also active as a composer, whilst his interests in a great many global styles of percussion playing have enabled him to gain a reputation as an extremely versatile performer. He has collaborated with many artists from outside of the sphere of Western art music and recently developed a duo with the tabla maestro Sanju Sahai. For his performance at Wapping, Harron uses instruments that range from a typewriter and a marimba to flowerpots, and performs pieces that use movement, vocalising and theatre. The programme includes theatrical works by Frederick Rzewski and Georges Aperghis, alongside music by Ed Bennett and new pieces written for the event by spnm shortlisted composers Amber Priestley and Evangelia Rigaki.
Series designer Julia Bardsley is an award-winning theatre director, filmmaker, photographer and performer. Her recent work includes video, set and costume design for Almeida-Aldeburgh’s highly-acclaimed production of Simon Holt’s Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm? and her solo project, the TRANS-ACTS Trilogy, which combines traditional art forms with new technology.
Tuesday 06 March, 7.30pmRuth Wall (Harps)
Music by Graham Fitkin, David Lang, Joe Cutler, Laurence Crane, Richard Glover, Liz Johnson and Christopher Best
Tuesday 13 March, 7.30pm
Jane Chapman (Harpsichord)
Music by György Ligeti, James Dillon, Rhian Samuel, Nick Rothwell, Richard Glover, Katarzyna Glowicka, Robert Percy, Nick Redfern and Tasos Savvopoulos
Tuesday 20 March, 7.30pm
David Alberman (Violin)
Music by Luciano Berio, Helmut Lachenmann, Salvatore Sciarrino, George Holloway, Chris Johnson, Evis Sammoutis and Tazul Tajuddin
Tuesday 27 March, 7.30pm
Damien Harron (Percussion)
Music by Frederic Rzewski, Georges Aperghis, Ed Bennett, Damien Harron, Amber Priestley and Evangelia Rigaki
Single concert £10 (£5 spnm members)
Series pass £30 (£15 spnm members)
Concert plus food £22 (£17 spnm members)
Online Booking http://www.ticketweb.co.uk
Full information http://www.spnm.org.uk/events
Venue: Wapping Hydraulic Power Station. Wapping Wall, London E1W 3ST. Nearest Tube: Wapping (East London Line)