Seren’s music editor Hedd Thomas will be singing at Lie Still, Sleep Becalmed on 12th March, a new musical and visual production with a twist. He asked Katherine Betteridge, the creative and organisational brain behind the event, to share something about it:
The dynamic new North Wales-based arts company, Exploration in Sound, will be holding two concerts on 12th March at 19:30 & 21:30 in Powis Hall, Bangor University.
Lie Still, Sleep Becalmed is an exciting musical and visual event comprising a combination of performances by top-class professional musicians and also music students from Bangor University, alongside professional actors and dancers from Theatr Dan-Y-Coed. The theme of the evening’s show is lunar-inspired dreams and reality with a surreal slant.
The aim of the evening is to explore how we hear music, and to examine the listening experience as the context changes. We’ll see what happens when conventional boundaries shift or dissolve. You may not realise when the performance has started or finished, or who are actors or audience members, or even where the stage starts and ends. You’ll be challenged by your expectation of a concert environment and may find yourself opening to a different listening experience.
The Bangor University students involved in the event will have a really unique and exciting opportunity to work alongside professionals in an unconventional setting, challenging their own notions of performance practice; and the audience will be treated to an enlivening sonic adventure!
The idea of the event was conceived by Twila Bakker (Canadian flautist and musicologist), Sioned Eleri Roberts (North Wales-born clarinettist and composer) and me (Yorkshire-born violinist and composer). We combined ideas on performance practice and our experiences of working with Theatr Dan-Y-Coed in extremely unconventional settings.
I’m currently undertaking a PhD in Music Composition with Professor Andrew Lewis at Bangor University and have an interest in the listener’s experience, and in particular with how the experience is narrowed due to expectations of what a concert performance should be and of what kind of music we as individuals find acceptable due to our own conditioning. I’m also interested in a fully integrative approach to performing – not separating the different art forms – and in creating performances in which every aspect of the show becomes part of the drama. So come and be part of the drama yourself!
You are invited to bring along cushions and wear comfortable clothing for a truly unforgettable lunar- and dream-inspired surreal listening adventure. Lie Still, Sleep Becalmed has two performances on 12th March at 19:30 and 21:30 respectively. For tickets please contact Katherine at katherinebetteridge@yahoo.co.uk.
