Future Talent Composers Create New Material for Electronics Project

Late in June, four of our busy musicians who are also avid composers – Archie, Asia, Scottie and Hugo – spent an evening session writing and expanding on some of their own work, guided by mentors Jez Wiles (percussion) and Richard Phoenix (electronics).

The following day, they workshopped the new material with a Future Talent mixed ensemble at the Royal Academy of Music. The ensemble made electronic samples to add to the compositions, improvising and using extended techniques to create interesting effects. This culminated in a fascinating set of performances at the end of the day.

The musicians who took part enjoyed what was a slightly different kind of workshop than what they were used to: 

“I loved the workshop! Beforehand, I thought that performance had to be exactly perfect. However the workshop allowed me to realise that music can be really beautiful and full of accidents and mistakes!It allowed me to open up to ideas of improvisation and made my confidence grow.” - Isabella (cello)

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“It gave me more of an insight into performing with and writing for a mixed ensemble. The technology elements provided by Richard were incredibly interesting and inspired me to start incorporating more tech into my compositions. Thank you so much to Jez and Richard for their advice and such an inspiring workshop!” - Scottie (piano, composer)

To get an idea of what the performance was like, click here for a short video of one of the pieces beginning!