What would it sound like if a jukebox, lost at the bottom of a river, tried to make music again? This piece was the result of a collaboration with Distractfold’s Daniel Brew and Alice Purton. “The juke box that drowned” combines my field recordings of aquatic environments with broken melodies Read more…
Following the bombing of the Manchester Arena in 2017, people of Manchester gathered tributes in an enormous spontaneous memorial, which was subsequently collected and stored by the Manchester Art Gallery. Now known as the ‘Manchester Together Archive’, this collection serves as a reference point for the way the city came Read more…
What happens to our secrets? What happens to our hidden stories? Eventually they find their way out. Unwept Tears began as a story and became a piece of music before turning into a film. Text and music by Rachel Beckles Willson Narration, oud, udu and sampled voice: Rachel Beckles WIllson Read more…
A wry hearing of a kitchen in 1950s England
My compositional work had great support this month as I was privelaged to have a residency at The Red House, formerly the home of Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears. I stayed in Cosy Nook, the cottage of Nellie Hudson, Britten and Pears’ housekeeper. It had a beautiful acoustic, and I Read more…
As part of the SOAS Summer School I am thrilled to lead an experimental online course in modal creative work
We were thrilled that Beyond Mode was featured in the SOAS Concert Series 2019-2020.
An opportunity to present one of my own compositions, Acem Kurdi Saz Semai, live for the BBC, with a mysteriously dramatic background – not really in line with the melancholy of the piece! Please contact me if you would like a copy of the score.