New work! Unwept Tears

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…

Welcome to Italy

In autumn 2017 I collaborated with Isola Quassud, a theatre company based in Catania, Sicily, developing music within an intercultural production entitled ‘Welcome to Italy’. The aim was to immerse the audience in Italy’s disfunctional reception process for immigrants. Through a series of workshops involving reading, movement and singing, the actors drew Read more…

The gaze of Sharbat Gula

In Summer 2017, in collaboration with Francesco Iannuzzelli, I put together a concert to compliment an exhibition of photography by Steve McCurry. The exhibition’s primary selling point was the famous photograph of Afghan refugee Sharbat Gula. Rather than directly entering the debate about media exploitation of the dispossessed, we decided Read more…

Workshops

Building on my courses in Intercultural Performance run at Royal Holloway, I now lead music workshops for instrumentalists, vocalists and those who just want to have a go at making music in a group. Workshops vary in aim: in the case of Today is Good! (weekly sessions, ongoing) and Welcome Read more…