A project for the CBSO with EC Arts
(from EC arts website)
‘Found in Ladywood’ will involve the Leo String Quartet, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. The quartet will take its renowned classical repertoire out of traditional settings and into Ladywood Fire Station for an autumnal Shostakovich Quartet number 8 performance. The project will also feature a unique commission in the form of an original composition for Ladywood. The piece will be created and lead by Composer and Music Animateur Duncan Chapman collaborating with Ladywood residents in a series of artistic workshops and the Leo Quartet to produce the piece for the final event.
The project has been inspired by both the CBSO’s ethos to reach out and engage new audiences, and ‘Lost in Ladywood’ a 2007 project by artist Simon Whitehead, commissioned by MADE. Found in Ladywood recognises that there is a large percentage of the community that have not experienced ‘live’ classical music – it aims to take classical music out of its traditional settings and into the heart of the community, making it accessible to everyone.
Event skills workshops.
The journey leading up to the performance will involve members of the community working with EC-Arts to identify a non traditional performance venue free of charge. The aim of the project is to collaborate with members of the community to change perspectives of a non traditional performance venue by transforming it for an event. A series of workshops will be implemented and delivered in Ladywood to teach a core group in the community event management skills. The community group will plan and deliver the October event by participating within all aspects of planning leading up to including the event day.
Artistic workshops.
Simultaneously ’artistic workshops’ have been lead within Ladywood by Composer Duncan Chapman, renowned for his experimental approach and technologically advanced festivals. A recent example of Duncan’s work was a Nintendo DS orchestra that took place on the beach at the Aldeburgh Festival. Duncan is working with members of Ladywood community to record the ‘sounds of Ladywood’. The sounds will inspire and form part of an original composition specifically for Ladywood to be performed on the 10th October 2010.
The Leo Quartet (Byron Parish, Jane Wright, Mike Jenkinson and Kate Setterfield) is a quartet of leading players from the CBSO who formed in 2004 and have built a reputation for vibrant performances of diverse repertoire.
Here is a short film of the event (opens in a new window)