Artist : Bastard Assignments
Photo: Alexandra Waespi
DK premiere
[ music theatre ]
Time : 17. May • 19:30 - 20:45
Location : Åbne Scene, Godsbanen, Karen Wegeners Gade 8, 8000 Aarhus
Co-commissioned by : SPOR festival, Borealis festival & Wigmore Hall
Info
Experimental music theatre about an English farming family that feels the impact of strange, dark powers coming from their land. Four performers are on a stage – with costumes, homemade instruments, no pigs. Bastard Assignments reimagine traditional English folk performances, composing their own folk songs, hymns, and a Christmas carol. These elements are combined with composed music and improvised performance.
Pen lids and cooking pans, copper pipe, hoses and twigs – as well as more conventional instruments – create the soundscape of this sinister fable. Labeled “bizarre, compelling and truly unexpected” by Frieze magazine, this performance by Bastard Assignments was co-commissioned by Borealis, which is a festival for experimental music, along with Wigmore Hall & SPOR festival.
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Bastard Assignments are Timothy Cape, Edward Henderson, Caitlin Rowley, and Josh Spear – four London-based composer-performers making experimental music. They work collaboratively and have developed a varied and open-shared practice. The group has been described as “one of the most exciting forces in contemporary music” by Financial Times, and “a welcome reminder of the value of risk in artistic creation” by Neue Zeitschrift für Musik. They have performed around the UK, Germany, USA, and Scandinavia, performing live and recording for various shows on BBC Radio and Deutschlandfunk.
Photo: Alexandra Waespi