Andrew Sanders will look at the close relationship between Charles Dickens and London, the metropolis which both inspired him and moulded the very nature of his fiction. The lecture will be illustrated with images of Victorian London, drawn from contemporary photographs, prints, drawings and maps. Professor Sanders will discuss aspects of Dickens’s experience of what was the largest city of his age and he will look at how variously and consistently London is used as a setting for his fiction. Dickens is generally very specific is his use of urban topography and the lecture will show how certain environments determine our responses to his characters.

C.P.E. Bach                     Fantasia in D major for harpsichord Wq. 117/14 

J.F. Agricola                  Sonata in A major for flute and basso continuo 

J.J. Quantz                      Sonata in E minor for flute and harpsichord obbligato
  
C.P.E. Bach                     Fantasia in G minor for harpsichord Wq. 117/13 

C.P.E. Bach                     Sonata in A minor for flute and basso continuo Wq. 128 

Repertoire from Frederick the Great’s court including works by C.P.E. Bach, Quantz, and Agricola, masters of appealing to the ‘mixed taste’, with German, Italian, and French influences. Music performed by Dr. Sarah McNulty, who has recently been awarded a PhD on rhetoric and baroque performance practice at the University of York.

Sarah performs regularly with period instrument orchestras such as Newcastle Baroque and the Yorkshire Baroque Soloists and has presented baroque performance practice seminars and workshops at the University of York. Masumi Yamamoto has studied music at Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University in Australia and the Royal Academy of Music and Trinity College of Music, London. She is currently studying for a PhD at the University of York and performs across the UK and abroad as a soloist and continuo player.

14:30 Masterclass on 18^th-century performance practice. Observers welcome.

Enquiries:  tickets@hull.ac.uk 

Sir Adam Roberts is President of the British Academy and Emeritus Professor of International Relations , Oxford University. His latest book is Adam Roberts and Timothy Garton Ash (eds.), Civil Resistance and Power Politics: The Experience of Non-violent Action from Gandhi to the Present, paperback edition with new Foreword on the Arab Spring, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2011, xxv + 407 pp.

Further information:

Profile and links to his writings are available at the following websites:

British Academy:

http://www.britac.ac.uk/about/president.cfm

Oxford University Department of Politics and International Relations
http://www.politics.ox.ac.uk/index.php/profile/adam-roberts.html

Oxford University Programme on the Changing Character of War:
http://ccw.modhist.ox.ac.uk/people/bios/roberts.asp

Oxford University Programme on Civil Resistance and Power Politics:

http://cis.politics.ox.ac.uk/research/Projects/civ_res.asp

The event is hosted by the Politics Department at the University of Hull

www2.hull.ac.uk/fass/politics.aspx

The first ‘Food 4 Thought’ ICP Cluster event this semester will be on Tuesday 31st January, with a guest lecture/demo from electronic composer Henry Vega in PS3 at 1pm and a performance at 8pm in PS2 at the University of Hull Scarborough Campus.

The Wormsongs is a one-hour performance of songs for voice, electronics and visual projections, with electronic sound created by Henry Vega performed alongside vocalist Anat Spiegel and real-time visual designer Emmanuel Flores.

During this hour-long show the group performs music inspired by a revised understanding of Futurism relevant to modern movements in technology and Humanism under the guise of extropy; This theme can be described as the belief that “…mankind will systematically expand throughout the universe” provoking thoughts evident in the titles of the various songs in this set.

The entire performance with the vocalist is interactive. The music produced by the computer is performed live, following the singer. The voice is also used to control the visual projections which serve as a reactive set design to the entire performance.

Please come along to witness this spectacular collaboration.

Lecture/Demo: 1pm – 2pm in PS3 (free)

More information and video examples here:

http://www.artekfoundation.com

by Michael Pinchbeck

Inspired by the stage direction from The Winter’s Tale, ‘Exit pursued by a bear’, The End explores endings and exits and asks why we perform and how we will know when to stop. Developed at The Junction (Cambridge), Brighton Dome and Festival, New Art Exchange and Lakeside Arts Centre (Nottingham). Commissioned by Chester Performs. Selected for the British Council’s Edinburgh Showcase 2011.

Michael Pinchbeck is a writer, live artist and performance maker based in Nottingham. He co-founded Metro-Boulot-Dodo in 1997 and now works with numerous artists and companies as a performer, deviser and dramaturg. In 2005, Michael was commissioned by Nottingham Playhouse to write The White Album. He is currently working on a second commissioned play – The Ashes. In 2008, Michael was selected by Arts Council England to represent the UK at the Biennale for Young Artists. In 2009 and 2011, his work was selected for the British Council’s Edinburgh Showcase. Michael studied Theatre and Creative Writing at Lancaster University. He has a Masters in Performance and Live Art from Nottingham Trent University and is currently studying a PhD at Loughborough University exploring the role of the dramaturg. He is a co-director of Nottingham’s performance platform – Hatch.

Enquiries:  m.chatzi@hull.ac.uk

Supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. Invited by SANM as part of On The Edge

 How to Live won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography in the United States, and the Duff Cooper Prize for Non-Fiction in Britain.

 Sarah will be in conversation with Ray French and taking questions from the audience.

Enquiries: tickets@hull.ac.uk

Sponsored by:  The Portland Hotel and the English Department, University of Hull 

As the Larkin Centre boldly goes into SciFi territory, we are delighted to host an evening with Adam Roberts.

The Times put him ‘in the tradition of Swift, Orwell and Atwood.’ For The Morning Star he is ‘perhaps the most untrammelled imagination in current British science fiction’. By day, he is Professor of 19^th Century Literature at Royal Holloway, but at night … Come and hear about his new novel By Light Alone, and find out what makes him the ‘enfant terrible of British SF’.

In conversation with Martin Goodman.

Book signing to follow.

Enquiries: tickets@hull.ac.uk

Sponsored by:  The Portland Hotel  

 “… an experience I won’t forget in a hurry. The programme was beautifully balanced and so well performed” – Gertrud Buscher 

 “… a VERY wonderful performance. It had warmth & heart!” – Saltaire Museum

The Dreaming Boys
a melodrama based on the text by Oskar Kokoschka

Music: Torsten Rasch
Translation: Lee Tsang

Torsten Rasch, famous for setting text by the controversial punk/heavy-metal band Rammstein, came to the attention of UK audiences when his The Duchess of Malfi (2010) won an RPS-award for English National Opera. Written for voice and an instrumental quintet redolent of Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire, his Die Träumenden Knaben (‘The Dreaming Boys’) (2009) anticipates the spirit of Malfi:

“[Malfi]…a collision of worlds old and new, the fractured narrative, the haphazard whole. His style seems predictable at first – Berg-inflected modern music of the old school – but its true colours emerge layer by layer, shards from an aural prism…”
– Mark Valencia

In this performance by the Portumnus Ensemble, Rasch’s music will be presented in its final version, following revisions in December 2011. It will also be presented for the first time in English translation and alongside Kokoschka’s beautiful images.

Hull Sinfonietta’s Portumnus Ensemble is a spin-off chamber group that is dedicated to introducing audiences to new music. Named after the Roman god of gates, doors and harbours, it aims to open up routes to experience and understanding by offering Janus-like dual perspectives on the past and the future.

2.30pm Composition Workshop featuring works by student composers led by Dr Tsang and the Portumnus Ensemble. Observers welcome.

Enquiries: tickets@hull.ac.uk

In association with Hull Sinfonietta

Kate is Professor of Drama at the University of Birmingham. She is an historian of nineteenth century British literature and culture, specialising in teaching and research in theatre history. She has published books on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victorian women playwrights, and John Ruskin. She is currently leading the AHRC project ‘A Cultural History of English Pantomime, 1837 – 1901.’

Charles Dickens’ love of the theatre is well known. He wanted to be an actor with William Macready in the 1830s, and although he did not enter the professional theatre, he pursued theatrical activities all his life. As a performer, a manager, a writer, and a playwright, Dickens dominated the Victorian theatre. Dickens’ flamboyance and theatricality were a mark of his public presence in readings, and in his work as a magazine editor.

In this talk, Professor Kate Newey will explore the theatricality of Charles Dickens’ early writing, as he was still marking his mark as an author. She is interested in the dynamism of his collaboration with illustrators and other artists, in Sketches by Boz, Memoirs of the Life of Grimaldi, and Pickwick Papers. In these early works the visual impact of the theatre can be traced, and the liveliness of London’s visual arts and culture in the 1830s is caught, before Dickens turned this energy, theatricality and unique vision to charting the wrongs of the urban poor in novels such as Oliver Twist and The Old Curiosity Shop.

in conjunction with the Centre for Victorian Studies

Dale Christmas (conductor)
Directed by Jake Smith

Music by Claudio Monteverdi (arr. Matthew Moore)

A modern production of a seventeenth-century opera about power, lust, seduction and greed.

Performed in English.  May be inappropriate for children under the age of 12.

Enquiries: tickets@hull.ac.uk

Sponsored by the Department of Drama and Music 

Here lies a true story about lies, Fargo, maps, donut holes, murder, secrets, kidnaps and how to get lucky. It’s a tall tale and a love story that goes anywhere but straight. Part mystery, part satire, part How to Make A Performance…it’s about partings and the absence that defines us. The Making of Bull: The True Story is a fusion of physical theatre, music, film and text. The stage is a battleground between truth and lies; what’s spoken and what’s omitted; what’s fiction and what is documentary.

Stacy Makishi finally comes out and tells the whole truth as she brings forth an elliptical tale trying hard not to tell itself. Just what is she hiding? You’ll have to see it to believe it.

Workshop – Friday 10^th February 2011, 2.00pm to 5.00pm at Scarborough Campus, Hull University.

Encounter the dynamic world of Rick Holland in music, images and readings.

In conversation with Martin Goodman and with you, the audience.

Enquiries: tickets@hull.ac.uk

Sponsored by:  The Portland Hotel

“Asaf Sirkis, the world class drum phenomenon…[has] taken the British scene by storm” – Renaissance Man 

“Sirkis is not only an inventive drummer but also a composer of rigour, wit and surprising delicacy” – Mojo Magazine

In his long and playful partnership with saxophonist Gilad Atzmon, a recent and more delicate one with piano virtuoso John Law, guitar maestro Larry Coryell, brit sax player Tim Garland and in many other settings from improv to fusion, Israeli expatriate Asaf Sirkis keeps confirming that he’s one of the British jazz scene’s most creative drummers. Law says that the way Sirkis just touches a cymbal is an inspiration, long before he’s played a beat. North African as well as Middle Eastern music played a big part in his early listening, and he was a bass guitarist as well as a drummer in his teens, so rock and fusion music from the Police to Weather Report and the Mahavishnu Orchestra went deep with him. This trio generates a compelling intensity, and the leader’s percussion responses to their ideas are dazzling eruptions of drum mastery.

www.asafsirkis.co.uk

14:30 Rhythm workshop for Hull students. Observers welcome.

Enquiries: tickets@hull.ac.uk

“These artists clearly relish the opportunity to stretch out, with the knowledge that they are among highly accomplished peers . . . . showing how ‘the standards’ can serve as a foundation for exploration, not just as museum pieces.” —Louisville Music News 

The NY Standards Quartet, spearheaded by saxophonist Tim Armacost, came together in the fall of 2006. Its members, four New York based jazz musicians, have developed a near telepathic relationship playing together in a variety of settings, including in some of the top bands in New
York. Conceptually, the NYSQ strives to develop its own language by radically reinterpreting great songs in the tradition of the standard jazz repertoire.

Special guest on this tour is Michael Janisch on acoustic bass, one of the most creative musical forces in the UK. Originally from the US, Janisch exploded on the UK jazz scene in 2005 and has been at the forefront of the international jazz scene as well, playing with the likes of Joe Lovano, Kenny Wheeler, Lee Konitz, Mark Turner, Phil Robson, John Taylor, Greg Osby, among many others.

Enquiries: 01482 346239 (Ken)

Sponsored by HullJazz

Enquiries: tickets@hull.ac.uk

Bar open from 18:00

Free Entrance

Observers welcome by invitation. Please contact us in advance if you are interested in attending.

tickets@hull.ac.uk

Sponsored by: Hull Sinfonietta

Gilles Gobeil has completed a master’s degree in composition at Université de Montréal, after studying writing techniques.
He has been focusing his work on acousmatic and mixed music since 1985. His works fall close to what is called ‘cinema for the ear.’ Many of his pieces have been inspired by literary works and attempt to let us ‘see’ through sound.
Gilles Gobeil has won over 20 national and international awards at Ars Electronica (Austria), Bourges (France), Stockholm Electronic Arts Award (Sweden), CIMESP (Brazil), Métamorphoses (Belgium), Ciber@rt (Spain), and Luigi Russolo (Italy) competitions. His DVD-Audio Trilogie d’ondes has won the Conseil québécois de la musique (CQM)’s Prix Opus for Best Album in 2004-05; his CD Le contrat was nominated in the same category in 2003-04.
Gobeil has received commissions from Codes d’Accès (Montréal), empreintes DIGITALes (Montréal), Groupe de musique expérimentale de Bourges (GMEB, France), Musiques & Recherches (Belgium), Réseaux des arts médiatiques (Montréal), Société Radio-Canada, Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie (ZKM, Germany), and from performers Suzanne Binet-Audet, René Lussier, and Arturo Parra.
He has been composer-in-residence in Banff (Canada, 1993, ’95), Bourges (France, 1991), at the GRM (France, 1993) and ZKM (Germany, 2005, ’06, ’07), and guest composer at DAAD (Germany, 2008).
Gilles Gobeil is a professor of Music Technology at Collège de Drummondville since 1992. He has been a guest lecturer in Electroacoustic Composition at Université de Montréal (2005-06) and the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal (2007). He is a member of the Canadian Electroacoustic Community (CEC), associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre (CMC), and co-founder of Réseaux, an organization devoted to producing media arts events.

Renowned international singer and voice-coach Margaret McDonald returns to Hull
for a solo recital of music by Michael Head, Mahler, Lennox Berkeley, Perrin, Falla and Gershwin.

Active in opera and oratorio as well as recital repertoire, Margaret has performed for Glyndebourne Festival and Touring Opera, ENO, Opera North, CBTO, Chelsea Opera Group, Scottish Opera and Scottish Opera Go Round and has recorded a variety of works for Nimbus, Marco Polo and the BBC. As a vocal coach she has worked with the Hallé Choir, Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus, and Huddersfield Choral Society as well as for various musicals including Amadeus (The Crucible Theatre, Sheffield), Mama Mia (Palace Theatre, Manchester) and most recently Ghost (Opera House, Manchester).

www.maggiemcdonald.co.uk

14:30 Vocal Masterclass. Observers welcome.

Enquiries: tickets@hull.ac.uk

Experience a piece of thought-provoking theatre that will attack the senses with bizarre sights and sounds as it reaches toward our subconscious impulses and fears.

Inspired by the work of Antonin Artaud and Pina Bausch.

Warning there could be scenes of a graphic nature and may not be suitable for under 15s.

Written by Jake Smith

gulbenkian@hull.ac.uk

What can we learn from Thor? How can he fuel today’s stories? Come and speak with Viking expert Martin Arnold, author of Thor: Myth to Marvel (Continuum, 2011), to find out.

tickets@hull.ac.uk

“The content is timeless and, thanks to the adaptive genius of David Wood, is now enabling a new generation of children, of all ages, the chance to marvel at the brilliance of the master storyteller via the magic of the theatre.” Encore Magazine

gulbenkian@hull.ac.uk

Josquin des Prés / Francesco Spinacino                    Ave Maria
Heinrich Isaac / Francesco Spinacino                        Benedictus
Juan Urrede / Vincenzo Capirola                                  Nunca fue pena major
Giovanni Palestrina / Vincenzo Galilei                       Vestiva i Colli
Cristobal Morales / Albert de Rippe                            Verbum Iniquum
Clément Janequin / Albert de Rippe                            D’un seul soleil
Jacques Arcadelt / Melchior Newsidler                     O felici occhi miei
Anon / Melchior Newsidler                                              Ich ging einmal spazieren
Jacquet Berchem / Melchior Newsidler                      O s’io potessi donna
Josquin des Prés / Luis de Narvaez                               Mille regrets
Philip van Wilder / John Johnson                                  Si vous voulez

Music by Renaissance masters including Isaac, Josquin, Janequin, Arcadelt, Morales, Palestrina in solo lute versions by their contemporaries Spinacino, de Rippe, Galilei and others.  These remarkable composers tackled the most ambitious vocal repertoire, artfully adapting it to the lute in intricate, beautifully decorated arrangements.   It is music on a private scale, enjoyed in an intimate setting in the great houses of Renaissance Europe.

Rachael Drury (violin)

James Anderson, Matthew Moore, Gavin Usher (conductors)

Dvorak      Carnival Overture

Bruch         Violin Concerto

Britten         Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra

A concert of orchestral favourites featuring current Hull students and graduates in solo and directorial roles.

14:30 Introduction to Conducting Workshop. An opportunity for volunteers from the audience to conduct the orchestra.

tickets@hull.ac.uk

Sponsored by the Department of Drama and Music 

For tips on where to find the performance email: M.Chatzi@hull.ac.uk

Sponsored by School of Arts and New Media. Mission is a Coastival event.

Rare lightness and grace, shaped with the quiet freedom of a great singer.”
Financial Times

“It was the sort of playing that makes you want to get up and dance.” The Guardian 

“So perfect a blend of emotion and experience that she inspired her colleagues to a performance of quite unusual musical intensity and pathos …” Sunday Telegraph

Alban Berg                                     Four Pieces for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 5
Arnold Schoenberg                    Six little piano pieces, Op. 19
Max Reger                                      Sonata in B flat, Op. 107                     

Clarinettist Janet Hilton enjoys worldwide recognition through her extensive series of recordings for Chandos, ASV, EMI, BBC Classics, Clarinet Classics and Naxos and appearances in many countries.

She is in demand for masterclasses at the Paris Conservatoire, the Cleveland Institute and University of Indiana Bloomington, USA, amongst many other prestigious institutions; and as a member of international competition juries in Canada, Italy and Ireland.

14:30 Woodwind masterclass. Observers welcome.

Enquiries: tickets@hull.ac.uk

Pre-concert talk on Beethoven by Professor Brian Newbould at 18:30, followed by concert at 19:45.

Beethoven                        Six Bagatelles, Op 126

                                            Variations in E flat, Op 35 Eroica

                                            Sonata in B flat, Op 106 Hammerklavier

Enquiries: j.p.sproston@hull.ac.uk

Peter Kench, Matthew Ryan (conductors)

Shostakovich                       Festival  Overture
Rimsky-Korsakov              Scheherezade

Popular Russian repertoire conducted by Hull students/ graduates.

14:30 Introduction to Conducting Workshop. An opportunity for volunteers from the audience to conduct the orchestra.

Enquiries: tickets@hull.ac.uk

Sponsored by the Department of Drama and Music

To honour the event, the Larkin Centre hosts an evening of short readings from brand new writing in poetry and prose. This is work with the mystique of cats at its very heart. Enjoy Dennis Low’s exhibition as you feel the writer’s words.

Enquiries: www.Artlink.uk.net

Enquiries: tickets@hull.ac.uk 

Sponsored by the Department of Drama and Music 

Paidia Institute: Prof. Zilvinas Lilas, Tincuta Heinzel, Lasse Scherffig, Susanna Schoenberg, Björn Theis

Remixing, Referencing, Reaction, Reworking and Recreation are important strategies in media art: also and especially while working with the game medium. Paidia Institute uses these strategies in projects yielding art and artistic research, focusing on diverse forms of play – from deconstructions of the dispositive of computer gaming to performances and site specific interventions. In their talk, strategies and art projects from Paidia’s past will be shown and the concept for a future event will be presented and put up for discussion. This future event will consist of a workshop-like setting/interactive laboratory in developing formats for the site specific use of “embedded technologies”.

Paidia Institute is a collective of media artists and scientists from Cologne (Germany) who examine, expose and transform aesthetic and cultural interrelations of art and technology. The institute works as an evolving structure, providing a flexible framework for artistic, academic and administrative activities in a field of playable systems, addressing them as both a distinctive technique and a significant social and cultural phenomenon.

Enquiries: a.albacan@hull.ac.uk

David Mark worked the scene of his novel as the Hull crime reporter for the Yorkshire Post. The Dark Winter saw publishers pitched into an international bidding war.

Come and learn of the journey from Hull’s streets to success.

David Mark is in conversation with Martin Goodman.

Book signing to follow.

Enquiries: tickets@hull.ac.uk

Sally Doherty – vocals
Piero Tucci – piano

‘Faultless intonation … very beautiful … will appeal to a wide spectrum of listeners beyond the usual jazz fans.’ – Alan Barnes

‘Mercurial talent’ – Wigan International Jazz Festival

‘Blessed with a voice that is … sensuous and melodic, Sally is one of the brightest talents on the current music scene’ – Jazz and Bossa Nova FM, Rio de Janeiro

Sally Doherty has toured extensively around the world and has released ten albums to date.  She has shared the stage with Cleo Laine and Johnny Dankworth, Alan Barnes, Peter King, Neil Yates and Alex Wilson. She has also collaborated with many renowned artists from different genres including Mercury Music prize nominee Richard Hawley and electro artist Scanner.

14:30 Popular singing masterclass – Interpreting a Jazz Standard. Observers welcome.

Enquiries: tickets@hull.ac.uk

Kathy Dyson is a jazz guitarist, researcher and teacher based in Manchester. As well as playing guitar professionally and teaching she is also known for her research and is an active and enthusiastic member of the Musicians’ Union. She was named Jazz Educator of the Year at the 2010 Parliamentary Jazz Awards.

10:00-12:00 and 13:00-16:00

16:30-17:00 Talk on the Musicians’ Union for students wishing to enter the profession

Enquiries: tickets@hull.ac.uk

Adrian Brown studied and then worked with Sir Adrian Boult. A finalist in the Karajan Conductors’ Competition, he has conducted the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra and Camerata Salzburg, as well as many leading British orchestras.

A workshop featuring student conductors. Observers welcome.

Enquiries: tickets@hull.ac.uk

Merge 2012 arts festival – a celebration of Hull’s heritage – promises a not-to-be-missed choral night in the beautiful venue of City Hall.

Having been inspired by the Hull History Centre archives, the evening’s entertainment of Humberside folk songs treats the audience to a trip down memory lane. Continuing the night with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in the second half of the performance is a stunning 200 strong orchestra and choir, comprised of talented musicians and singers from Hull and the surrounding area. Encompassing brotherly love and harmony in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, the group showcases its talents creating a merging of communities. This event is the culmination of Merge’s arts festival in 2012.

The archives at Hull History Centre have been central to Merge2012: Our City, Our Story. Many of the evening’s songs can be found in there. To find out more about the Merge Arts Festival please visit our website at www.mergearts.org.uk.

Enquiries: City Hall Box Office

John Law (‘One of Europe’s most adventurous pianists’, The Times) and rising new piano star Mark Pringle perform pieces from their new, stunning CD This is (33JAZZ label). The performance features, alongside their own original compositions, arrangements of music by Bach, Metheny, Lyle Mays and Cole Porter.

This is … John Law and Mark Pringle. A jazz performance on two pianos, demonstrating powerful pianism and delicate, contemporary harmonies.

www.johnlaw.org.uk

14:30pm Jazz workshop for Hull students. Observers welcome.

The concert will feature a selection of vocal repertoire performed by singers taking the advanced performance module as well as new works by our student composers.

tickets@hull.ac.uk

returns on the first anniversary of Henryk Górecki’s death with his First Quartet, written in 1988. Their CD of all three Górecki quartets has recently been released to great acclaim. Also included in their programme is one of Mozart’s finest quartets, Tchaikovsky’s popular First Quartet, and Webern’s highly romantic ‘Slow movement’ of 1905.

Mozart                                Quartet in D minor, K 421

Górecki                                Quartet No 1, Op 62  Already it is dusk

Webern                               Langsamer Satz

Tchaikovsky                      Quartet No 1 in D, Op 11

kick off next week with a difference…

Portland musician Soriah will combine traditional Tuvan throat-singing with

electronics to produce a spell-binding show. There will also be support from

some of our very own CMT bands.

Date: 12th Oct

Time: 7:30pm (doors)

Price: £4, or £3 (conc). Pay on the door.

Place: Performance Space 1, University of Hull Scarborough Campus

The Portland musician and ritual artist known as Soriah first came into

being more than 10 years ago. His unique vision has evolved to draw equally

from performance and musical traditions both modern and ancient- raga,

shamanism, the revisionist arts of electro-acoustics, noise, butoh, and free

improvisation.

One element which pervasively informs his work is traditional Tuvan throat

singing. Soriah has extensively trained in, and received recognition for his

achievements with this style of overtone singing. Most recently, he was

honored as the Third Place winner in the International Symposium of Khoomei

Competition, and “Best Foreigner” in the 2008 Ustuu-Khooree World Music

Festival in Tuva, where the form originated.

As much as the complex musical underpinnings of Soriah’s music reach back to

Central Asia, he traces his roots back to his father’s homeland of Mexico.

His explorations of the cities and wilderness of Mexico and considerable

research into the Aztec mysteries, as well as the present-day animism of

Tuvan Shamanism, have deeply influenced his pan-cultural ethos.

Through costume, movement and meditation Soriah evokes an otherworld of

profound mystical import. Though the settings for his performances have

ranged from arenas, concert halls and churches, to swamps, caves, tree tops

and even an abandoned nuclear reactor, his project carries its own sense of

place and time, which transcend the concrete world.

featuring Hull Sinfonietta’s principal trumpeter.

Anthony Thompson (trumpet)

Greg Bish (guitar)

Heinrich Stölzel                 Andante & Allegro (from Concerto in D)
John Dowland                    I Saw My Lady Weep, Can She Excuse My Wrongs, Flow My Tears
Francisco Tárrega              Sueño
Recuerdos De La Alhambra
Edward MacDowell           To a Wild Rose
Adam Fripp                        Adagio in E (2011 commission)
Heitor Villa-Lobos              Prelude No. 1
Ástor Piazzolla                    Café 1930
Leo Brouwer                       La Huida De Los Amantes Por El Valle De
Los Ecos (from El Decameron Negro)
Jack Ross New Commission – world premiere!

The Bish/Thompson Duo

As two innovative and exploratory characters, Greg Bish and Anthony Thompson wished to share their musical experiences as a duet. However, when you perform on two contrasting instruments such as the guitar and the trumpet, this is not as straight forward as it sounds and, as practically no music exists for guitar and trumpet duet, it took the pair weeks to compile an appropriate list of repertoire. However, the result is wonderful and makes every concert with the Bish/Thompson duo a voyage of discovery.

The performers are not afraid to tackle any repertoire and they have their own arrangements of various Renaissance lute songs, lieder and classical sonatas right through to modern day pop songs. They are also committed to commissioning new works from young composers.
The pair are happy to use their extensive knowledge to guide the listener through the history of either or both instruments via the use of musical examples, diction and period instruments – making for an exciting and informative concert.
Upcoming Concert information can be found at www.theycaa.co.uk <http://www.theycaa.co.uk/> 

2.30pm Brass masterclass for Hull students. Observers welcome.

Tickets: £5 / senior citizens £4 / other concessions £3

Enquiries: 01482 462045 or tickets@hull.ac.uk

In association with Hull Sinfonietta

The sponsors for this lunchtime concert are:

Mrs G M Barker, GRSM, ARMCM
Dr A and Mrs J Laing
Sir John and Lady Margaret Mason
Mr Martin L Parry
Dr and Mrs E Sammoutis
Mrs Gwen Staveley

Alejandro Escuer, flutes

Rodrigo Sigal, electronics and sonic diffusion

José Luis García Nava, visuals

LUMINICO is a Mexican interdisciplinary project that combines new audio technologies iwth live performance of win instruments and percussion.

They are devoted to producing show performances as if they were visual sound tracks  of an imaginary abstract movie on a variety of subject matters such as social and philosophical issues and concerns by means of visually structured episodes and linked segments.

They performances are highly unique and original: Escuer, Sigal and Garcia reach the spectator’s visual and audible sensitivity by projecting powerful sounds and images that connect directly to the audience’s perception in such a way that the show becomes a memorable experience.

Writing Hull – Peter Measures from iHull on Vimeo.

However, he can only be sympathetic if the reader identifies with him. I found this impossible, because I felt that the lives of me, my family and friends were completely different to those of Pierre’s characters. If exceptions disprove generalisations, then no writer can accurately describe a society by labelling it. Indeed, I would say that exceptions prove that it is not society that is at fault, but those individuals that choose to become corrupted by chips, crudities and commercials.

Reviewed by: Alice Giblin (FASS)

In 2003 the literary world was startled by a riotously good book. For the critics, Vernon God Little is ‘raw and vital’, ‘crazed and passionate’, ‘funny and breathtakingly stroppy’. It won that year’s Booker Prize.

In an extra-special Larkin Centre event, in association with the Man Booker Prize Foundation, its author DBC Pierre flies in to Hull to revisit his days of the writing Vernon God Little.

Every first year student is being given the book on arrival. “The best piece of fiction I’ve read in ages,” said Sarah Waters. “Original, engaging, and fantastically well-constructed, it’s a book of great insight and tremendous compassion.” So much for what other people think.

Make up your own mind. Grab yourself a copy, read it, and see what it stirs in you. Bring your questions to DBC Pierre, and join in the liveliest book discussion of the Autumn.

The event is free to Students and Staff of the University of Hull (only valid with a current student or staff ID card). Enter promotion code: UoH

</p> <p>This page requires frame support. Please use a frame compatible browser to see the amiando ticket sales widget.</p> <p> Try out the <a href=”http://www.amiando.com/” mce_href=”http://www.amiando.com/”>online event registration system</a> from amiando.</p> <p>

Online Event Registration with amiando

Peter Sproston (piano)

Peter Elsdon (piano)

and guest performers

A varied programme of Larkin settings including recent songs by Huw Watkins as well as interludes by jazz pianist, Peter Elsdon.

Tickets: £5 including wine – all welcome

Enquiries: Carole Collinson on 01482 847047 or tickets@hull.ac.uk

Sponsored by: Department of Drama and Music

Free entrance

tickets@hull.ac.uk

This Christmas, a magical journey will take place. A journey to the furthest reaches of the world, and to the furthest reaches of your imagination. A journey of adventure, a journey of surprise, a journey of mystery. A journey to find a friend.
Hans Christian Anderson’s classic tale of winter wonderment, The Snow Queen, has been especially adapted for stage by Middle Child Theatre Company, in this Christmas adventure for all the family. Following the story of Gerda, a young girl finding herself wrapped up in the kind of adventure she thought she could only ever imagine in her Grandmother’s stories, the show combines puppetry, projection, live music and more, to create a mesmerizing mystical environment, stretching from the comfort of the family home to the furthest reaches of the arctic and beyond!
Middle Child urge you to come and join the fun and fantasy at the Gulbenkian Centre’s Donald Roy Theatre on Hull University campus, and re-discover your Christmas spirit, no matter your age!
Middle Child are a new Hull based professional theatre company made up entirely of graduates from the University of Hull, dedicated to creating AFFORDABLE, QUALITY theatrical experiences. A strong affinity for the city has brought them all back to Humberside, and their first festive production promises to be a fantastical, unforgettable Christmas adventure to delight children and adults alike.
COMPLEMENTARY TICKETS FOR AVAILABLE FOR PRESS/REVIEWERS. £3 FLAT RATE ON OPENING NIGHT.

Production Team
Producer: Middle Child Theatre
Director: Paul Smith
Cast: Sarah Green, Mungo Arney, Ellen Brammer,
Elisa Nader, Matthew May, James Stanyer,
Jess Clarke, Constance Wookey
Composer: James Frewer

For all press enquiries please contact:
Edward Cole: 07894428927 middlechildtheatre@googlemail.com 162 Blenheim Street, Hull HU5 3PN
www.middlechildtheatre.co.uk www.facebook.com/middlechildhull www.twitter.com/middlechildhull

In association with the Hull University Department of Drama & Music

MiniClassics
by the Classic Buskers, Michael Copley and Ian Moore

“Technical virtuosity, combined with musical seriousness, humour and high entertainment are a perfect recipe – the audience were delighted.”
Ian Ritchie, City of London Festival Director

This new programme of mixed repertoire, and the title of the Classic Buskers’ latest CD, MiniClassics, will conclude with Tchaikovsky’s magnificent tribute to the land that gave us pasta – his Caprice Italien. Before that, the audience is treated to an enormous variety of music on highly original instruments including works by Bach and overtures and arias by Offenbach, Mozart and Rossini. There will also be edited highlights from Bizet’s Carmen, plus some beautiful Balkan folk music and an arrangement of Ravel’s Bolero, which uses sonorities unknown even to that master of orchestration. Instruments range from the world’s smallest ocarina to a strangely huge cowhorn as well as the normal selection of flutes, recorders, panpipes, buzzy Renaissance things – and a small but perfect accordion.

www.lomonaco-artists.com

14:30 Workshop for Hull students on instruments, arrangements and career options. Observers welcome.

A star-studded ensemble opens Hull Chamber Music’s season with a programme tracing the line from Schumann to Brahms and on to Zemlinsky. It was at Brahms’ insistence that Simrock published Zemlinsky’s Clarinet Trio of 1896, setting the young composer on the road to success.

Schumann Adagio and Allegro, Op 70, for cello and piano
Zemlinsky Trio in D minor, Op 3
Schumann Fantasiestücke, Op 73, for clarinet and piano
Brahms Trio in A minor, Op 114

Pre-concert talk on Zemlinsky by Graham Saunders at 18.30

Enquiries: j.p.sproston@hull.ac.uk

‘I Married a Foley Footstep!’
‘Hands of Hair’

” Matt Wand’s music concrete demolishes flats.”

The Guardian Guide Nov 23rd 2002, Band Wagon Jumping, exhibitions Pick Of The Week No.1

Live film/sound performance with Ben Gwilliam, commissioned by Cornerhouse/ANDfest/Theatre Clwyyd premier in October 2010 at Abandon Normal Devices festival.

14:30 Q & A Session

tickets@hull.ac.uk

Finding the Future City Showcase Returns to Hull in the search for new music talent

City Showcase, the year-round festival for new music, is hitting the road again as it seeks to uncover more new music talent.

Following a fantastic event last year, the City Showcase: Finding the Future programme returns to Hull on Monday 10 October 2011. Solo artists, bands, songwriters or quite simply those interested in the music business, will have the opportunity to put their questions to a panel of music industry experts and perform at an open mic live critique.

Backed by PPL, AIM, The PRS for Music, BASCA, ASCAP, the MU, MMF and FAC, the event will be promoted through university partners as well as through community organisations and local press into the wider community.

Now in its 9th year, City Showcase has been the driving force in discovering new music talent each year. Previously showcased acts, such as Keane, Amy Winehouse, Razorlight, N-Dubz, Laura Marling and Scouting for Girls have all gone on to huge profile, boosting excitement for the annual event.

The Finding the Future event will be held at the University of Hull. The programme will include session on mapping a career in music and building a digital strategy and, at the end of the day, there will a chance to have your live performance critiqued by the panel. City Showcase will be sending scouts to search for new talent to bring forward to the May festival in London. This year’s panel include Hull’s own Henry Priestman (artist – The Christians), Keith Harris (Stevie Wonder’s manager and PPL Director of Performer Affairs), Ross Gautreau (Polydor A&R), David Riley (Good Lizard) and Nanette Rigg (City Showcase Director)

The event in Hull is sponsored by the University of Hull and is free.

‘We are really excited about this opportunity to work with the University of Hull to search for the next generation of new young musicians and help them with their careers. Through City Showcase, we are widening participation in music and providing opportunities for future generations of writers, performers and creatives across all genres. We want as many musicians from Hull to come to this free event and have the opportunity to perform to our industry experts’ says Festival Director Nanette Rigg. ‘We are fantastically honored to have such high profile people to participate in this brilliant day’

Dr Peter Elsdon, Head of Jazz and Popular Music said: “The University of Hull is excited to be involved in the City Showcase day. We’re committed to providing our students with as much experience of the Music Industry as possible to prepare them for careers in this area. This day provides a great opportunity for students to learn from professionals in this area and work towards a career in the Music Industry.”

For more information and to apply to participate in the Finding The Future programme, contact Lucy Stephenson on 07770 712 371 or via email lucy@cityshowcase.co.uk

The event will be free.

This is a short video of Abi talking about her work and giving us a taste of her singing.

Abigail Spear from iHull on Vimeo.

Abi is happy to sing at weddings, anniversaries, christenings, bar mitzvahs, office parties etc. Just call the iHull office for an enquiry. Our number is: 01482 465620

A programme of presentations by music research students and distinguished invited scholars, including the Peter Le Huray Lecture by Professor Martin Cloonan (University of Glasgow) and the Jerome Roche Prize Lecture by Dr David Irving (University of Cambridge). Among the highlights, the event will feature specialist workshops and a concert of new music inspired by Philip Larkin’s life and work.

Featured artists (in association with Hull Sinfonietta and the Philip Larkin Society):

Sarah Leonard (soprano)

Maria Insua Cao (clarinet / bass clarinet)

Jonathan Gooing (piano)

Further programme and registration details to be released early November (see www.rma.ac.uk).

For information, please contact the Conference Director, Dr Elaine King: e.c.king@hull.ac.uk, 01482 465627

Online Event Registration with amiando

Kate Newey

Department of Drama and Theatre Arts, University of Birmingham

Charles Dickens’ love of the theatre is well known. He wanted to be an actor with William Macready in the 1830s, and although he did not enter the professional theatre, he pursued theatrical activities all his life. As a performer, a manager, a writer, and a playwright, Dickens dominated the Victorian theatre. Dickens’ flamboyance and theatricality were a mark of his public presence in readings, and in his work as a magazine editor.

In this talk, I will explore the theatricality of Charles Dickens’ early writing, as he was still marking his mark as an author. I am interested in the dynamism of his collaboration with illustrators and other artists, in Sketches by Boz, Memoirs of the Life of Grimaldi, and Pickwick Papers. In these early works we can trace the visual impact of the theatre, and catch the liveliness of London’s visual arts and culture in the 1830s, before Dickens turned this energy, theatricality and unique vision to charting the wrongs of the urban poor in novels such as Oliver Twist and The Old Curiosity Shop.

In conjunction with the Centre for Victorian Studies

Click here to view the embedded video.

Bleach

Sometimes, I think there’s a ghost in the TV. The channels have been changing without me pressing anything. I’ve even sat away from the remote to make sure it’s not me doing it. I’ve put it on the other side of the couch, in a drawer, out the window. Things flash up, too. I can’t make them out. They’re so quick that sometimes I’m not so sure they’re there. But they are.

I called the people at the company, and I said “what I think is happening is, I’m picking up God through my satellite dish. Is this possible?” They replied in one of those voices where you can’t tell if it’s a person or a computer, so I checked. I said “what comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?” The voice said “the letter ‘M.’” Then I knew it was a computer; no one is that quick.

When Jeeves came in this afternoon he got mud everywhere. He told me that he had been playing kiss chase with the children down the road. Jeeves is my roommate, and my best friend. I call him Jeeves because he looks somewhat like a butler. He’s an arachnid for the most part, with the torso of a man. Instead of feet or paws he has clenched fists. One day I walked in the living room and he was just there. I never really questioned it to be honest with you. His face is difficult to describe. Sometimes it looks like a clock radio, sometimes like a giant foam hand, and at other times it looks like a question mark. But what it looks like most is a fat, spluttering vagina. His purple mouth ticks and ticks but never tocks. Never ever. If you ever say it does then you’re a fucking liar. He seems to think that he is Kevin Spacey, and I suppose he does resemble him slightly. Only he has eight legs and a giant birth canal for a face. You can never tell if he’s smiling. He’s like the Mona Lisa in that respect. But really he’s an anti-Semitic arachnid that eats dog food. I always say he’s what Spiderman should have been if Stan Lee had a better imagination.

Jeeves spends most of his time sat in the corner, cursing at me under his breath and touching himself over Thus Spoke Zarathustra and Jacqueline Wilson novels. He’s also quite into his knitting. He’s good at it.

I tried to confide in him once, to tell him about these problems I’ve been having, but he threatened to shave my head and throw me down the stairs if I didn’t “shush.” I didn’t know what shush meant, but I stayed very still and very quiet for at least two hours because I didn’t want to anger him. He’s only half my size, but he has quite the muscles on him, you see.

Jeeves doesn’t really use words much. He communicates in squeals, clicks, purrs, Chinese proverbs, radio broadcasts. He must pick up transmissions from other countries because a lot of them are in foreign languages, and I struggle enough with English as it is. When he does talk I think he sounds like a mixture between Marilyn Monroe and a crying foghorn. The words he does use are often hurtful and confusing. I find words difficult to understand. Shapes are what I like. Words are too abstract, too loose. Shapes are absolute. They’re sharp, precise. But what I like most about shapes is that they’re clean. Jeeves is shapeless. He’s dirty. Yes. Dirty. He once told me that he gave himself AIDS.

When Jeeves and I first met I asked him to tell me more about himself. He told me that he was expelled from Northridge Military Academy in California for throwing a tire at a classmate and that afterwards he studied drama at Juilliard School for two years. He told me that his father was a technical writer, his mother was a secretary, and that he has an older brother, Randall, and an older sister, Julie Ann. He also mentioned that he is a huge fan of professional wrestling, and that on two separate occasions he has had to shave his entire head in order to play the villains in Se7en and Superman Returns respectively. I interrupted him there and told him that he was just reciting the biography of Kevin Spacey. In response he transformed his face into an exclamation mark and the sheer force of it knocked me off my feet. It’s quite difficult to talk to him when he gets like that.

Jeeves and I, we don’t talk often, but he writes things. At least I think it’s him. I came downstairs in the early hours of the morning to find a raw chicken sat in the microwave with a dog lead fastened to it. Stuck to its back was a post-it-note saying ‘WaLK _mE.’ I figured it had to be Jeeves; it was in his handwriting. I ended up walking the damn thing round the block, just for something to do.

It’s not just writing though, he draws things as well. Behind the television he has painted a man who is wearing a suit and holding a briefcase, staring directly into the sun. I asked Jeeves what’s in the briefcase, but he responded by calling me a worthless cum receptacle and spitting on my face. Personally, I think there’s a pair of sunglasses in the briefcase. That would be my guess. It’s the kind of thing he’d do. He can be very pretentious.

I guess I just feel, like, detached. Yes. Detached. I can’t touch anything. I can’t be touched. It’s as if there’s an aura, a thin film wrapped around me, a second skin that prevents me from slotting comfortably into reality. Everything is distant, elusive. When I lay in bed at night I can’t seem to locate myself in the room. My thoughts seem to try their hardest to constantly confuse, offend and upset me. Every time I walk into the kitchen, the kettle swears at me in a poorly impersonated Scottish accent. I don’t even dare make myself a cup of tea anymore because I know he will keep shouting “cunt” until I leave. I feel bloated, obtuse, pentagonal, alone, dissociated — other words that won’t mean much to you because you aren’t me. Well, you might be. I haven’t decided yet.

Philip Larkin Centre Kate Mosse from iHull on Vimeo.

The course is split into two sessions, each lasting three hours. You can choose to attend either session (£89) or the whole course (£170 including lunch). The course will focus on the use of Facebook and Twitter within social media marketing and will integrates traditional marketing techniques with the use of social media technologies.

Session objectives:

• How do you actually gain people’s attention?

• What messages will they respond to?

• What happens when social media marketing is misinterpreted

• Developing your own social media strategy and avoiding the destructive elements

• How to get your customers to sell your business

For more information please click here

Enquiries: ihull@hull.ac.uk

In February 2010 Francis King spoke about his writing career, to a packed Larkin Centre event at the London Review Bookshop. For something of the charm, range and expertise of this finest of writers, please listen to the conversation here.

(photo from 1993 – Denis Jones/Evening Standard/Rex)

The Philip Larkin Centre has just entered ‘close season’. Please visit this site for the latest news on writers heading to Hull in 2011-2012 (D.B.C.Pierre leading the way in November). And continue to browse this site as we release live recordings of events from our archive.The Philip Larkin Centre attracts some of the very best writers to platform appearances in Hull – to excite readers, and make sure some of the very best writing keeps coming out of Hull.

The Centre takes its name from Philip Larkin, one of the twentieth century’s foremost poets who anchored his life to the University of Hull. That Hull poetic tradition stretches back to Andrew Marvell, and forward through some of the top poets of our day. Poets explore the personal to find what is universal. From William Wilberforce onwards, Hull also has a pioneering history of driving the social agenda for change. We call on writers to help us envision and shape a fairer world which recognizes the transforming power of individual and collective stories.

As part of the Humber Mouth Festival 2011, twelve writers and artists celebrate the city through paintings, drawings, photographs, poetry and stories that explore Hull’s contemporary side as well as its richly historical one.

Their work will be exhibited at the University’s artcafé throughout the Festival and feature in a set of 12 postcards and an accompanying anthology which will be available free at the launch.

The artists and writers featured in Postcards from Hull are: Mary Aherne, Aingeal Clare, John Wedgwood Clarke, Cliff Forshaw, Ray French, Janis Goodman, Kath McKay, Christopher Reid, Carol Rumens, Maurice Rutherford, Malcolm Watson and David Wheatley.

7.00pm (readings at 8.00 pm)

Free admission Complimentary Wine and Soft Drinks

The introduction is a three-hour session that establishes the role of social media in business marketing and the theories behind its popularity. You will learn about the changing nature of advertising and marketing as well as how to start implementing these new strategies in your business.

The advanced session will elaborate upon what attendees have learned in the “Introduction” session. It will look at case studies of how businesses have profited from an intelligent, co-ordinated social media strategy. It also explores how some businesses have faced disaster when social media was ignored or used improperly. Attendees will learn about the ethical, moral and legal issues surrounding the use of social media as they consider their own corporate policies and current procedures.

The course will be lead by two lecturers who are advanced in their field of expertise.

Robert Consoli, a lecturer in digital media, at the University of Hull, has extensive commercial experience in the advertising, design and print industries and was a creative director in Washington, DC design agencies for years. Robert specialised in corporate identity and his academic research builds upon his professional experience. Robert’s area of expertise combines technological, educational, sociological, psychological and political subject areas for the purpose of creating effective visual design.

The second lecturer to be leading this one day course is Dr Darren Mundy, a lecturer in digital media at the University of Hull. He obtained a First Class Honours Degree (2000) and a PhD (2004) from the University of Salford’s 5* rated Information Systems Institute. At present, he is also Senior Advisor for Innovations in Learning and Teaching within the University of Hull’s Learning, Teaching and Support Unit, and he integrates social media techniques and theories into his own teaching practice whenever possible.

If this sounds like something your business needs, get in touch by phoning 01482 462045 or visit http://www.ihull.org/events/fundamentals-of-social-media-marketing/ and get your ticket now!

We look forward to seeing you soon!

www.icpcluster.org

The Interdisciplinary and Collaborative Practices Cluster (ICP Cluster) holds its inaugural symposium at Scarborough Campus between the 23rd and the 24th of June 2011.  The Research Generator Symposium aims to bring together a community of scholars, artists and creative industry figures to work on a series of research themes. The aim of the symposium is to develop project proposals with multiple outputs that connect the areas of performance, media, human computer interaction and design and are relevant to the contemporary society.

The event will be framed by Prof Steve Dixon’s (Brunel University, UK) keynote: ‘Interdisciplinarity and Interaction in Digital Arts and Performance’.

Themes selected for exploration are:

Ø  InterMedia Therapy – looking at notions of intermediality and contemporary spectatorship to develop models of performance with therapeutic effect (either as catalyst for positive societal change and or improved well-being)

Ø  Intimate Technologies: Private vs. Public – exploring potentials for imagining and developing new applications that might encourage, enhance or support a range of intimate exchanges in society

Ø  Platforms of Discovery and Dissemination – exploring novel interaction and presentation platforms that enable users to gain insight into data or gain experience from it

Ø  Sound of our Surroundings – focusing on how can we help shape the future of urban and natural environments by better understanding existing soundscapes

Ø  Voice and Voiceless – exploring improved ways of designing artificial speech for people who have no voice

The project is moderated by BigDog Interactive responsible for a recent Nokia Advert and participants include leading national and international academics, business representatives, arts practitioners and technologists. Support will be provided by ‘Flaneurs’- a group of contributors specifically tasked to generate debate and look for synergies between groups.

In addition, participants will be invited to performance/social activities: Pecha-Kucha Evening, ‘Ecologies’ (a sonic arts concert), a networking party with DJ Filey Selassie and a Scarborough open bus tour.

The Research Generator Symposium is funded by the iHull; Institute for Creativity and Innovation in cooperation with School of Arts and New Media, Scarborough Campus and the Creative Enterprise Laboratory,  University of Hull.

Certain events will be live streamed. For a timetable of webcast events please see: http://icpcluster.org/?s=events <http://icpcluster.org/?s=events>

For a full programme of the symposium, please see www.icplucster.org <http://www.icplucster.org>

Follow us live online

www.icpcluster.org

Please do not hesitate to contact us for further info at: A.Albacan@hull.ac.uk <mailto:A.Albacan@hull.ac.uk>  , s.sharvia@gmail.com <mailto:s.sharvia@gmail.com>  or C.Newell@hull.ac.uk <mailto:C.Newell@hull.ac.uk>

“Nature abhors a vacuum”

Today you take whatever you want and whatever you need to fill a void, to restore faith and provide purpose. What if there is no longer anything to fill this void? Living encapsulated in a separate world of his father’s making, Mr. Ashburner has been waiting for Ray to bring the solution. In this dusty, half-forgotten corner of the world the pair try to reach an uneasy understanding as suddenly everything is at stake.

Written by Deborah McAndrew this intense tragi-comedy revolves around the ways in which nature forces us to fill the void:

“Nature abhors a vacuum”

Written by Deborah McAndrew

Directed by Adam Foley

Enquiries:   email gulbenkian@hull.ac.uk

In 2003 the literary world was startled by a riotously good book. For the critics, Vernon God Little is ‘raw and vital’, ‘crazed and passionate’, ‘funny and breathtakingly stroppy’. It won that year’s Booker Prize.

In an extra-special Larkin Centre event, in association with the Man Booker Prize Foundation, its author DBC Pierre flies in to Hull to revisit his days of the writing Vernon God Little.

Every first year student is being given the book on arrival. “The best piece of fiction I’ve read in ages,” said Sarah Waters. “Original, engaging, and fantastically well-constructed, it’s a book of great insight and tremendous compassion.” So much for what other people think.

Make up your own mind. Grab yourself a copy, read it, and see what it stirs in you. Bring your questions to DBC Pierre, and join in the liveliest book discussion of the Autumn.

Online Event Registration with amiando

A celebration of rich Celtic traditions alongside English Baroque. Irish jigs, Cetic and English folksongs, Baroque grounds, Purcell songs, stories and dance.

Tickets: £15 / senior citizens £13/ students £7

Enquiries: 01482 465631 or j.p.sproston@hull.ac.uk

An exciting new direction for leading Scottish saxophonist, Tommy Smith’s grooving rhythms with atmospheric textures evoking Irish, Scottish, Japanese, Indian and Arabic folk influences. The result is a major statement from an internationally renowned master.
Hailed on arrival by critics as the toughest and most creative group of his career, Tommy Smith’s KARMA sees the brilliant Scottish saxophonist exploring new sounds and atmospheric textures with a brand new band: featuring some of Scotland’s finest musicians and new music focusing on the reactions of his group.

Comprising Smith on tenor and soprano saxophones and Shakuhachi flute, mega-talented pianist and keyboardist Steve Hamilton, six string bass guitar sensation Kevin Glasgow and jet-powered drummer Alyn Cosker, KARMA presents music of gob-smacking energy and superb inventiveness.

Tickets: Purchase on the door
Enquiries: Ken on 01482 346239

Sponsored by HullJazz

‘Tommy Smith, the most talented sax star to arrive on the world scene in years.’
– Gary Burton

‘Tommy is an incredible writer and a great, great player’ – John Scofield

Saxophonist Tommy Smith and his band work with Hull students in advance of tonight’s KARMA gig at HulllJazz.

Observers welcome by invitation. Please contact us in advance if you are interested in attending.

Enquiries: 01482 462045 or tickets@hull.ac.uk

Sponsored by the Department of Drama and Music

Dr Peter Wadsworth (University of Manchester)

Enquiries: Dr Alexander Binns (a.binns@hull.ac.uk)

Unmissable festival for summer

Freedom – an annual celebration of the arts – will delight and entertain all ages with an exhilarating mix of music, outdoor cinema, comedy, international street theatre, world dance and family activities this September.

The 2011 festival will run on the evenings of Thursday 1^st September, Friday 2^nd and from morning through into the evening on Saturday 3^rd, with a packed programme of free and ticketed events across a number of event arenas in the city centre of Hull.

Stunning street theatre, urban dance, music and art will create a never seen before mix of entertainment. This includes a rare UK appearance of French street-theatre company, Luc Amoros who will perform Blank Page: Illuminated Chronicles: a dramatic fusion of dance, music and art that recreates the mood of each day on huge canvases

A number of outdoor dance and music stages featuring a broad range of genres from jazz, Afro-Cuban, urban dance and contemporary British styles will provide a wide variety of choice for music lovers in the Freedom Quarter.  All street theatre along with other entertainment in the Freedom Quarter can be experienced for free.

Freedom Gardens presents a family programme of open-air cinema, children’s theatre, afternoon tea dances and participatory events such as en-masse ballroom dancing, classic movie sing-a-longs and jumping DJ sessions to get the crowds in a garden party mood. The party will also include the British premiere of The Cow-Go-Round and its Mooh Organ – a magical, musical and magnificent combination of theatre, activities and a mechanical carousel – by performing arts company, Theatre de la Toupine.  Also, Architects of Air will install a huge Luminarium – a monumental inflatable structure whose maze of winding paths, soaring domes, incredible ambience and light are explored from within.  Their Mirazozo structure will measure 55 metres long and joins Freedom as part of a global tour this year which has included shows at Sydney Opera House, Segovia (Spain) and Prague.

All activities in Freedom Gardens are free with the exception of entry to the Mirazozo which carries a nominal charge of £3.

The programme is complemented by a series of ticketed shows at Hull City Hall, comprising of music, cabaret, and comedy. The fun begins with a Taste of Freedom: where a mixture of some of the best acts to appearing at the festival will be performing. Hosted by Let’s Dance for Comic Relief winner, Charlie Baker, the spectacular line-up includes Irish chanteuse Camille O’Sullivan, hot new pop comedy duo Frisky & Mannish, the local vocals of the 100-strong Hull Freedom Chorus, plus a host of special guests. The laughter continues on Friday 2 September when comedy legend Arthur Smith hosts Freedom to Laugh. A stellar line-up including comedy magician and star of TV, Ali Cook; comedy duo, Frisky and Mannish; and Australian cabaret stars,  Briefs, who’s unique blend of comedy, cabaret and lack of clothes is sublime, ridiculous and sexy! Saturday’s line-up will give the audience the chance to experience comedy in its rawest form: the Freedom Improv All-stars! demonstrate improvised comedy at it’s very best. Comedy Store legends Steve Steen, Andy Smart, Steve Frost and very special guest Josie Lawrence, will deftly handle audience improv suggestions.

Tickets for Freedom 2011 @ City Hall range from £6 on to £12 and can be purchased on-line at www.hullcc.gov.uk/hullcityhall; by calling 01482 300 300 (available every day between 10am and 10pm), or in-person at Wilson Customer Service Centre, Alfred Gelder Street, Hull – open Monday to Friday, 9am – 4.30pm, Saturday 9am – 12pm. Tickets are also available for Freedom performances at Hull Truck Theatre by calling 01482 323638.

Further details, ticket information and for more performance announcements on the Freedom line up can be found at www.freedomfestival.co.uk

Hull Truck Theatre will have a selection of events including ‘Sometimes I Laugh Like my Sister’ which details a sister’s loss of BBC journalist Kate Peyton, ‘The Post Show Party Show’ providing quirky theatre, Camille O’Sullivan and a free event ‘Story Map’-a twelve hour durational performance mapping an exchange of stories from Freedom goers. Further details and to book tickets please visit http://www.hulltruck.co.uk/whats-on

Freedom commemorates the abolition of slavery and the pioneering work of Hull-born William Wilberforce MP and is a lasting legacy of the Wilberforce 2007 celebrations.

Janet Reuben, Chief Executive of VHEY, said: “This year Freedom offers a fabulous fun day out on a budget with events suited to all ages and tastes. Freedom creates a unique and contemporary festival that cannot be experienced anywhere else, it’s guaranteed to become an annual outing in your calendar!”

Councillor Geraghty, Portfolio Holder for Image and Culture at Hull City Council, said: “This year’s Freedom is going back to its Wilberforce routes and will see a colourful mix of dramatic street theatre, outdoor performances and activities across three sites in the city centre to create a special family-friendly festival experience.”

Freedom is funded by Hull City Council, Arts Council England, Visit Hull and East Yorkshire and the private sector via the Business Friend of Freedom scheme.

Lorin Maazel conductor

Lisa de la Salle piano

MOZART Piano Concerto No. 9, K271, Jeunehomme

MAHLER Symphony No. 5

The Philharmonic Orchestra is joined by one of the greatest interpreters of Mahler’s music alive today for this special performance in Hull. Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, famous for its Adagietto, is featured alongside Mozart’s Jeunehomme Piano Concerto.

If you want to experience a night of musical talent by the students of the University of Hull, then join them at their gig in Fruit on the 1st June!

For more information visit: http://mergearts.org.uk/music/hull-university-big-band/

The Interdisciplinary and Collaborative Practices

University of Hull, Scarborough Campus, School of Arts and New Media

Invites you to the

Research Generator Symposium

23-24 June, 2011

University of Hull, Scarborough Campus

Follow us live online

www.icpcluster.org

The Interdisciplinary and Collaborative Practices Cluster (ICP Cluster) holds its inaugural symposium at Scarborough Campus between the 23rd and the 24th of June 2011.  The Research Generator Symposium aims to bring together a community of scholars, artists and creative industry figures to work on a series of research themes. The aim of the symposium is to develop project proposals with multiple outputs that connect the areas of performance, media, human computer interaction and design and are relevant to the contemporary society.

The event will be framed by Prof Steve Dixon’s (Brunel University, UK) keynote: ‘Interdisciplinarity and Interaction in Digital Arts and Performance’.

Themes selected for exploration are:

Ø  InterMedia Therapy – looking at notions of intermediality and contemporary spectatorship to develop models of performance with therapeutic effect (either as catalyst for positive societal change and or improved well-being)

Ø  Intimate Technologies: Private vs. Public – exploring potentials for imagining and developing new applications that might encourage, enhance or support a range of intimate exchanges in society

Ø  Platforms of Discovery and Dissemination – exploring novel interaction and presentation platforms that enable users to gain insight into data or gain experience from it

Ø  Sound of our Surroundings – focusing on how can we help shape the future of urban and natural environments by better understanding existing soundscapes

Ø  Voice and Voiceless – exploring improved ways of designing artificial speech for people who have no voice

The project is moderated by BigDog Interactive responsible for a recent Nokia Advert and participants include leading national and international academics, business representatives, arts practitioners and technologists. Support will be provided by ‘Flaneurs’- a group of contributors specifically tasked to generate debate and look for synergies between groups.

In addition, participants will be invited to performance/social activities: Pecha-Kucha Evening, ‘Ecologies’ (a sonic arts concert), a networking party with DJ Filey Selassie and a Scarborough open bus tour.

The Research Generator Symposium is funded by the iHull; Institute for Creativity and Innovation in cooperation with School of Arts and New Media, Scarborough Campus and the Creative Enterprise Laboratory,  University of Hull.

Certain events will be live streamed. For a timetable of webcast events please see: http://icpcluster.org/?s=events <http://icpcluster.org/?s=events>

For a full programme of the symposium, please see www.icplucster.org <http://www.icplucster.org>

Follow us live online

www.icpcluster.org

Please do not hesitate to contact us for further info at: A.Albacan@hull.ac.uk <mailto:A.Albacan@hull.ac.uk>  , s.sharvia@gmail.com <mailto:s.sharvia@gmail.com>  or C.Newell@hull.ac.uk <mailto:C.Newell@hull.ac.uk>

For more information visit: http://mergearts.org.uk/the-jazz-stallions/

Observers welcome by invitation. Please contact us in advance if you are interested in attending.

tickets@hull.ac.uk

tickets@hull.ac.uk

Sponsored by: University of Hull

9.30-12.30 (L201) Workshop

14:30-16:30 (Middleton Hall) Workshop on the lute, theorbo and continuo led by Peter Martin

Observers welcome by invitation. Please contact us in advance if you are interested in attending.

tickets@hull.ac.uk

Sponsored by: Department of Drama and Music

Dr Adam Hansen (University of Northumbria)

Free entrance – all welcome

Enquiries: Dr Alexander Binns  a.binns@hull.ac.uk

Dr Martin Doffman (University of Oxford)

Free entrance – all welcome

Enquiries: Dr Alexander Binns  a.binns@hull.ac.uk

Peter Sproston (piano)

Peter Elsdon (piano)

and guest performers

A varied programme of Larkin settings including recent songs by Huw Watkins as well as interludes by jazz pianist, Peter Elsdon.

 Tickets: £10 including wine – all welcome 

tickets@hull.ac.uk

Sponsored by: Department of Drama and Music

“…stunningly well played and compellingly shaded…”
“…a dramatic insight and poetic flair that takes nothing for granted…”
Classic FM Magazine

Scarlatti Sonata in C K513
Mozart Sonata in C minor, K457
Debussy Reflets dans l’eau
Pour le piano

By popular demand, internationally renowned pianist Sarah Beth Briggs returns to perform a classic programme.

www.sarahbethbriggs.co.uk

14:30 Tenth Grace Black Masterclass. A 90-minute public masterclass featuring three pianists currently studying at Hull. Observers welcome.

tickets@hull.ac.uk

Sponsored by: Grace Black Fund

Online Event Registration with amiando

David Almond is the author of best-selling ‘Skellig’, which is an all-time favourite, and he has written many other wonderful books for people of all ages. This was the second annual children’s event, hosted by University of Hull, where David Almond came to speak about his novels, inspiration and gave the audience a rare opportunity to experience his dark and magical imagination! Local schools were invited to the event and the children seemed thrilled by the prospect of meeting the author. Every child had their hand up to ask questions and gave a view on what literature meant to them. It was incredible to see such kids who were enthusiastic for reading and writing, in an age where the virtual and cyber space seems to be overtaking! Even the children’s enthusiasm inspired me, as a writer, to never lose the enjoyment of literature.

After the question and answer session, there was an opportunity for the children to get their books signed…the queue was immense and ongoing! It seemed as though the children did not want to leave! Well, neither did I to be honest!

This was such a great success, well done to the Professor Goodman and the iHull team (plus many more) who organised it and took part! I can’t wait to see what the next children’s annual event has in store…

M.A

Steven Saylor and the Thrillers of Ancient Rome from iHull on Vimeo.

‘A modern master of historical fiction’ – USA Today, Steven uses profound knowledge of Ancient Rome to conjure a series of bestselling mystery novels.  A great evening for anyone with a passion for the ancient history, and any who love the power of terrific storytelling. ‘Saylor evokes the ancient world more convincingly than any other writer of his generation’ – The Sunday Times.

Enquiries: tickets@hull.ac.uk

Sponsored by The Portland Hotel

On the night you can purchase the Fresh Ink journal and specially commissioned posters! Come along to an evening of poetry, prose and music!

The launch will kick off with performances by:

Burned Books – Acoustic
Hekima and the Bongo Flava – Reggae
Double Down – Punk
Mark Hill and The Scallywags – Punk

This event is free, so make sure you’re there – don’t miss out!

Virtual worlds are also used as platforms for learning, research and creativity by both institutions and individuals: universities, colleges, libraries and government entities, as well as artists, activists and cultural professionals, all have a presence in SL. The project Virtual World Watch (Kirriemuir, 2010), which monitors the use of VR environments in the UK, has found that currently every Higher Education institution employs virtual worlds in some capacity. Many more universities in the US use the platform for educational purposes, and an increasing number of international scholarly conferences are dedicated to exploring its applications.

Second Life has become a popular environment for the recreation of real world heritage sites, including theatres. Perhaps more important is the creation of unique theatre and performance spaces made specifically for SL, which take advantage of its virtual world affordances to conquer rationalism and real life obstacles, such as gravity. An increasingly popular aspect of VR environments is the potential to create live theatrical events, performances, and happenings, within them. There are several groups that regularly perform in SL (e.g., SL Shakespeare Company, Avatar Repertory Theatre, and Second Front), attracting a growing number of avatar audiences. SL audiences can not only visit those performance venues but, more often than not, they can also inhabit and experience them interactively.

Lacking, however, is a body of work that brings together those who are (1) using virtual worlds for performance practice, (2) using them for pedagogical applications in theatre and performance, (3) reflecting upon the critical issues raised by virtual worlds in general and Second Life in particular, as well as their relevant practices and applications. The advances and challenges faced by practitioners and educators in using these immersive environments also raise issues for the discipline of theatre and performance studies as a whole, since they problematise concepts of space, bodies, presence and liveness.

This multiple Round Tables event will aim to address the above issues, exploring the use of immersive worlds for the creation of novel theatre and performance practices, and their pedagogical applications.

For information on the event on the 20th May visit: http://www.ihull.org/events/from-black-box-to-second-life-theatre-and-performance-in-virtual-worlds/

For information on the School of Arts & New Media, University of Hull, Scarborough campus visit: http://www2.hull.ac.uk/scarborough/campus-departments/sanm.aspx

For information on the University of Hull’s Scarborough campus and how to get there visit: http://www2.hull.ac.uk/scarborough/default.aspx

• Local business, politics, education and health?
• The arts and music, including new bands and festivals?
• Faith, sport and local community news?
• And encourages you to get involved via outside broadcasts, phone calls, texts and social media?

If you tune in, we want to hear what you think.

Come to an event hosted by

BBC Radio Humberside presenter Phil White

Tuesday 14 June from 12 – 2pm

The Student Union Building, Hull University HU6 7RX

To book a place at this free event please email sukhi.nagra@bbc.co.uk, call 0121 567 6269 or email Portia p.f.ellis-woods@2009.hull.ac.uk

A buffet will be served at 11.45 prior to the event.

They are featuring well known music, wind band favourites and much much more.

and the different versions of Night on Bare Mountain.

Dr Tsang is Director of Performance at the University of Hull. His research interests span timbre, music analysis, performance and film. He is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy and the founding director and principal conductor of the professional chamber ensemble Hull Sinfonietta, which was awarded the University of Hull Vice Chancellor’s Prize 2005.

16:30 Mussorgsky-Stokowski Night on Bare Mountain

Rehearsal Orchestra

Lee Tsang (conductor)

Stokowski, a master orchestrator with a pioneering approach to audience engagement, is perhaps most famous for his role as conductor and arranger in Disney’s Fantasia. At this special event you have a rare chance to hear live his thrilling large orchestral arrangement of a Russian work that has captured the imagination of generations.

The performance, led by members of Hull Sinfonietta, will feature school pupils, students, teachers and local amateurs. Players who are interested in participating on the day should contact Dr Lee Tsang as soon as possible on 01482 465019, l.tsang@hull.ac.uk

Free entrance

Enquiries: 01482 462045 or tickets@hull.ac.uk

Sponsored by: Department of Drama and Music, Hull Sinfonietta, Longcroft College, Doncaster Music Service

Alistair played the piano while Hayley and Naomi played their saxophones, taking the audience on a journey of each practitioners work. Each piece was mellow yet with sudden changes. My favourite recital was ‘Introduction and Passacaglia’ by M William Karlins. I had never heard of either practitioner or piece until this afternoon, but it definitely caught my attention and kept me on edge. This concert illustrated how the unity of saxophones and pianos can create such serenity and drama. All in all, it was a concert to sit back, relax and watch what the Trio Saxopiano had on offer.

M.A

Are you dreaming of a career in the music industry?  Come to this unique one- day event to find out how to make those dreams your reality.

Take this fantastic opportunity to have your questions answered by industry experts.  Hear their advice on how to map out a career path in music, how to access finance and investment as well as how to secure live gigs and build your fan base.

Panellists:

Nanette Rigg, City Showcase Festival Producer 
Henry Priestman, singer-songwriter/artist
Keith Harris, artist manager/PPL
Ross Gautreau, Polydor
David Riley, Good Lizard

Then…perform live to the panel!

There will be the opportunity to perform one song in front of the panel.  Not only will this showcase your song-writing and performance skills but you will gain valuable feedback from the industry panel. Please email ihull@hull.ac.uk if you are interested in performing.

What is City Showcase?

City Showcase is a not-for-profit year-round festival of new music, responsible for breaking some of the best names into the industry since 2003.
They provide a year-round platform for new artists, identifying and developing them through a unique combination of showcasing opportunities, industry networking sessions and masterclasses in the UK and beyond – all free from commercial sector constraints.
Some of the artists who got their break at City Showcase gigs include Amy Winehouse, Gabriella Cilmi, Keane, Newton Faulkner, Ray LaMontagne, Razorlight, Scouting for Girls and Seth Lakeman.

David Almond is one of the most magical writers in the world. His novel Skellig is an all-time favourite, and he has written many other wonderful books for people of all ages. Come and explore the dark and beautiful world of his imagination

If you’re a child, this is YOUR event. Think up your questions for David, and bring them along. He’s looking forward to meeting and talking with you.

There are concessions available for groups of 10 students and more. Please contact the iHull office at the email address below for more information.

Enquiries: tickets@hull.ac.uk

Sponsored by The Portland Hotel

Join us for the launch of FreshInk!

This evening sees the launch of our fabulous new which literary journal showcasing the creativity of writers and artists at the University of Hull. This is the first of an annual publication which is open to all students and staff regardless of their discipline. FreshInk is excited about giving writers and artists a chance to see their work in print, often for the first time and provide them with a platform from where they can gain experience and confidence in the publishing process.

The event will be supported by local bands:

Burned Books – Acoustic
Hekima and the Bongo Flava – Reggae
Double Down – Punk
Mark Hill and The Scallywags – Punk

Come along for the fun. Prices will be announced soon….

Conveners: Dr Maria Chatzichristodoulou [aka Maria X] (Hull), Dr Mark Childs (Coventry), Dr Iryna Kuksa (Staffordshire), and Dr Toni Sant (Hull)

Contributors: Stelarc (video keynote), the Conveners, Cat Fergusson-Baugh (Hull), Dr Stephen Hodge (Exeter), Dr Michael Nitsche (Georgia Institute of Technology, USA – telepresentation), Nancy Reilly-McVittie (Manchester Metropolitan),  Annabeth Robinson (Leeds College of Art & Design) and others to be confirmed.

This event is free and open to all. Please come along. For more info and to RSVP email: M.Chatzi@hull.ac.uk

Also, if you would like to read more about this discussion topic, please visit the blog: http://www.ihull.org/blog/from-black-box-to-second-life-theatre-and-performance-in-virtual-worlds-2/

Supported by: University of Hull Innovations in Teaching and Learning Award, and the School of Arts and New Media. The live stream is supported by the Interdisciplinary and Collaborative Practices Research Cluster.

Piece by piece, working with great staff in the library and the university’s media team, we’ll bring that content online. Hull’s got an outstanding literary heritage, and we’re building a literary archive to match.

We’re bringing top writers to Hull, and are also set to share the work of our own writers with an international audience. We’re new, we’re excited about the prospects, and we’re growing. Turn up to our events as they happen, tune in afterwards, and do please post comments so we can sense what you’re enjoying and what developments would excite you, in terms of our writers’ programme and also this web showcase..