Click here to view the embedded video.

“Fragile slices of music’s past float by at a surreal distance…”

On Saturday, These New Puritans and Britten Sinfonia collaborated live at the Barbican Centre, London in a blend of truly progressive art-rock. Backed by one of Europe’s most celebrated and pioneering chamber orchestras; Britten Sinfonia they created a dynamic, enthralling, progressive collaboration. We liked. Alot.

http://thesenewpuritans.com/hiddenlive/

A very interesting article mentioning creative in residence, Peter Gregson.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11582423

Peter came in with his cello and Kid with his mate Rod, a modular synth and a box or wires,  I was even more confused……. until we wired, patched and mic’d everything up, then bit by bit a track started to tack shape. Drums, top line, bass all finding their place and all created from some well executed cello playing and synth manipulation.

It is very rare that you see musicians from such varied genres collaborating so successfully in such a short space of time.  True masters of their craft.

A session that will stay with me for some time to come.  Nice working with a group of talented and created musicians to create something unexpected and  inspiring.”

Nigel R Glasgow from B Flat Productions

CLICK HERE TO HEAR WHAT THEY CREATED

But this was different.

It was the only option. Fridges, shelves and rooms of the stuff.

You see, I was in Red Bull’s insanely amazing studios in south London all weekend, collaborating with the Red Bull Music Academy’s very own kidkanevil. We were tasked with producing a track, whatever we wanted, for two days. This is, actually, a lot harder than it sounds. Made harder by them having the worlds largest Pro Tools monitor – below – bear in mind that that’s a normal human head and the perspective is a little skewed… massive.

So, kidkanevil (aka Gerard) and I were emailing back and forth about themes, ideas, inspirations (which included rainbows, kittens and clouds. Very mature) and, in the end, decided that it was quicker to just shut up and do something. So we did.

92 channels of cello later, we were listening to “Mod Synth vs Cello”. We’re both, actually, very proud of it!

Lolo spent some of Saturday with us, and after picking through our sweetie stash, agreed to read some Victor Hugo poetry over the intro of the piece

We have to mix the track, but I’ll be performing it live at the next alt_classical on September 14th… nice and loud! All in all, a great weekend well spent, even supposing my caffeine levels were spiked higher than they probably have been before!

Peter Gregson, Upcoming performances….

Le Poisson Rouge, New York, 8 Aug 6.30pm

“a young, tech-friendly Scottish cellist at the forefront of the new-music scene” – New York Magazine, Critics Choice for Classical

alt_classical, The Hospital Club 14 Sept, 7pm

Save The Date …..

 What’s your favourite item of clothing and why? Lolo has assigned me a stylist who’s job is to sort my clothes out. That should tell you plenty.  

 When did you last shed a tear?I watched “Up” on a plane recently. There was definitely a single man tear in there somewhere… 

 If you could own any piece of art in the world, what would it be?Anything big by Jean Michel Basquiat (Warhols protege). Love it. 

 Who makes you go weak with desire? Scarlett Johansson  

 When was the last time you embarrassed yourself to the point that you blush inwardly when you think about it? In an attempt to charge my iPhone in a very well known recording studio, I literally flipped the switch that controls the power for the room, turning everything off and meaning the whole place had to be manually restarted, all in wasting about 30mins of studio time. I didn’t have the courage to fess up and face the inevitable mockery from the engineer and producer, so speedily offered up a power surge as the probably cause. It was, in a way, slightly true.

This actually wasn’t all that long ago. I blame it on poor circuit design.

 When was the last time you told a lie?8.30am this morning at Pret. I actually wanted a cappuccino, but didn’t think the craftsmanship of  the one before my order was taken was really up to much, so I went with a filter coffee. I’m a terrible liar, but I think I got away with it. 

 Who is your favourite fictional character? Simon Cowell. 

 If you had to represent your life so far in a shoebox, what would you put in it? My passport, email password and details of where my cello is (it probably wouldn’t fit in a shoebox) 

 What album will you keep listening to and never get bored of? I don’t have one. That’s why I’m a musician… it stops me getting bored. 

 You got a hot date/guest you wanna impress- what do you cook them?Poached salmon with pistachios and pesto with green beans and rice. Pudding probably from Waitrose – frankly, whatever they charge is less than I’d spend in excess ingredients by getting it wrong. Oh, and controversially, I don’t really go in for puddings. Probably get a nice-ish bottle of wine, though. 

 What song will you have played at your funeral? Schubert’s Quintet in C major. If you don’t know it, don’t wait for my funeral – sort it out and listen now! 

 What’s the most embarrassing thing on your iPod For professional reasons, I really shouldn’t answer this. My iPod could be sectioned it’s so bad… 

 If you could be trapped in a lift with any 3 living people – who would they be? With a power trio of Steve Jobs, Rihanna and Stephen Fry, all the boxes are ticked.  

 What makes you happy? Doing what I love to do, which selfishly, is exactly what I want to do and fortunately, what I am doing. Oh, and all the classics: travel, food, cinema and golf.

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PHOTOS BY ANNA ROBERTSON

“With creative icon and inspiring thinker Brian Eno at the helm as Guest Artistic Director, Brighton Festival 2010 has more than ever; 242 performances, 16 exclusives, 14 premieres, and 8 Brighton Festival commissions from internationally acclaimed artists visiting the UK for the first time, as well as Brighton-based artists making waves on the world scene.. .”

Alex Nikiporenko was comissioned by Matthew Stone to composed and perform a piece at the HQ at Brighton Dome on Friday 21 May 2010. It was very touching to see Alex perform in such environement, working along side very strong visuals, the piece was incredibly beautiful.

In Paradoxy, Lost

Flutes – Shane Nugent and Louise Drewett, Soprano – Carolyn Herail, Counter-Tenor – Daniel Keating-Roberts, Piano – Alex Nikiporenko

Music by Alex Nikiporenko. Libretto by Matthew Stone.

You are not who I am.

Ты не тот кто я.

I am not who you are.

Я не то кто ты.

I am the sea, but see she claims me

That I my be what is now we

In Paradoxy, Lost is a path through multiple musical dimensions in search of unity. The piece strives towards the beauty of simplicity having began in the surreal and sometimes conflicting character. The use of multiple languages in the first half of the piece reflects Matthew Stone’s concept of Multidoxy – the belief that there is single truth, yet many ways to approach it. The music highlights the differences between the singers and the languages used.

Mr Beasley
Mr Beasley consists of Sarah Johns (Vocals) and Bobby Beasley (Production) who have been writing and performing together since 2005. Their single Neon was named record of the week on Radio 1’s One World show, with their follow up single Right as Rain achieving record of the week status on Nemone’s BBC 6 Music show. Their debut album How Do You Say? will be released on 21st March.

Daisy Chute
Daisy Chute began her performing career at the tender age of nine as the young Cosette in the touring production of Les Misérables. She has also performed as part of a 4-piece classical singing group called All Angels. Currently in her second year at King’s College London, Daisy is keen to create songs that are fresh and exciting, drawing on her past experiences.

Toby Young
Toby Young is currently studying Music at King’s College, Cambridge, as a choral scholar. His works have been performed internationally at venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Birmingham’s Symphony Hall, and the Cadogan Hall, by renowned orchestras and ensembles, including the LSO, the RPO, the Endymion Ensemble and the Britten Sinfonia. Toby is currently Composer-in-residence at the University of Perugi.

Peter Gregson – CIR RESIDENT 2010/2011
Peter Gregson is a cellist and pioneer of contemporary music who has performed widely in the UK and the US, at venues ranging from The Royal Albert Hall to the Twitter Offices in San Francisco. He was recently commissioned by Bowers & Wilkins and Peter Gabriel’s Real World label to record an album of original music for acoustic and electric cellos. His work has been recognised with the 2008 Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award for music.