I spent a couple of immensely inspiring days in the Department for Speech, Music and Hearing of the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm to play with Loeric, an AI music performance system developed by Marco Amerotti. Both Loeric and I learned a huge amount in a very short period of time – stay tuned for more: much might emerge from this collaboration… Loeric is affiliated with the Somabotics: Creatively Embodying AI programme, spearheaded by the University of Nottingham. 

It was an immense pleasure to perform as part of the After Hours series of the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham. My programme included a performance of Observations of Fiery Sparks, co-written by myself and Tim Cooper, the premiere of Elizabeth Kelly’s Punctuation Paradiso (a playful and soulful suite reflecting on the intricacies of punctation marks), and finally my own work titled Hidden Paths, a contemporary electroacoustic re-imagination of Luca Marenzio’s iconic late sixteenth-century madrigal Solo e pensoso.  

Ensemble 1604 has rebranded, is now known as Haptic and this is our first patch of gigs under the new name! A really exciting tour ahead of us in Scotland with a programme that includes Stef Conner’s Ghost Weavers, Tim Cooper’s Labyrinth from our debut album, the premiere of an electroacoustic solo recorder piece, titled Observations of Fiery Sparks I co-wrote with Tim, from our new upcoming major project, Micrographia, and finally, Frederic Rzewski’s iconic Coming Together. The tour is funded by The Night With…: catch us in Aberdeen, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. 

I feel hugely honoured to be given the chance to take up the position of Lead for the University of Nottingham in the Universities for Nottingham & BBC Concert Orchestra Partnership. This partnership includes an incredibly rich and unique portfolio of activities, including orchestral and choral side-by-side performances, filmmaking and composition collaborations, student career development opportunities, research and knowledge exchange, and outreach projects.