Evening Classical Concert | Sound Stories

This concert will feature electro-acoustic works composed using a variety of techniques, instruments and technologies .
About this Event

Thursday 18th June | 6pm

This concert is part of the joint 2026 Sound Stories conference of the Galpin Society and the UKRI Global Music Technologies research group. The conference aims to expand the horizons of organology; to reassess organology’s modus operandi; to not only address gaps in research, but to probe why such lacunae exist, and seeks to bring diverse voices, studies, and musics together to help us better understand the interconnectedness of musical instruments, from the earliest Neanderthal flutes to the latest virtual instruments, to forge a new definition of what organology is and can be.

To further this goal musically, we have invited three composers — two locally born working-class composers, James Clay and Anna M Heslop, alongside the Newcastle-based Russian Jewish composer Samuel Rich—to present new works composed by them that use different stages of music-instrument technology, ranging from controlling virtual sound generators on pianos to 1960s-style tape-loop manipulation to attaching oscillating magnets to piano strings.

Programme

James Clay
Somnolence for pianos and electronics (2026)*
Performed by James Clay, piano and electronics

Samuel Rich
Kol Yomi (2026)*
Performed by Samuel Rich, clarinet and bass clarinet & Sam Spencer-Whitebread, tape manipulation

— Interval —

Anna M Heslop
An Electric Litany of Hand (2026)*
Performed by Anna M Heslop, prepared piano & Oliver Davies, sound generators and creations

Alvin Lucier (1931–2021)
Music for piano with magnetic strings (1996)
Performed by James Clay, Oliver Davies, Anna M Heslop, Samuel Rich, Marianne Sice, James Smith, Sam Spencer-Whitebread, e-bows

* World premiere of piece commissioned for Sound Stories 2026

This concert is part of the Sound Stories conference, planned and delivered by the Galpin Society and the UKRI Global Music Technologies research group

A LIVE Lit & Phil Event | £10

(If you would prefer to book directly over the phone, please call the Library Desk team on 0191 232 0192 and they will be happy to help)

UKRI logo, UKRI logo and Global Music Technologies logo | Images provided by promoter