Sound at Central: A Sense of (p)Lace Concert and CoMA Festival Workshops

PLUS Creative Workshops

CoMA East Midlands are proud to be partnering with Nottingham Central Library for their flagship late night cabaret, Sound at Central. For the spring edition, we’re joining forces to celebrate CoMA with our project, ‘A Sense of (p)Lace', supported by local poetry collective DIY Poets.

This Sound at Central concert is the fruit of a project developed with CoMA East Midlands, composer Matthew Gilley and craft artist Katy Gillam-Hull alongside Nottingham Central Library and features poets from Nottingham's very own DIY Poets, social historians from the University of Nottingham and art produced for the library's lace-themed art competition (which will be transformed into music on the day in a live composition demonstration by composer and film academic E. Anna Claydon). The ensemble's musical director is well-known Nottingham pianist and composer Antony Clare.

Want to contribute to the evening? Why not attend one of the lace craft/art and music workshops during the day? Tickets can also be booked here.

CoMA (Contemporary Music for All) East Midlands has been playing, composing and performing in Nottingham and the region since 1997. Part of the the national CoMA organisation, this event contributes to the 2026 CoMA Festival. CoMA specialises in new music of many genres and is supported by a number of funders, including the Arts Council, as well as being a registered charity (England & Wales no. 1067282: Scotland no. SC051561).

There are two workshops and an evening concert as well as an exhibition and live composition happening to the winners of the Library's (p)Lacemaking art competition. You can book onto all events or a pack of your own making when adding your tickets.

Workshop One 1-2 pm: Disrupting the Pattern. Collage workshop, making visual images by collaging together pieces of lace, photographs of pieces of lace, photographs and text from books/articles about lace and the Nottingham lace industry. Craft artist Katy Gillam-Hull will run this workshop. 15 people maximum. Age 16+. £5

Workshop Two 2.30-3.30pm: Sounding out Pictures. Graphic score workshop, where we explain what graphic scores are, demonstrate a couple of graphic scores that we are familiar with, and then use (all, or a sample of) the collages from the earlier workshop as graphic scores. Led by composer and computer scientist Colin Johnson and including members of the CoMA East Midlands ensemble. 25 people maximum. Age 16+ £5

Sound at Central Concert 7-9.20pm (including interval): A Sense of (p)Lace. Presenting a plethora of world premieres from Matthew Gilley, the CoMA East Midlands ensemble, Nottingham composer and renowned music teacher David Machell, a selected piece from the Disrupting the Pattern workshop, and the winners of the art competition and E. Anna Claydon (in the interval) as well as a specially tailored version of the late East Midlands' composer John White's Newspaper Reading Machine. The event will also feature a short talk by Suzanne Seymour of the University of Nottingham and world premiers of poetry by members of the DIY Poets: there will be something for everyone. 150 people maximum. Any age. £10

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