Found in Ladywood
In collaboration with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Artists. The Leo Quartet and Composer Duncan Chapman
Sponsored by Birmingham City Council Working Neighbourhood Fund, and with special thanks to the West Midlands Fire Service and Birmingham Solihull Mental Health Trust Foundation for supporting the project.
Introduction.
Written and produced by Claire Farrell EC-Arts, ‘Found in Ladywood’ was a music project that culminated in a performance within the engine house of a working fire station in Ladywood on the 9th October 2010.
The Leo String Quartet part of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, took its renowned classical repertoire out of traditional settings and into Ladywood Fire Station for an autumnal performance of Shostakovich Quartet No 8. The event also featured a unique original composition made and inspired by live sounds recorded in Ladywood. The score was created by Composer and Music Animateur Duncan Chapman working with Ladywood residents in a series of artistic workshops, which included a collaboration with the Leo Quartet to produce the piece for the final event.
The project was inspired by both the CBSO’s ethos to reach out and engage new audiences, and ‘Lost in Ladywood’ a 2007 project by artist Simon Whitehead, commissioned by MADE. EC-Arts aimed to engage and reach community members in Ladywood that had not experienced ‘live’ classical music, by delivering this unique event on the local residents doorstep. The engine house, Ladywood Fire Station was a unique venue, providing great acoustics for the performance within the heart of the community.
Community event skills workshops.
The journey leading up to the performance involved members of the community working with EC-Arts within structured workshops enabling learning opportunities regarding specific event skills and the project process. The aim of the project was to collaborate with members of the community and to form an ‘event team’. In collaboration with the community event team the fire station, a non traditional performance venue was transformed for the 9th October event. A series of workshops were implemented and delivered by Kate Whitlow, EC-Arts Project Coordinator in Ladywood teaching the core group event management skills. The community group planned and delivered the October event by participating within all aspects of planning leading up to including the event day.
Artistic workshops.
Simultaneously, ‘artistic workshops’ were led by Composer Duncan Chapman. Duncan took the community group on walks around Ladywood (taken from artist Simon Whiteheads ‘Lost in Ladywood book), including the reservoir with equipment to record live sounds throughout their journeys. Duncan is renowned for his experimental approach and technologically advanced festivals. The sounds inspired and formed part of the original composition Duncan notated specifically for the Ladywood performance. A recent example of Duncan’s experimental work was a Nintendo game orchestra that took place in May 2010 on Brighton beach.
The Leo Quartet (Byron Parish, Jane Wright, Mike Jenkinson and Kate Setterfield) is a quartet of leading players from the CBSO who formed in 2004 and have built a reputation for vibrant performances of diverse repertoire.
To see a short film of the event by Audio Visual Artist Mat Beckett please click here
Sponsors. Birmingham City Council and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
