From June 26–28 2024, BEAST are proud to present Body-Space-Action-Agency, a new series of concerts and workshops, presented on the full BEAST speaker system in the Elgar Concert Hall. Wednesday 26th June To kickstart the series, we welcome Artemi-Maria Gioti and Aaron Einbond for a workshop exploring their research into Machine Learning (ML), approaches to its use in composition, and discussion of…
When the BEAST Team gathered many months ago to start developing the theme of this year’s festival, we were inspired by the notion that despite years of brutally negative politics and global turmoil, we might, through our shared love of this music, find a way to encourage something positive and optimistic, that embraced the possibilities of reconciliation and restoration. Thus…
Since the very outset of our duo, working with electronics has been central to our practice. Our very first commission, for the Cologne Philharmonie’s TripClubbing series back in 2016, was for a new piece by Pierre Alexandre Tremblay, a composer who immediately opened us up to not only the complex interactions between our two instruments, but how those extremes of…
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the relationship between performance and the performative gesture, and the acousmatic. I have spent most of my composing life in the realm of mixed music and live electronics. I have always taken inspiration from performers in two (related) ways. Most importantly as living and life experiencing individuals – I listen to their performances, interpretations, personalities…
Some thoughts about listening in these confined moments… My time in Birmingham twenty years ago, working towards the Ph.D. with Jonty Harrison, was an extraordinary period in my creative life. After composing already for many years, it was a chance to get again very detailed feedback, and to learn more and think more in-depth about the impact of interpretation in…
A few years ago Scott Wilson asked me if I would be interested in creating something for BEAST. This was something of a surprise because I used to think of BEAST as a forum for a sort of music that I didn’t make. I have always been fascinated by electronic music (within which I, perhaps rather cheekily, include electroacoustic music,…
We’re delighted to kick off our 2019-20 season by welcoming Colombian composer Jorge Garcia Moncada back to Birmingham for a short visit. No stranger to BEAST, Jorge is enjoying a growing reputation both as an emerging figure of importance in the burgeoning Latin American scene and internationally. Since leaving the U.K. Jorge has established his own concert system, BLAST, and founded a significant…
Sound Sculptures is a project by BEAST composers Emma Margetson and Nikki Sheth. This project explores the relationship between sound and sculpture along the University of Birmingham’s Sculpture Trail. Distinctive soundscapes respond to the physical properties and characteristics of each sculpture, transporting the listener between natural and abstract sound-worlds. Coming up for The Green Heart Launch Weekend… Sound Sculpture Trail…
We’re delighted to announce that BEAST Composer Elsa Jaeyoung Park has been awarded the ICMA 2018 Regional Award for Asia for her work Dysthymia at the 2018 International Computer Music Conference in Seoul, South Korea. The committee, which consisted of distinguished composers and scholars Choi Insook, Cort Lippe, Miriam Akkermann, Patrick Gunawan Hartono, Taehi Kim, and PerMagnus Lindborg noted that the work, which…
Brona Martin discusses her approach to composing and the inspiration that travelling has on her work. NightEscape will premiere at BEAST FEaST 2018 As an electroacoustic composer travelling has always inspired my compositions. There are many steps that we have to go through to get to our final destination: the satisfaction of closing my suitcase after the chaos of panic…