Palace Intrusions

Palace Intrusions is a new year-long public art project for Wells in Somerset and the surrounding area, curated by composer Helen Ottaway and performance artist Melanie Thompson.  The first event was a public participation drawing project led by artist Bronwen Bradshaw.  Bronwen was Palace Intrusions artist in residence and worked around the outside of the walls and moat of the Bishop's Palace, Wells during the week 22 - 28 October 2007.  On Wednesday 24 October she led a day of public participation, producing three vast panoramas of the Palace walls and moat.  Bronwen's residency was followed by an exhibition in the Wells Museum during November, featuring her work for Palace Intrusions and the panorama.

Performance artist Melanie Thompson and sculptor Jane Hazlewood created the second piece during the week 19 to 25 November, based on the theme of Shelter. An exhibition of the outcome of this work is in the Wells Museum from December 4 2007.

The third event took place at dusk on December 8 -  Helen Ottaway's trumpet music for the moat complemented by torchlit coracles.

Phase 2 of the project was launched in May 2008 and events will take place throughout the summer, culminating in 3 days of performance in the Bishop's Palace Grounds at the end of September 2008.

For more information see www.palaceintrusions.org.uk

It's a String Thing! Reunion

It's a String Thing! Reunion was held at st John's Church, Frome on Friday 28 September 2007.  Player who took part in It's a String Thing! in March 2007 came together again to perform for an audience of first school students who are their first term of the Wider Opportunities Strings programme.  The event also launched JUMPS (Joined Up Music for People in Somerset) in Frome and East Somerset, introduced by Kathryn Deane of the National Community Music organisation Sound Sense, and a new Artmusic publication the Frome Music Map.  The Music Map is a resource for young musicians in the Frome Area, listing all categories of music provision including teachers, music groups and instrument makers.

Artsadmin

As of 1st March 2007, Artmusic is an Artsadmin Associate Artist.  The new associate artists were announced at the launch of Artsadmin's refurbished building, Toynbee Studios in London.  Artsadmin is at the forefront of innovation and excellence in the field  of performance and Live Art and we are delighted to be associated with the organsiation.
www.artsadmin.co.uk.

Thin Air

Composer Helen Ottaway and sound designer Alastair Goolden have been commissioned by Oxford Contemporary Music in association with Oxford Playhouse and Dorchester Abbey to create a new version of Thin Air. This installation is part of Oxfordshire 2007 and Dorchester Festival and runs from 15th - 28th May 2007.

It's a String Thing!

It's a String Thing! was devised by composer Helen Ottaway as a workshop and performance for 150 young string players in Frome, Somerset and took place at St John's Church, Frome on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th March 2007. The project culminated in a public concert.  See review below.

"Common misconceptions of modern children: twins will always be weird, only children will always be spoilt, and violin players will always screech. Don't even get me started on the first two. As to the last, that was laid to rest by the massed string players of 'It's a String Thing!' at St John's church on Saturday evening. Hywel Jenkins and Gillian Corke have been teaching violin, cello and bass to every year 4 child in St John's, Christchurch and Berkley schools since September, and local composer Helen Ottaway has written music specially for them, to perform together with college, middle and other first school students and also a professional string quartet. The effect was stunning. Groups of players were situated all around the church, conducted by the surefooted Hywel from the centre, ably assisted by a leader in each group. The first piece, 'Rain', contained such beautiful pizzicato interludes that the toddler in front of me was quite convinced that the heavens had indeed opened. We were then treated to Helen's 'String Quartet No.1' performed by the Antara String Quartet. Nothing showy or extravagant, just beguiling melodies played with great sensitivity. The fourth movement contained some wonderful sliding passages. The finale, 'To & Fro' did exactly as its title suggests. Dramatic phrases looped over the audience from one group to another, played with great gusto by the primary school players, with the college students and professional players interweaving their parts into the piece. This was utterly conclusive evidence that when it comes to musical performance, we can all be gifted and talented."
Caroline Radcliffe

Composer in residence

Helen Ottaway was appointed Composer in Residence for the 2006 Frome Festival (July 2006)

Alastair Goolden and Helen Ottaway have been invited by The Soundbeam Project to take part in their Elektrodome Pilot Project for group music making in schools. 

Several compositions by Helen Ottaway have been published under the Artmusic imprint: Round & Round for solo piano, Over & Over for piano duet, Early, Early (a 3 part arrangement of a traditional song) and A Suite of Somerset Apples for solo harpsichord See our sales page.

Black & White (a duet for piano and paint) is an ongoing research project in which artist Barry Cooper and pianist Helen Ottaway are exploring the relationship between the visual and aural in gesture and mark making through a series of improvised duets. The project is being documented with text and image as well as through audio and video recording. Full information on this project will be posted on the website at a later date.

Red/Violet the second movement from Round & Round has been played several times on Radio 3 (Late Junction) and is featured in the Franko B ‘O Lover Boy Theme’ video - a collaboration between Franko B and Helen Ottaway. See Sales.