PROJECTS
AND COMMISSIONS
Some
examples of recent commissions are featured below.
For my work with Musicians without Borders click here: Stone
Flowers
and for virtual
migrants go to www.virtualmigrants.com
and www.youtube.com/virtualmigrants
For more information or to enquire about commissions and projects,
email Aidan
For more examples of project work, look at the archives.
‘Break
Free' by Other Ways Of Telling (2012 - 2013)
I
was lead artist and Director for ‘Break Free’, a collaborative
performance created over three months by ‘Other Ways Of Telling’;
a company set up by Collective
Encounters and St Helens Council to explore issues of mental illness,
stigma, and the struggle for wellbeing. Using a variety of workshop
and writing techniques, the company have created a multi-media performance
in three parts: Break Down, Break Through and Break Out. The poetry,
writing and songs were developed both individually and collectively
in the course of the workshops. These were then developed into a script
by the company, working with me, and performance poet Simon Murray.
To hear a
brief excerpt click here:The
Break Down Song (rehearsal, 1.6 Mb)
‘Past,
Present, Future’ and 'Sandygate Squared' (2011
- 2012)
a
site specific performance for which I was composer and musical director,
involving three primary schools, and two adult choirs (nearly 100
people) for Burnley Youth Theatre. It was a musical and dramatic performance
that looked at the history and future of the Weavers’ Triangle
Heritage site. A film version was commissioned by the borough council,
and made on location by Seal Films. It involved all the original participants,
and used traditional and specially composed songs.
To hear a
brief excerpt click here:One
Day At A Time (2 Mb)
‘Growing
Hearts And Minds’ (2011)
a
residency with B-Arts in Stoke-on-Trent,
which created a songs and a series of performances with a variety
of participants looking at the connection between mental health and
the environment. This resulted in a cycle of songs called ‘Down
To The Roots’ created and performed by the ‘Northwood
Park Scratch Band’, who came together during the course of the
residency - we became the 'house band' for a number of site specific
performances including 'Harvest' (pictured). These songs were recorded
and are available on CD with a book of the whole project. The project
has a legacy website here.
To hear a brief excerpt click here:The
City Dissolves (2.1Mb)
‘Born
Into A Different Age’ (2010)
A
commissioned piece of music (based on workshops) exploring the connections
between young and old people for Staffordshire County Council Arts
Service and Age Concern Stafford and District (performed with an intergenerational
choir of almost 100 people at Stafford Gatehouse Theatre in May 2010).
The full score, and reductions suitable for schools, in PDF format
are available on request by email.
To hear a brief excerpt click here:
Born Into A Different Age (1.74Mb)
Re-Membering
(2010)
Musician/Facilitator
for a performance, new music and writing project lead by Artists
In Mind, Huddersfield. Led by writer Simon Murray, participants
produced a book and an integrated performance of poetry and music
as part of Huddersfield Literature Festival 2010.
To hear a
brief excerpt click here:
Re-Membering (1.7Mb)
The
Big Weave (2009)
Lead
Musician for a multi-disciplinary and multimedia performance project,
with Dancer Gerry Turvey and Video Maker Will Aldersley, developed
by Hoot as part of their
creative professional development programme, with mental health service
users and emerging artists
To hear
a brief excerpt click here: The
Big Weave (1.2Mb)
Thinking Independently (2009)
Lead
Artist, with filmmaker Bryan Dixon – and the Working
Class Movement Library, Salford.. The production of three films
based upon the writings of the radical Thomas Paine. Workshops took
place at three schools/colleges across Greater Manchester and included
the facilitation ofa visit to the Working Class Movement Library,
where pupils carried out their own research. The resulting films addressing
the relevance of Paine’s thinking to young people today varied
widely in style from factual/documentary to song with accompanying
video, to satirical comedy spoof. The films can be viewed in context
at www.wcml.org.uk/contents/activists/thomas-paine/
go
to top
Marshall’s Arm Sculpture Trail Opening Event (2009)
Composer
for an outdoor promenade music performance celebrating the opening
of this trail (with gates and sculptures by Tracey Cartledge) .Commissioned
by Action Weaver Valley, involving year 5 Primary School Students
from Hartford Manor School and professional musicians Caro Churchill,
Ben Isaacs, Jen Hewitt and Jess Baker.
To hear
a brief excerpt click here: Marshall's
Arm Performance (1.9Mb)
The
Stalybridge Lockgates Sundial and Time Capsule (2008)
Composer
for this specially commissioned site-specific music and soundscape,
which marked the launch of the sculpture and the dedication of the
time capsule. It required the coordination of a prerecorded piece
of music with a live brass band (on a canal boat), bell-ringing and
a school performance.
To hear a
brief excerpt click here:
Time Piece (1.3Mb)
RIDGE
HILL - A Peoples' History (2008)
Produced
with artist Sophie Mackreth. An oral history project that looks at
the heritage of Ridge Hill, an estate just north of the town of Stalybridge
– this is now available as an interactive DVD and book. The
people of the estate tell the story of the area in their own words,
and both book and DVD link in with a local heritage trail. The area
is famous for, amongst other things, the Stalybridge Old Band (founded
in 1809), and a number of radical dialect poets such as Samuel Laycock
and Sam Hill. It also has (probably) the oldest Working Men's Institute
in the country (1861). No wonder people are proud of living there...copies
of the DVD and book are available - please email
me for details.
Cross
Your Heart (2008)
In
2008 I toured as the Musical Director, Song Writer/Composer and Musician
for ‘Cross Your Heart', by Janys Chambers. This play, commissioned
by the Cheshire
Rural Touring Network used the same techniques as ‘The
Maize Field’ to portray the lives and concerns of young
people living in the less glamourous parts of Cheshire. A group of
young people were fully involved in developing all aspects of the
production. The process was documented by film maker Lucia Cuevas,
and is available
on DVD.
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to top
On
Common Ground (2007)
In 2007 I was the musical director and composer for the Community Play 'On Common Ground'. Written by Caroline Small, directed by Phil Coggins, and devised by more than 20 local people, it told the story of the 1932 Kinder Mass Trespass and examined its relevance to modern issues of land use around the world. It was performed in New Mills Arts Theatre in June 2007, with live music from a nine piece band.The project was commissioned by the Kinder Trespass 75 committee and managed by High Peak Community Arts, and was featured on BBC1 (Countryfile) and BBC Radio 4 (Open Country).
Commissioned by Moors For The Future, this 25 minute audio trail explores the geology and industrial archeaology in sound, story, poem and song, of a beautiful part of the Peak District near Sheffield. It was recommended in the Guardian newspaper's Great Outdoors guide, and can be downloaded FREE (click here)
Dandelion is an 'illustrated song cycle' on DVD that grew from a project with the Wear Purple Arts Project in Cheshire. Created with film-maker Heather James and musician on placement Dave Dove, the DVD contains six 'songs of experience' mixed with elders talking about work, changing values in society, the relationship between young and old, marriage, the changing role of women and the meaning of memory as you grow older. It includes guest performances from Jilah Bakhshayesh and Lis Murphy.
The War Road is a collaboration with year 9 students at Glossopdale