News
CCM
CETL
The successful bid for funding as a Centre for Teaching and Learning, in collaboration with Newcastle University and other universities in the region has brought £1.3 million into the Department of Music. This sum includes funding for projects developed by the Centre for Contemporary Music. Epiphany Term 2006 has seen the first two CETL ‘I3’ funded projects: 1) “... car la bouche est le commencement ...” a newly devised music theatre work performed by the Durham Opera and Music Theatre Group in Durham Union Society on January 19th 2006, with direction and vocal coaching from singer Loré Lixenberg; and 2) the Durham University Orchestral Society’s performance of Dr Martyn Harry’s The Enigma of Arrival conducted by Matthew Taylor at Hall 2, The Sage Gateshead on January 22nd 2006.The creation of NE1 Series at The Sage Gateshead
NE1 is a new scheme, funded by CETL, to develop compositional research and promote the work of postgraduate composers in performances by the Northern Sinfonia at The Sage Gateshead (and eventually other venues, such as the BMIC Cutting Edge series in London and the Huddersfield Festival, are currently being considered). The first of these projects, supervised by Peter Wiegold, has taken place on March 12th and 13th 2006. Two student works from the universities of Durham and Newcastle will then be selected for performance alongside Dr Martyn Harry’s George Meets Arnie For Tennis, Dr Agustin Fernandez’s Botanic Spider and Professor Peter Wiegold’s Earth, Receive an Honoured Guest in a Northern Sinfonia concert at The Sage Gateshead on May 22nd 2006. A second workshop in June 2006 will lead to another NE1 series concert in October 2006.Other Funded Research Projects
* Andy Nercessian: The Rebetika and the Recording Industry in Greece in the Early Twentieth Century, The British Academy, £1740, 1 year beginning April 2005
* Mieko Kanno: The Development of a Repertoire for Electric Violin, AHRC Small Awards for Creative Arts, £8032, 1 year beginning March 2006
* Fabrice Fitch: agricologies: music for viol consort and a string quartet, AHRC Research Leave Scheme, £17k, Easter Term 2006
Durham Opera and Music Theatre Group
Since 2002 the Durham Opera and Music Theatre Group has created the world premiere productions of four operas by Dr Martyn Harry. These works have been produced in association with the internationally acclaimed children’s theatre company CTC, with start-up funding from Arts Council England in 2002 and 2003. The operas are innovative in two respects: first, compositional research is created in relation to a teaching-and-learning environment, in this case the Level 3 Opera and Music Theatre module; and, second, through the composition- and performance-based workshops given before each performance in primary schools in the North East, Durham University students are given professional training in educational outreach work. This year’s production, Songs of Love and War, was performed not only in several schools but was performed twice at The Sage Gateshead on November 15th 2006 as part of Sounds 05. There was also a special performance at the “Home Front Recall Festival” at the Gala Theatre, Durham on November 18th 2006. The Durham Opera and Music Theatre Group also performed in two performances of “... car la bouche est le commencement ...” (see CETL projects, above).