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New Music Weekend
1 March 2025 - 2 March 2025
10:00AM - 8:30PM
Various locations - see table of events.
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Tickets can be bought in advance or on the door.
Experience some of the hottest new music currently being made in the company of some of the UK’s leading ensembles, in a packed weekend of events.
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Plus-Minus Ensemble, one of the groups playing at New Music Weekend
Saturday 1st March
| Time | Location | Event details |
|---|---|---|
| 10am-12pm | Elvet Methodist Church, Old Elvet |
Open Workshop – ‘Meadow’
Create a sonic meadow and sing the wind in this special interactive workshop inspired by the natural world, with composer James Weeks. All voices and instruments, any level, welcome!
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| 1pm-2pm | Music Department, Durham University, Palace Green |
Concert: Riot Ensemble – ‘Changing Light’
Sarah Dacey (soprano); Marie Schreer (violin); Naomi Pinnock: Vestige; Marie Schreer: new work; Ashkan Behzadi: az hoosh mi…; Bent Sorensen - Six Songs; Salina Fisher - Hikari; Sarah Dacey - new work; Kaija Saariaho - Changing Light; Eric Egan - new work
From Ashkan Behzadi’s captivating homage to the ecstasy of love to the enchanting music of the late Kaija Saariaho, join Riot Ensemble’s Sarah Dacey and Marie Schreer as they meander through light and silhouette, sound and silence, sensation and memory.
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| 4.30pm-5.15pm | Music Department, Durham University, Palace Green |
Concert: Plus-Minus Ensemble 1 – ‘Musical Intelligence’
Zhuoer Zhou: Mark Knoop becomes a Tree (2024)
London’s legendary Plus Minus Ensemble presents two pieces: the young composer Zhouer Zhou imagines a fantastical scenario, while Michael Finnissy’s polemical new work questions the limits of AI.
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| 6.45pm-7.30pm | Music Department, Durham University, Palace Green |
Pre-concert talk: David Lumsdaine, Durham, and the Big Meeting
with James Weeks, Nicola LeFanu and others
A discussion of the life, work and Durham career of David Lumsdaine (1931-2024), composer, teacher, electroacoustic pioneer and founder of MUSICON.
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| 7.30pm-8.30pm | Music Department, Durham University, Palace Green |
Concert: David Lumsdaine: Big Meeting (1971-8)
We are proud to present a playing of this classic electroacoustic work, made in Durham’s Electronic Music Studio and collaging recordings of Durham’s Big Meeting (Miners’ Gala) from the 1970s.
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Sunday 2nd March
| Time | Location | Event details |
|---|---|---|
| 10.30am-11.15am | Meet at Music Department, Durham University, Palace Green |
Sound Walk
Open your ears to the sonic landscape of Durham’s riverbank, pausing to listen underwater through the hydrophones of sound artist David de la Haye.
This event is free and unticketed - just turn up. |
| 11.30am-12.30pm | Music Department, Durham University, Palace Green |
Concert: Plus-Minus Ensemble 2 – The Journey
Laurence Crane: Cobbled Section After Cobbled Section (2016/2021)
Two works evoking the journey: Crane’s moving panels and bumpy textures are followed by Miller’s overwriting of an Italian cartier's folksong.
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| 1.30pm-3.30pm | Music Department, Durham University, Palace Green |
Workshop: Plus-Minus Ensemble
Listen to work in progress by Masters and PhD students from Durham University.
This event is free and unticketed - just turn up. |
Pricing
Single concert: £5 (£3 student, £1 under-18s)
Weekend pass (all 4 concerts): £10 (£5 student, £2 under-18s)
Meadow workshop: free, ticketed
Sunday workshop: free