The Leon String Quartet play at festivals and concert series across the UK with recent performances including quartets by Haydn, Schubert and Prokofiev. They actively promote new music, premiering works by local and international composers and collaborating with songwriters, artists and poets.
The Workshop Jazz Collective was formed by saxophonist Matt Miles to provide a platform for collaboration and experimentation. Some of the region’s best jazz performer-composers meet regularly to workshop each other’s pieces and develop personal approaches to writing for a chamber jazz orchestra.
This performance features premieres of several new pieces combining both groups.
Doors for this event open at 7pm. The events begins at 8pm. A wide range of refreshment are available throughout the evening from the cafe.
Doors for this event open at 7pm. Music begins at 8pm. A wide range of refreshment are available throughout the evening from the cafe.
unterholz (‘undergrowth’) is an innovative audiovisual performance by German artist, composer and cellist Marcus Kaiser featuring members of the Free Range Orchestra. Based on an immersive projection of a camera moving slowly forwards through jungle undergrowth, the piece overlays audio and video from past performances. This becomes a visual analogy for the exploratory, organic growth of a semi-improvised piece as it is performed repeatedly in different places, with different people and different durations, accumulating meaning and identity with each iteration. Unterholz has been performed 23 times since its premiere in 2006, in Austria, Dusseldorf, Munich, Berlin, Ljubjana, and Tianjin (China) among other places. Discover more.
Sophie Stone's syntheses, initially composed for organ(s) and commissioned for the Amsterdam Wandelweiser Festival in 2022, has been especially adapted for the Free Range Orchestra who will premiere a new version of the piece for ensemble. syntheses captures Stone’s unique approach to notation which reflects both freedom and constraint of musical parameters. Players find and create their own paths through the notation to create a quiet unfolding soundscape.
This performance has been made possible by UCA Surrey galleries and the here.here concert series. This event is part of Being Human Festival, the UK’s national festival of the humanities, taking place 7–16 November 2024. Led by the School of Advanced Study, University of London, with generous support from Research England, in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Academy. For further information please see beinghumanfestival.org.
Free Women return to Free Range with 'A Women’s History of Happenings’, an exploration of what happens to Happenings when we pay attention to feminist history. Taking inspiration from the work of Yoko Ono and the Feminist Improvising Group, Free Women bring their own Happening to Free Range, referencing 20th Century works through a 21st Century lens.
Free Women are seven experienced performers interested in creating eclectic, thought-provoking & humorous experiences which examine the world through the female gaze: Anna Braithwaite, Heledd Francis-Wright, Kristin Fredricksson, Kat Peddie, Nadia Tewfik-Bailey and Maureen Wolloshin.
Vivienne Sometimes is a one-woman show about Vivien Haigh Eliot, the first wife of poet T. S. Eliot. Drawing on her short stories, letters and diaries, the show powerfully presents Vivienne’s struggles with creativity, mental health and the machinery of Eliot’s literary success.
Vivienne Sometimes was written by artist and writer, Donna Fitzgerald. The part of Vivienne is played by writer, director and actress, Rosanna Lowe. The music is performed, arranged and composed by Sam Bailey.
‘Donna Fitzgerald’s meditation on Vivienne’s life ... was illuminating, and troubling in a way that stays with me’
‘absolutely captivating … [Rosanna Lowe] is a force of nature!’
Workshop Collective is an octet formed by saxophonist Matt Miles to provide a platform for collaboration and experimentation. Some of the region's best jazz performer-composers meet regularly to workshop each other's pieces and develop personal approaches to writing for a chamber jazz orchestra.
The Leon String Quartet play repertoire, write their own music and collaborate with a wide range of artists. Previously at Free Range they have played Shostakovich, collaborated with adventurous folk group Arlet and played the polytemporal music of experimental rock composer and guitarist Joe Inkpen.
Members of these two groups combine to perform two new collaborative pieces commissioned by Free Range especially for this performance.