Anya's Music

November 2009

I’m currently working on my submission for Project Ability’s Myscape exhibition which will be on display at a gallery in Glasgow.

The exhibition explores autistic people’s perception of the architectural environment of urban and rural landscapes, both real and imaginary. I’m working on a soundscape which will aim to show how my hyperacusis leads me to experience sounds and noise in city, small town and rural environments, and how this stimulates my imagination.

I have also recently completed a short course of youth mentoring training. Over the next few months I will be mentoring three young disabled musicians. This is being organised via Drake Music.

September 2009

I’ve just got back from performing my multichannel piece Metallicum at the Contact theatre in Manchester as part of the Decibel showcase. It was wonderful to have the opportunity to perform the piece in a way that was true to my original idea.

Twelve speakers were arranged in a circle, all at average adult ‘ear height’. The room was darkened and the audience were able to sit, stand, lie down etc. in order to listen to the music in whichever way they found most comfortable. My performance was actually sold out so I was asked to give two ‘back-to-back’ performances for two difference audiences, with a question and answer session afterwards.

During the performance, I used live mixing, essentially ‘playing’ the mixing desk as an instrument to move the music around the different speakers and also to adapt this according to the way in which the different audiences moved around the room.

I gave a short presentation after the performances, explaining my musical approach and how one of the main themes of Metallicum was using my autism-related hyperacusis to exploit the aesthetic properties that I observe in sound to explain and demonstrate my autistic sensory world to others.

The technical staff at the Contact theatre were amazing – they worked so hard to help me set up everything I needed for my performance. They were kind and friendly and really committed to helping make my performance a success.

I also had the pleasure of meeting sound artist Felicity Ford. She came to Decibel as my Professional Advocate. She was wonderfully supportive and helpful to me throughout my time in Manchester and also worked really hard to network on my behalf and to promote my work to others.

Decibel was a brilliant experience and I really hope that it will lead to exciting collaborations and work opportunities for me.

I also want to thank Sarah Pickthall for reviewing my event for Disability Arts Online. Click here to read her review. She interviewed me a couple of weeks later. We had a lovely talk and it was a pleasure to meet her. Her case study of me can be found here.

Two days after my performance at Decibel, I gave a flute recital (including one of my own compositions) at an event called Mapping the Musical Brain at the Wellcome Collection which was featured on BBC Radio 4. For more information click here.

I’ve also been working on composing music for a contemporary circus show.

August 2009

Just a very quick update to let you know that I’m busy preparing to perform my piece Metallicum at the Decibel Showcase event in Manchester in September. I’m really looking forward to this opportunity.

For more information about the Decibel Showcase please see their website

There is also a “10 Questions” interview with me which you can read here

July 2009

I’ve been very busy over the last month working on a project for the Holloway Arts Festival.

Community Musician Gary Day and I worked with two groups of children from The Bridge primary school in Holloway. The aim of the project was to collaboratively compose a soundscape inspired by composer Stephen Daltry’s Alice Through the Looking Glass.

This was my very first time devising, planning and leading a programme of workshops. I have really enjoyed working with Gary and have learned a lot from him. He has a great deal of experience of community music projects. We have been using a variety of different technologies including professional audio editing software, Soundbeam, buttons and Kaos pad.

Gary also came up with the idea of using an electronic die (triggered by pressing a button) to chose from a range of musical and sound samples. This worked really well, not only as a way of facilitating the children to construct the finished pieces of music, but it also allowed us to incorporate the idea of chance into the composition which added an interesting creative perspective.

The children worked really hard to listen and use the music technology sensitively and creatively. They revealed great musical talent. The staff were also really friendly, helpful and supportive, and Gary and I would both love to work with the school again one day.

The final soundscapes were performed at the Holloway Arts Festival using pre-recorded audio with live percussion performed by children from a different school. The young percussionists played brilliantly, and I was so impressed as they had only three days to learn the music!

It was a great day with people wearing fantastic Alice Through the Looking Glass inspired costumes and also a very friendly Jabberwocky in attendance!

For images and video from the festival, please visit the Holloway Arts Festival Website

March 2009

I’ve just come back from the performance of The Spell, a composition by Kerry Andrew in collaboration with children from three schools in Tower Hamlets: Beatrice Tate, George Green and Arnhem Wharf. The performance took place at the Victoria and Albert Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green.

It was an absolutely amazing experience. The performance went really well. The children worked so hard and were so focused and patient.

It was pretty hectic – groups from three schools all together in a gallery while it was open to the public, making sure everyone was in the right place at the right time, setting everything up, making sure all the technology worked - but it was also really exhilarating.

For more information about the Connecting Across Difference project and images from the final performance please see the Connecting Across Difference Blog This blog contains information about the project from start to finish as well as details of all of the people involved.

I’m actually quite sad that it’s over now. The last six months seem to have passed by so quickly. I have learned so much and my composing, workshop facilitation and technological skills have developed significantly as a result. I feel so privileged to have been a part of this project. I’ve met many wonderful and talented people who have really inspired me as well as helping my professional and creative development. I very much hope I will be able to work with these people again in the future, as well as have opportunities to use the many new skills I have learned to drive and inspire my future work.

February 2009

I am really enjoying working on the Connecting Across Difference project.

The children at Beatrice Tate School are a pleasure to work with. They are enthusiastic, focused and are producing some highly creative and imaginative work. We are also learning a great deal from each other about different ways of communicating and expressing ideas – it is very much a two-way process and I am so grateful for this opportunity.

Working with the children and also the lead composer, Kerry Andrew, is really inspiring and I am learning so much about collaborative work and devising and facilitating workshops.

Nick Wilsdon is also wonderful to work with. He is a technical genius! I am learning a lot from him about using technology to facilitate musical performance, not only for people to whom conventional instruments are inaccessible, but also to create original and innovative work. Nick is helping me realise that almost anything is possible. We are using various technologies including Max MSP, Soundbeam and buttons as well as conventional instruments such as keyboards and percussion. We have also been experimenting with reappropriating existing technologies for musical purposes such as a Wakom Graphics Tablets and a Nintendo Wii controller.

I’m really looking forward to the final performance on the 20th of March.

Like many artists, I was very sad to hear that the proposed Momentum 09 showcase event could not go ahead due to the global recession. I was looking forward to performing my piece Metallicum there. I wish everyone involved in Momentum the best of luck in putting together an event for next year and really hope that I will be able to work with them in the future.

December 2008

Musically speaking, I had a very positive 2008 which led to me composing dance music for the first time, and performing this at Heart 'n' Soul’s Beautiful Octopus club night and also at their Club Zone at the 2008 Liberty Festival in Trafalgar Square. Heart ‘n’ Soul is a brilliant organisation and I feel very lucky to have worked with them.

I gave flute and piano recitals at the House of Commons in November as part of an Employers’ Forum on Disability Gold Members’ event.

I have also started working on the Connecting Across Difference project, which I am really enjoying.

Additionally, some of my music has been used on two short films: The first film, Something About Us, made by Jes Benstock and Dr Dinah Murray from a collection of two-minute videos that autistic people have produced, was shown at the inaugural 2008 TreeHouse Annual Lecture. The lecture was chaired by Channel 4’s Jon Snow, and I was on the panel with Virginia Bovell OBE as a respondent to the main speaker (Bob Wright) and gave a 10 minute talk to represent the aims of the autistic rights movement describing my perspective, as a person on the autistic spectrum, on the controversies surrounding this subject.

The second film Arghh... It's a disabled person! is a short documentary made by students at Wolverhampton University. Its aim is to inspire young disabled artists as well as demonstrating the problems and barriers they face. The film features interviews with Mat Fraser and Dr. Paul A. Darke.

October 2008

I’ve been offered (and have accepted!) the role of ‘Associate’ for Connecting Across Difference, a project which springs from a new partnership between Drake Music and Furtherfield.org.

Connecting across Difference consists of a series of workshops with young musicians, from mainstream and special schools, at primary and secondary level in the borough of Tower Hamlets. The season of workshops will culminate in a in a mixed media masque or opera at Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood, co-created and performed by all participants in March 2009.

The theme for the season is Connecting Across Difference. This is intended to catalyse imaginative and playful explorations of the joys and challenges of encountering, communicating and coming to know people who are different; who speak differently, have different ambitions, interests, skills and abilities, or who have different traditions and histories. The workshops and final performance will take the toys, games and play activities at the Victoria and Albert Museum of Childhood as their inspiration and context.

Needless to say I am very excited about this and am looking forward to working on this project, meeting new people and learning many new things!