New music commissioned as part of New Music Biennial 

This July, brand new music about Hull will be heard across the Humber as PRS Foundation’s New Music Biennial returns to the city and London’s Southbank Centre with a festival celebrating the breadth and talent of new music in the UK.

Hull-based Freedom Festival Arts Trust is proud to be commissioning a brand new piece about Hull, which will be performed in both Hull and London as part of this year’s New Music Biennial.

The Trust has commissioned award-winning clarinettist and composer Arun Ghosh to create a brand-new piece of music, inspired by water and journeys to the city from across the sea.

Entitled Ambhas, the site-specific piece of music will be performed as audiences gather to look out across the water on the banks of the River Humber and River Thames. Natural sounds will blend with the sounds of new music, incorporating orchestral textures, with the sound and feel of flowing water expressed by wind and percussion instruments.

Producer at Freedom Festival Arts Trust, Laura Beddows, said: “Following on from our Eliza Carthy commission in 2017, we’re delighted to have been able to commission Arun for this new work which will give young musicians the opportunity to perform percussion and rhythms alongside professional players.

“With IndoJazz and modal influences, there will also be a nod to Scandinavian sea music and Celtic rhythms. It will be a really beautiful piece where the audience will experience how musical and natural sounds complement each other in what will be a full and powerful performance.”

This piece is one of 19 new works selected for the New Music Biennial 2019, a PRS Foundationinitiative presented in partnership with Absolutely Cultured, London’s Southbank Centre, BBC Radio 3 and NMC Recordings. 

The New Music Biennial pieces will be performed across two weekends on 5 - 7 July 2019 at London’s Southbank Centre and 12 - 14 July 2019 in Hull, broadcast on BBC Radio 3 plus available as a download by NMC Recordings following the festivals.

For more information about the New Music Biennial visit www.newmusicbiennial.co.uk

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