Drake Music is announcing 2 new artist commissions. We are very pleased that Sophie Partridge and Ben Sellers will both create pieces as part of #DM20, our 20th anniversary celebrations. Both pieces are designed to be accessed online and will be featured via our website.
A creative practitioner, Sophie Partridge has performed in the Paralympic Opening Ceremony in her `iconic pink hoody’ and last summer, up a tower in `The Limbless Knight’ with Graeae, at Greenwich & Dockland’s International Festival. At the recent Liberty Festival, she could be spotted both as Priscilla Parrot & Mr. Worth the Ability Officer, with Natural Diversions. She performed Song of Semmersuaq at the Together Festival for Disability History Month last December and will do so again, this November in Liverpool with DaDaFest International 2014. Sophie is a founder member of the Big Lounge Collective.
Sophie is creating a one-woman piece with puppets and has been awarded Arts Council England funding to develop Song of Semmersuaq. For #DM20, Drake Music has commissioned Sophie to record a 5-minute segment of `Song’ using her voice and synthesised sound, which will then be scripted into the full piece, Song of Semmersuaq at a later
Ben Sellers is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and Associate Musician with Drake Music. His practice focuses on composition and improvisation, often using technology, and often in SEN/D settings. He has recently worked on projects with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Museum of London and WOMAD Festival.
Ben will work with people who are deaf or have hearing loss, in a workshop setting, to create a semi-improvised composition based on the myriad ways people ‘hear’ music, including visually and through vibrations. The inspiration for this commission came from a composition project Ben facilitated with deaf-blind young people, run by Sense UK & Create.
Drake Music breaks down disabling barriers to music through innovative approaches to teaching, learning and making music. Our focus is on nurturing creativity through exploring music and technology in imaginative ways. We put quality music-making at the heart of everything we do.
