LPO Debut Sounds programme 27 June 2024: Sound in Motion

FREE CONCERT PROGRAMME

SOUND IN MOTION

NEW MUSIC AND CHOREOGRAPHY

THURSDAY 27 JUNE 2024 | 8PM

SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL

Luis Castillo-Briceño and Charlotte Politi conductors

Tania León LPO Young Composers Mentor

Choreographer-performers from Trinity Laban

LPO Foyle Future Firsts

Members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra

WELCOME

PROGRAMME

FIVE WORLD PREMIERES:

ELIANA ECHEVERRY DIÁSPORAS

CRYSTALLA SERGHIOU SALT

ZHENYAN LI EXTRAPOLATING

PHOENIX ROUSIAMANIS UNFAMILIAR FLESH JASPER DOMMETT ZIP, ZAP, BOOOOOOGIE!!!

MOVEMENT DEVISED AND PERFORMED IN PAIRS BY CHOREOGRAPHER-PERFORMERS FROM TRINITY LABAN:

JAMES ADAMSON | FRANZISKA BOEHM | YUN CHENG | SARAH SANTOS IRENE FIORDILINO | NINA MURPHY | SOFIA POMEROY | VALENTINA VIDAL

WELCOME TO THE SOUTHBANK CENTRE

We’re the largest arts centre in the UK and one of the nation’s top visitor attractions, showcasing the world’s most exciting artists at our venues in the heart of London. We’re here to present great cultural experiences that bring people together, and open up the arts to everyone.

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DRINKS

You’re welcome to bring drinks from the venue’s bars and cafés into the Queen Elizabeth Hall to enjoy during the concert. Please be considerate to fellow audience members by keeping noise during the concert to a minimum, and please take your glasses with you for recycling afterwards. Thank you.

WE’D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU

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LPO DEBUT SOUNDS

Welcome to Debut Sounds, an annual celebration of two of the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Rising Talent programmes: LPO Young Composers and Foyle Future Firsts.

This year, the composers have created five thrilling new works for dance, with movement devised and performed by pairs of postgraduate choreographers from Trinity Laban, all under the mentorship of the award-winning LPO Composer-in-Residence, Tania León. Tonight, an ensemble of Foyle Future Firsts and members of the LPO present these five world premieres, conducted, in a further celebration of emerging talent, by the LPO’s two inaugural Fellow Conductors.

Tonight’s concert will be available to watch again on our YouTube channel at a later date – keep an eye on our social media to find out when it will be released.

THE LPO YOUNG COMPOSERS PROGRAMME 2023/24 IS GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY ALLIANZ MUSICAL INSURANCE, THE ERNST VON SIEMENS MUSIC FOUNDATION, THE VAUGHAN WILLIAMS FOUNDATION AND THE MARCHUS TRUST. THE LPO YOUNG COMPOSERS PROGRAMME 2023/24 IS BEING DELIVERED IN COLLABORATION WITH TRINITY LABAN.

THE FOYLE FUTURE FIRSTS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME 2023/24 IS GENEROUSLY FUNDED BY THE FOYLE FOUNDATION WITH ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FROM THE BARBARA WHATMORE CHARITABLE TRUST, THE IDLEWILD TRUST, THE GOLSONCOTT FOUNDATION AND INDIVIDUAL CHAIR SUPPORTERS.

THE LPO CONDUCTING FELLOWSHIP IS GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY PATRICIA HAITINK WITH ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FROM GINI AND RICHARD GABBERTAS.

2023/24 LPO YOUNG COMPOSERS AND CHOREOGRAPHERS, WITH COMPOSER-IN-RESIDENCE TANIA LEÓN

LPO YOUNG COMPOSERS

ABOUT THIS YEAR’S CREATIVE BRIEF

Music and dance are intrinsically linked – but how do these art forms influence and inspire each other? And what happens when five exciting composers meet eight talented choreographers and are invited to create? At the start of the year, our Composer Mentor Tania León set the compositional challenge: to write a work for dance of approximately eight minutes. Our five Young Composers were encouraged to consider the following concepts prior to and during the creation of their new works:

• Music and Dance, a shared process of composers and choreographers realising together works inspired by concepts of movement and dynamics; the painting of movement, subject, idea and content

• Composer and choreographer deepen their knowledge of each other’s art forms – and works are created that would not have come about without the specific collaboration between music and movement

• The evolving process of a collaboration: structure and organisation, tempo through space in association to physical movement, visual composition, vocabulary knowledge (bars vs. counts, a constant dialogue of mathematics), and highlighted details

• Connections, dialogues of artistic forces: composer, choreographer, dancer, conductor and musicians

In October, the Young Composers and Trinity Laban choreographers met for the first time, to brainstorm and discuss creative ideas that resonated with each artistic grouping. Over the course of the year, the composers developed their pieces under the mentorship of Tania León through a series of seminars, a work-in-progress rehearsal with the music ensemble, and through dialogue with the choreographers, who started devising the movement alongside the development of the music. When the pieces were completed in May, the choreographers were able to finalise the structure of their choreography to MIDI tracks provided by the composers.

In the rehearsal room over the past week, the full company came together, with live musicians, dancers, conductors and composers bringing the pieces to thrilling, dynamic life. This evening sees these five multi-disciplinary works performed for the very first time, at our Debut Sounds performance.

2023/24 LPO YOUNG COMPOSERS WITH TANIA LEÓN

FOYLE FUTURE FIRSTS

The 16 members of the Foyle Future Firsts programme are talented early-career instrumentalists who aspire to be professional orchestral musicians. As part of our unique programme, members are supported and nurtured to the highest standards, and we are proud to see current and past Foyle Future Firsts consistently taking professional engagements with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and other world-class ensembles.

Across the year, members of the Foyle Future Firsts programme benefit from individual lessons and mentoring from London Philharmonic Orchestra Principals, professional development sessions, mock auditions, and involvement in full orchestral rehearsals. They also take part in high profile and unique chamber performances, and work alongside London Philharmonic Orchestra musicians on Education & Community projects.

LPO.ORG.UK/ FOYLE-FUTURE-FIRSTS

TONIGHT’S

MUSICIANS

FIRST VIOLINS

Kate Oswin† LEADER

LPO CHAIR SUPPORTED BY ERIC TOMSETT

Coco Inman*

Lasma Taimina†

LPO CHAIR SUPPORTED BY IRINA GOFMAN & MR RODRIK

V. G. CAVE

SECOND VIOLINS

Claudia Tarrant-

Matthews†

LPO CHAIR SUPPORTED BY FRIENDS OF THE ORCHESTRA

Camille Buitenhuis*

FFF CHAIR SUPPORTED BY JUDY WRIGHTSON & TONY LLEWELLYN

VIOLAS

Martin Wray†

LPO CHAIR SUPPORTED BY DAVID & BETTINA HARDEN

Teresa Ferreira*

CELLOS

David Lale†

Sam Weinstein*

DOUBLE BASSES

Sebastian Pennar† Phoebe Cheng*

FLUTES

Stewart McIlwham†

Maria Filippova*

PICCOLO/ ALTO FLUTE

Maria Filippova*

OBOES

Hannah Condliffe‡ Jack Tostevin-Hall*

COR ANGLAIS

Jack Tostevin-Hall*

CLARINETS

Benjamin Mellefont†

LPO CHAIR SUPPORTED BY SIR NIGEL BOARDMAN & PROF. LYNDA GRATTON

Beth Crouch*

FFF CHAIR SUPPORTED BY DAVID BURKE & VALERIE GRAHAM

BASS CLARINET

Beth Crouch*

BASSOONS

Helen Storey† Lucy Gibson*

CONTRABASSOON

Lucy Gibson*

HORNS

Duncan Fuller‡ Zac Hayward*

TRUMPETS

Tom Nielsen† Joe Skypala*

TROMBONES

David Whitehouse† Rhodri Thomas*

TUBA

Connor Gingell*

FFF CHAIR SUPPORTED BY MICHELLE CROWE HERNANDEZ

PERCUSSION

Feargus Brennan‡

Tom Plumridge*

FFF CHAIR SUPPORTED BY JOHN & SAM DAWSON

HARP

Anwen Thomas*

PIANO/CELESTE

Evi Wang*

FOYLE FUTURE FIRST 2023/24 † LPO MEMBER ‡ LPO GUEST

© Benjamin Ealovega

TANIA LEÓN

LPO COMPOSER-IN-RESIDENCE & COMPOSER MENTOR

Cuban-American composer Tania León became the LPO’s Composer-in-Residence for two seasons from September 2023. As well as presenting exciting new commissions and performances of her earlier works, during her time with us, Tania continues her lifelong advocacy for the music of living composers as mentor to our LPO Young Composers, providing guidance and expertise to the five participants each year.

WITH THE LPO

In October 2024, the LPO will give several performances of Tania’s 2023 work Raíces (Origins) under Principal Conductor Edward Gardner at Saffron Hall and on tour across the USA, including at New York’s Carnegie Hall. On 21 February 2025, we’ll give the UK premiere of a brand new work at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, again under the baton of Edward Gardner.

During the 2023/24 season, we gave the UK premiere of Tania’s work Horizons under Principal Guest Conductor Karina Canellakis, and the world premiere of Raíces (Origins), commissioned by the LPO, under Gardner. In February 2024, her work Ácana featured in a pre-concert performance at the Royal Festival Hall by an ensemble of LPO members, Foyle Future Firsts and students from the Royal Academy of Music, also under Gardner.

RECENT AWARDS

In 2022, Tania León received a prestigious Kennedy Center Honor, awarded annually to figures in the performing arts for their contributions to American culture. In addition, she won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her work Stride (given its UK premiere by the LPO in March 2023). Tania was also winner of the 2023 Michael Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Music Composition, as well as the XIX Premio de la Música Iberoamericana Tomás Luis de Victoria 2023, awarded by the SGAE Foundation.

BACKGROUND

Having studied piano in her native Cuba and earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in music (plus a certification in accounting), Tania left Cuba for the United States in 1967. She settled in New York, and in 1969 staked her place in the city’s cultural scene as a founding member and music director of Arthur Mitchell’s Dance Theatre of Harlem. Five years later, she instituted the Brooklyn Philharmonic Community Concert series. She was New Music Advisor at the New York Philharmonic from 1993–97, and from 1994–2001 she served as Latin American music advisor for the American Composers Orchestra. She is also the founder and artistic director of Composers Now, dedicated to empowering living composers and celebrating the diversity of their voices.

© Gail

Hadani

TONIGHT’S CONDUCTORS

LPO FELLOW CONDUCTORS 2023/24

Luis Castillo-Briceño and Charlotte Politi are our two LPO Fellow Conductors for 2023/24. Launched in 2023, the LPO Conducting Fellowship supports the development of outstanding early-career conductors from backgrounds currently under-represented in the profession.

LUIS CASTILLO-BRICEÑO

Costa Rican-born Luis Castillo-Briceño made his concert debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in November 2023 at Brighton Dome. This season, he has also conducted BrightSparks schools’ concerts at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall and in Thurrock, as well as a pre-concert performance by the LPO Junior Artists at the Royal Festival Hall, and a concert at St John’s Waterloo as part of the Orchestra’s festival ‘The Music in You’ in March 2024. Looking ahead to next season, on 21 October 2024 Luis will conduct a concert at Grace Farms, Connecticut, as part of the Orchestra’s major USA tour.

A BBC Music Magazine ‘Rising Star’, Luis has been an Equilibrium Young Artist since 2020, mentored by conductor and singer Barbara Hannigan, and has assisted her with orchestras worldwide. Future engagements as assistant conductor include with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. As a guest conductor, Luis has appeared with orchestras such as the Athens Philharmonia Orchestra and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Heredia in Costa Rica.

CHARLOTTE POLITI

French-Italian conductor Charlotte Politi made her concert debut with the LPO in October 2023 at Eastbourne’s Congress Theatre, conducting a programme of Weber, Beethoven and Brahms. She has assisted Principal Conductor Edward Gardner on several Royal Festival Hall concerts during the season, and in March 2024 conducted a concert at St John’s Waterloo as part of the Orchestra’s festival ‘The Music in You’. Earlier this year, she also conducted two of the Orchestra’s FUNharmonics family concerts and BrightSparks schools’ concerts.

Named by BBC Music Magazine as a ‘Rising Star’, Charlotte thrives in both the concert hall and the theatre. She is the Constant Lambert Associate with The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and has conducted several ballet productions with Birmingham Royal Ballet (where she was Conducting Fellow from 2021–23). She has also conducted the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra during her tenure as Assistant Conductor.

After completing her studies in Italy, Charlotte studied at the Hochschule für Musik in Karlsruhe, Germany, and at the University of Michigan in the USA.

CHOREOGRAPHY

Tonight’s movement has been devised by and is performed in pairs of postgraduate choreographers from Trinity Laban.

JAMES ADAMSON

is a graduate of Brigham Young University (USA) with a BFA in Dance, and is currently studying for his MFA in Choreography at Trinity Laban. He has performed with, and choreographed for, Open Arms Dance Company, Atlas Dance Collective and DancEsamble. He has presented works at Red Rock Dance Festival, Boise State University Dance Intensive, American Collegiate Dance Association Conference and Trinity Laban’s CoLab Festival. James been a guest artist with Myriad Dance, Body Logic Collective and Wasatch Dance Company. Currently dancing in London, James has worked with choreographers such as Gary Lambert, Zoi Dimitriou and Vanio Papadelli.

FRANZISKA BOEHM

was born in Germany and lives in London, working as an independent dance artist, researcher, lecturer and musician. Franziska is currently completing her practicebased PhD at Trinity Laban, titled ‘Vocalic Somatics’. She holds an MFA from the same institution, as well as an MA in Music Pedagogy (flute) and a BA in Music Education (voice) from the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich. Her choreographic works have been featured at the Hier=Jetzt Festival and the Richard Strauss Festival in Germany, as well as at Resolution Dance Festival in London, among other venues.

YUN CHENG is a choreographer based in London. Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Yun began her dance journey in creative dance lessons, and trained in ballet and contemporary dance. She graduated from Taipei University of the Arts and London Contemporary Dance School, with a focus on choreography. Yun explores the delicate connection between human beings in her choreography. She works across disciplines with dancers, actors, musicians, new media artists and filmmakers, and is currently conducting her PhD at Trinity Laban. Her recent works, The Unconditioned (2022) and The Living Body (2024), focus on bringing the somatic approach (mainly the Feldenkrais Method) into creative processes.

SARAH SANTOS is a dancer and choreographer based in London. She graduated from the State University of Campinas (Brazil) with a BA in Dance and a Dance Teaching degree, and from Trinity Laban with an MA in Choreography, supported by the Leverhulme Trust. Sarah incorporates text, poetry and philosophy into her choreographies to weave narratives and evoke feelings. Her works explore themes such as life and death and human existence. Recent works include Rain (2024), What I Keep (2024) and Humans 2.0 (2023).

CHOREOGRAPHY

IRENE FIORDILINO

is a London-based choreographer and researcher. She is the Director of Scirocco Dance Theatre Company and Associate Director of London International Screen Dance Festival. Irene’s original artistic methodology –Transitory Architecture – sits in the space between choreography and architecture: the intention is to bring into the fore the relation between bodies and space, questioning the aesthetics and the politics of cohabitation. Irene also works as a guest lecturer at Trinity Laban. Her work and research with Scirocco Dance Theatre has been supported by artistic residencies, featured in art magazines, and presented and discussed at international festivals, conferences and symposia.

NINA MURPHY is a creator, performer and teacher currently navigating the world of movement in London. She holds a BFA in Dance Performance and an MFA in Creative Practice, in which she developed her interest in the connection created between performer and audience. Nina has performed in works by artists such as José Limon, Boy Blue, Colin Conners and Jesse Obremski. Nina has created works for film, stage and sitespecific, ranging in style and theme. She is a 2024 mentee of Alleyne Dance, where she is developing herself as an artist and is in the process of creating a dance collective with fellow creatives.

SOFIA POMEROY

is a dancer and choreographer based in London. She was born and raised in Madrid, where she studied Psychology before embarking on her artistic career. Sofia found her passion for dance while living in New York, and went on to study a BA in Contemporary Dance and Pedagogy at Iwanson International School of Contemporary Dance in Munich. During her dance studies, she delved into the world of choreography, and since then has pursued this art. She received the Janssen Scholarship in Munich and later, the Bayern Innovative funding for artists to create a new work. In 2023, she graduated with distinction with a MA in Choreography from Trinity Laban. Sofia is now based as a freelancer in London, engaged in dance and choreography with works presented on stage and film.

VALENTINA VIDAL is a London-based dancer and choreographer from Uruguay. She holds a BA(Hons) in Dance Studies from the University of Malta, and an MA in Choreography from Trinity Laban. In the last three years, Valentina has performed and showcased her choreographic work at events in Uruguay, Malta and the UK, such as the Malta International Arts Festival, Proyecto Nexo and Rude Health Festival, among others. Valentina’s choreographic practice oscillates between balletic lines, floor work and intricate gestural movement. Her interest in literature is reflected in the intermedia collaborations and theatrical aspects of her work, something that she wishes to expand in the future.

PROGRAMME NOTES

ELIANA ECHEVERRY BORN 1990

DIÁSPORAS WORLD PREMIERE

CHOREOGRAPHY:

VALENTINA VIDAL (LEAD)

JAMES ADAMSON

La migración no sólo es el cambio de un lugar donde vivir, es también la transformación profunda de todo lo que construye la identidad, de los pequeños ritualitos de cada día, de la comunidad que lo rodea, de las costumbres y las formas de habitar en el mundo. La obra hace referencia a ese viaje interno que es dejar la comodidad de casa para explorar nuevos rumbos.

Diásporas refers to movement. From the roots to the unknown, from homeland to a new place to build a new life. A place where a person is in constant change.

Migration is not only a change of address. It is the profound transformation of every aspect of identity: the small rituals of every day, the social support, the community surrounding, the traditions and habits, and the ways of inhabiting the world. The piece portrays the inner journey of leaving home to explore the unknown.

Diásporas starts with an evocation of the water, the waves of an imaginary river or sea, a womb, the safe and quiet place where everything starts. Horns and cor anglais sing like Colombian cumbia singers, suggesting the folkloric tradition of Colombia. The melodies take the listener to the imaginary sound from the homeland of the composer. Then, a permanent transformation of the material is based on cumbia’s rhythmic patterns, which are blended with jazz and Carnatic music elements. At the end, the transformed themes and atmospheres portray a new sound universe that, despite the changes, is based on cumbia, and is inspired by the place where this journey began. EE

ELIANA ECHEVERRY is a Colombian composer based in London. Her background covers a wide range of traditions, from Latin American folkloric music to jazz, classical music, Carnatic music, pop and rock. Her style is eclectic and versatile. She integrates elements from these cultures in her unique sonic universe.

Eliana has worked with renowned artists around the world, from collaborations with fashion designers to commissions for electric viola, contemporary opera, and music for big bands.

© Andrea Moreno

PROGRAMME NOTES

CRYSTALLA SERGHIOU BORN 1997

SALT WORLD PREMIERE

CHOREOGRAPHY:

YUN CHENG (LEAD)

NINA MURPHY

SALT is dedicated to my magical little island; my home; Cyprus.

One of my favourite experiences is hearing the evolution of a wave.

From the gradual build up to the crash against the rocks.

The sizzling of the salt settling afterwards.

The stinging sensation of the salt on my skin.

All of my senses are active.

Immerse yourself into the sharp, icy sound-world of salt spray from the ocean. Towards the middle of the piece, the Mediterranean culture is very present through the lyrical and vivacious solos shared throughout the orchestra.

CS

CRYSTALLA SERGHIOU is a multi-genre ‘popsical’ composer, conductor/MD, singer and pianist, exploring genres of pop, classical and anything in between. Since leaving Cyprus and completing a Master’s in Composition at the Royal Academy of Music, Crystalla has fully immersed herself in the UK’s music scene, composing and performing for the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Legally Blonde: The Musical, and the Cheltenham and Dartington music festivals. She has received various nominations for short film awards, including ‘Best Composition’ for the British Short Film Awards 2021.

Crystalla’s most recent work includes the premiere of The Stepford Wife: A Concerto for Jazz-Scat Singer with Britten Sinfonia and jazz vocalist Emma Smith, as well as music supervision for Sonique+ Baby D+Rozalla at the Royal Festival Hall, where she arranged the music and conducted on stage. Crystalla is currently Assistant Musical Director for RENT and an Emerging Professional Artist for the National Youth Choir, for whom she will compose two new choral works.

PROGRAMME NOTES

ZHENYAN LI BORN 1998 EXTRAPOLATING WORLD PREMIERE

CHOREOGRAPHY:

FRANZISKA BOEHM (LEAD) SOFIA POMEROY

The bird is calling, The city is breathing, We are moving, wondering, pondering, and extrapolating.

Inspired by London, the city where we all converge, we are immersed in a symphony of diverse sounds and movements. The orchestra’s breathing resonates with nature, serving as a poignant reminder of our interconnectedness with the world around us. Through rich melodies, we navigate the complexities of the conflicts that shape our lives. The movement of the dancers unfolds, reconfigures, and emerges anew moment-to-moment. Exploring felt bodily states from similar sources of our shared living spaces, the natural world, and the concept of entanglement, the dancers’ movement leaves a trace in between the soundscape of the composition that offers the audience an invitation to imagine and dream of a convivial future.

ZL

ZHENYAN LI is a Chinese composer based in London. Her compositions draw inspiration primarily from theatrical elements, especially the performance style of traditional Eastern Asian theatre.

Her works have been performed by ensembles such as Ensemble Modern, London Symphony Orchestra, Psappha Ensemble and Barcelona Modern Ensemble, and have been featured at festivals including the Lucerne Festival, Tête-à-Tête Festival and Beijing Music Festival.

Li is currently curating a concert programme titled ‘Whispers of Ambiguities’, supported by the City Music Foundation. This concert will spotlight her compositions, infused with Eastern philosophy, presented in a poetic and theatrical manner.

PROGRAMME NOTES

PHOENIX ROUSIAMANIS BORN 1997

UNFAMILIAR FLESH WORLD PREMIERE

CHOREOGRAPHY:

IRENE FIORDILINO (LEAD) SARAH SANTOS

Unfamiliar Flesh is a piece that explores the human body as a source of pleasure and horror simultaneously. The music treads the fine line between pleasure and pain, beauty and grotesque, intimacy and violence, and brings the enticing fragility and monstrosity of the human body to the forefront. Similarly, the choreography explores the liminal space in between light and darkness as a metaphor for the ‘shadow line’ of our subconscious. In a playful interaction with lights used as props, the two performers navigate the tensions between hiding and revealing, controlling and letting go. The music and the choreography sometimes enhance and sometimes contrast with each other, both rhythmically and dynamically, weaving a carpet of sonic and bodily gestures which are both intimate and disruptive at the same time.

PR

PHOENIX ROUSIAMANIS is a composer, songwriter of electronic and concert music, and performer.

Her works have been performed by performers and ensembles such as Juliet Fraser, the Greek National Radio Orchestra, Trans Chorus of Los Angeles, Riot Ensemble and Psappha Ensemble. Phoenix was the winner of the RNCM Gold Medal Competition and the Francis Chagrin Award, and a finalist of the Michael Tippett Medal. She studied composition at the Royal Northern College of Music and is a current Fellow of the Onassis Foundation.

Future projects include a commission for Ensemble 10:10 and a European tour with her hybrid electroacoustic freak-folk duo, Knowing the Oak Tree.

PROGRAMME NOTES

JASPER DOMMETT BORN 1997

ZIP, ZAP, BOOOOOOGIE!!!

WORLD PREMIERE

CHOREOGRAPHY:

SOFIA POMEROY (LEAD)

VALENTINA STREITWIESER

Zip, Zap, Boooooogie!!! is an exploration of the emotional journey of first encounters and selfdiscovery within a queer club setting. Initially, there’s a palpable sense of anticipation and nervous energy, as if stepping into uncharted territory. This sentiment is echoed in the piece’s sparky, anticipatory rhythms, capturing the flutter of excitement mingled with apprehension.

As the piece progresses, a shift occurs, mirroring the transition from fear to confidence. The work evolves into enjoyment and ecstasy, embodying the liberating feeling of being in a space where one can truly be themselves. Yet, amidst the euphoria, there’s a moment of introspection, a metaphorical pause to question the implications of newfound connections.

The heart of the piece lies in the emotional interplay between two individuals. Moments of hesitation and doubt are juxtaposed with instances of pure connection. Here, the music’s dissonance reflects the internal conflict of feeling forbidden yet undeniably drawn to one another.

In tandem, the dancers embody these emotional states, conveying the nervousness, excitement, and hesitancy of first encounters. Their movements, fluid yet hesitant, mirror the ebb and flow of emotions as they navigate the delicate balance between selfdiscovery and interpersonal connection.

JD

© Derri Joseph Lewis

JASPER DOMMETT is a British composer who is passionate about using music to explore queer narratives and to give a voice to marginalised people.

Jasper’s piece Disco! Disco! Good! Good?, written for the Riot Ensemble, paid tribute to the queer ballroom culture that emerged during the disco era and was subsequently nominated for an Ivor Novello Award in 2023. In June 2024, Jasper’s Victorian drag opera Fanny & Stella’s Last Day Out, co-written with librettist Jessica Walker, premieres at the Royal College of Music in partnership with Tête-à-Tête.

Coming up, Jasper is writing a new work for Classical Pride 2024, and a dramatic song-cycle for Lotte Betts-Dean and the Hebrides Ensemble, set to premiere in 2025.

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