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We are Scotland’s EAR TO THE GROUND! - keeping you in the loop with the interviews and gig alerts from Scotland’s top-notch composers. We’ll be digging deep to find out what makes these composers tick, hearing the processes behind their latest compositions and finding out why on earth someone would want to be a composer! The podcast is hosted by Aileen Sweeney and Ben Eames, two musicians based in Glasgow who’ll be asking the questions, bringing the banter and getting to know these fantastic composers. Follow and subscribe to keep your ear to ground for Scotland’s newest and most exciting music.
Episodes
Wednesday Oct 20, 2021
Wednesday Oct 20, 2021
In this episode we caught up with Rufus Isabel Elliot who told us about OVER/AT, a trans, non-binary, and gender-diverse music-making world, as well as telling us about upcoming releases of Rufus's own music.
Rufus is a composer and musician from Tower Hamlets, based now near Gairloch. In the last couple of years, Rufus has worked with the likes of Sound Festival Scotland, Red Note Ensemble, Magnetic North, and the Nevis Ensemble, with whom it was composer-in-residence in 2019. Current projects include a new album with composer/violinist Harry Gorski-Brown, and a new longer-form vocal piece with Scots traditional singer Josie Vallely.
Rufus produces OVER / AT, which encompasses live touring projects, recording projects, workshops, online learning resources, and more. The first OVER / AT E.P. was released in March – FOLKS' SONGS, and OVER / AT #1 was shortlisted for a Scottish Award for New Music.
With special thanks to performers:
Are We?
Malin Lewis
PASS
Harry Gorski-Brown
Achilles Lyre
Andrew Herrington
Ear to the Ground keeps you in the loop with interviews and gig alerts from Scotland’s top-notch composers.
Hosted by Aileen Sweeney and Ben Eames.
Sound edited by Mia Eames.
Website Links:
https://www.ambf.co.uk/over-at
https://www.eartothegroundscotland.com/
Saturday Sep 18, 2021
Saturday Sep 18, 2021
In this episode we chat to composer, collaborator, sound designer and concert producer Matthew Whiteside.
As a composer, Matthew has received international performances by ensembles and performers such as the RTÉ NSO, Red Note Ensemble, the Aurea Quartet, Pauline Kim Harris and Diagenesis Duo at venues such as New York University, Dublin’s National Concert Hall, Glasgow City Halls, Salem Artworks in New York and the Belfast International Festival at Queen’s.
Most recently Matthew's piece Night Thoughts was shortlisted for a Scottish New Music Award 2021 for Large Ensemble (Sponsored by PRS).
As well as being a composer, Matthew is also founder and programme of the The Night With... a concert series featuring interesting music in informal spaces. In 2020 The Night With... won the SMIA Award for Creative Programming at the Scottish Awards for New Music as well as winning the Award for Recording of New Music at the awards in 2021 for The Night With... Live Vol. One album.
With special thanks to performers:
Night Thoughts
Crash Ensemble
Mesmerism (Written by Paul Mac, Arranged by Jessica Wells)
Ensemble Offspring
Quartet No. 6
Aurea Quartet
Well, Well, Well
Red Note Ensemble
Ear to the Ground keeps you in the loop with interviews and gig alerts from Scotland’s top-notch composers.
Hosted by Aileen Sweeney and Ben Eames.
Sound edited by Mia Eames.
Website Links:
https://www.matthewwhiteside.co.uk/
http://thenightwith.com/
https://www.eartothegroundscotland.com/
Wednesday Jul 28, 2021
Wednesday Jul 28, 2021
In this episode we chat about to Ailie about her recent success at the Scottish Awards for New Music where her piece Skydance won the 'Dorico Award for Solo Work' (sponsored by Steinberg). We also discuss field recordings, motherhood, and a very squeaky gate!
Ailie is a multi-award winning composer, performer and creative curator whose work crosses the boundaries of traditional and contemporary music.
Winner of the ‘Achievement in New Music’ prize at the inaugural New Music Scotland Awards, Ailie has received commissions, awards, and residences from the PRS Foundation Creative Scotland, Enterprise Music Scotland, the CCA, Culture Ireland, Celtic Connections, EIFF, and CALQ Montreal. Recent commissions include pieces for the 2019 BBC Proms, The London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sound Festival, the Riot Ensemble, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Bang on a Can, the Dunedin Consort, and the Glasgow School of Art Choir.
With special thanks to performers:
Skydance - for Cello
Louise McMonagle (Cello)
1 in 4 - for Vocal Trio
EXAUDI
Dun Shith - for Double Bass and Electronics
Will Yaeger (Double Bass)
Ear to the Ground keeps you in the loop with interviews and gig alerts from Scotland’s top-notch composers.
Hosted by Aileen Sweeney and Ben Eames.
Sound edited by Mia Eames.
Website Links:
https://www.ailierobertson.com/
https://www.eartothegroundscotland.com/
Friday Jun 18, 2021
Friday Jun 18, 2021
Darlene Zarabozo is a Cuban-American composer, sound artist, musician and collaborator based in Glasgow. She is currently finishing her bachelor’s in composition at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland under the tutelage of Linda Buckley and support from Alistair MacDonald in her electroacoustic studies.
Recently, she is one of six composers to be shortlisted by New Music Scotland and Scottish Music Centre for ISCM 2021 for her text-spoken electroacoustic piece, The Inevitable Withdrawal (feat. text by Phoebe McGowan). She was also featured on BBC Radio Scotland: Introducing for her song, This Heart Breaks for You, which was broadcasted in March.
More recently, her piece, are You there?, won the violin and electronics commission for The Night With... for violinist Emma Lloyd.
List of pieces:
The Inevitable Withdrawal/Cheap Emotions
are You there?
The Bacchae
The Typewriter Manifesto
Ear to the Ground keeps you in the loop with interviews and gig alerts from Scotland’s top-notch composers.
Hosted by Aileen Sweeney and Ben Eames.
Sound edited by Mia Eames.
Website Links:
Wednesday May 19, 2021
Wednesday May 19, 2021
Today, we are joined with Alastair White, a Scottish composer and writer currently studying a PhD at Goldsmiths in London. Alastair has been shortlisted for a Scottish Award for New Music twice and has created work for the opera festivals Tete-a-tete and Opera in the City, The Scottish
School of Contemporary Dance and The Scottish Poetry Library along with many others.
In this episode we discuss Alastair's recent release with Métier Records, fashion-opera ROBE.
"ROBE is a one hour opera about cities, virtual reality and artificial intelligence that combines fashion, contemporary dance, experimental theatre, design, poetry and virtuosic music to create multi-layered worlds within worlds. Scored for piano, flute and four singers, it tells the story of an A.I., EDINBURGH, that wants to become a living city. Part elegy for a vanished past, part manifesto pointing the way into a heady, transhuman future, ROBE uses its multilayered form to dramatise the relationship between virtual reality, official history and raw, personal experience."
With special thanks to performers:
ROBE
Clara Kanter (Mezzo-Soprano)
Rosie Middleton (Mezzo-Soprano)
Sarah Parkin (Soprano)
Kelly Poukens (Soprano)
Jenni Hogan (Flute)
Ben Smith (Piano and Musical Direction)
Ear to the Ground keeps you in the loop with interviews and gig alerts from Scotland’s top-notch composers.
Hosted by Aileen Sweeney and Ben Eames.
Sound edited by Mia Eames.
Website Links:
https://www.alastairwhite.org/
https://www.eartothegroundscotland.com/
Saturday May 01, 2021
Saturday May 01, 2021
With Tectonics 2021 just around the corner, we spoke to co-curator Ilan Volkov along with composer Tania León and performance and sound artist Olivia Furey who are both involved in the festival this year.
The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra’s annual festival of new and experimental music returns on the 8th and 9th of May with a line-up featuring many of the artists scheduled for 2020. Tectonics Glasgow once again sees international and Glasgow-based artists come together to blur musical boundaries and question what music can be.
The festival features live performances on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds as well as performances being available online at bbc.co.uk/bbcsso.
Wednesday Apr 21, 2021
Wednesday Apr 21, 2021
In this episode, we had the pleasure of chatting to composer and violinist Lisa Robertson.
Lisa is from the West Highlands of Scotland and is particularly interested in combining sounds from nature and folk music, and examining relationships between people and the land, often highlighting environmental concerns.
Recently, she was featured in BBC Music Magazine's 'Rising Stars' column. Her music has been performed by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, EXAUDI, Red Note Ensemble, Hebrides Ensemble, Lucy Schaufer, and Heather Roche, among others.
With special thanks to performers:
To Tell It Like It Is
Ben Parry & NYCGB Fellowship
Can We Not Hear The Birds That Sing?
Lisa Robertson (Violin)
Machair
Nordic Viola
The Inimitable Brightness of The Air
Red Note Ensemble
Ear to the Ground keeps you in the loop with interviews and gig alerts from Scotland’s top-notch composers.
Hosted by Aileen Sweeney and Ben Eames.
Sound edited by Mia Eames.
Website Links:
https://www.lisarobertsonmusic.com/
https://www.eartothegroundscotland.com/
Friday Apr 09, 2021
Friday Apr 09, 2021
In this episode, we had the chance to chat to composers Stuart MacRae and Emily Doolittle and Violist Katherine Wren about their current project Art-Making in the Anthropocene.
'Art-Making in the Anthropocene is a series of 8 free online talks/discussions and an online concert, which bring together Scottish and international artists, activists, and academics from across disciplines to explore what art-making can be in this time of ecological emergency.'
Katherine's ensemble Nordic Viola will be performing a concert online on April 27th (5pm) featuring pieces by Scottish-based composers that are inspired by the environment.
For more information about the concert visit Art-Making in the Anthropocene.
Pieces Featured:
Emily Doolittle - Gardenscape
Martin Suckling - Her Lullaby
Ailie Robertson - Sky Dance
Ear to the Ground keeps you in the loop with interviews and gig alerts from Scotland’s top-notch composers.
Hosted by Aileen Sweeney and Ben Eames.
Sound edited by Mia Eames.
Website Links:
https://www.eartothegroundscotland.com/
Wednesday Mar 17, 2021
Wednesday Mar 17, 2021
In this episode, we speak to composer Martin Suckling about his recent album This Departing Landscape released with NMC recordings in February 2021.
The album features four large scale works for orchestra including: The White Road (After Edmund de Waal), Release, Piano Concerto and This Departing Landscape.
Born in Glasgow, Martin Suckling has been championed by many leading orchestras and ensembles including the London Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Ensemble, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, and the London Contemporary Orchestra.
With special thanks to performers:
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
BBC Philharmonic
Ilan Volkov conductor
Katherine Bryan flute
Tamara Stefanovich piano
Ear to the Ground keeps you in the loop with interviews and gig alerts from Scotland’s top-notch composers.
Hosted by Aileen Sweeney and Ben Eames.
Sound edited by Mia Eames.
Website Links:
http://www.martinsuckling.com/
https://nmc-recordings.myshopify.com/collections/new-releases-2021/products/martin-suckling-this-departing-landscape
https://www.eartothegroundscotland.com/
Tuesday Feb 16, 2021
Tuesday Feb 16, 2021
This episode features Scottish composer Jay Capperauld discussing his BBC Proms debut in 2020. "Circadian Refrains (172 Days Until Dawn)" was premiered with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Alpesh Chauhan. The full concert can be viewed on BBC iPlayer.
Jay also chats about his influences musical and otherwise ranging from books and films to broken plates and jumpy CD players!
Jay has written for various ensembles including BBC Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, The National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, Psappha Ensemble, Hebrides Ensemble, The Wallace Collection, Red Note Ensemble and many more.
With special thanks to performers:
Afterlife - The Third Death
Lewis Banks (Saxophone)
Marianna Abrahamyan (Piano)
The Pathos of Broken Things
Katherine Bryan (Flute)
Heroin Chic
Bryan Allen (Conductor)
RCS Big Band
Dehumanised Shock Absorbers
Workers Union Ensemble
Ear to the Ground keeps you in the loop with interviews and gig alerts from Scotland’s top-notch composers.
Hosted by Aileen Sweeney and Ben Eames.
Sound edited by Mia Eames.
Website Links:
https://www.jaycapperauld.com/
https://www.eartothegroundscotland.com/