RNS Moves to premiere specially commissioned music from Héloïse Werner
- RNS Moves, the inclusive ensemble featuring disabled musicians and non-disabled members of Royal Northern Sinfonia will perform a new commission from Héloïse Werner on Sunday 17 March
- Héloïse worked closely with the ensemble, which includes unique accessible instruments such as the Headspace and the robo-recorder
- The Festival of Contemporary Music for All 2024 will also be visiting The Glasshouse on 17th March, and anyone is welcome to take part in a playful day of music-making, including a vocal session run by Héloïse
RNS Moves is ready for its next showstopping concert at The Glasshouse International Centre for Music. On Sunday 17 March, the inclusive ensemble featuring disabled musicians and non-disabled members of Royal Northern Sinfonia will perform a specially commissioned piece of music, Wander, by composer Héloïse Werner.
Héloïse, whose record Phrases made the Sunday Times 10 Best Classical Records of 2022, was part of two inspiring workshops where RNS Moves gave her creative freedom to compose a new score. During the writing process, she worked closely with the players to find out what best suited their skills.
Some of the instruments were completely new to Héloïse: the Headspace, played by RNS Moves founder Clarence Adoo and the robo-recorder, invented and played by Liza Bec. Héloïse worked closely with them to integrate the distinctive instruments into the music.
Inspired by city life, Héloïse wanted to recreate the sensation of strolling through a
bustling landscape and being drawn to buskers. Using a mixture of field recordings and solo parts played live by the players, she sings around the different ‘buskers’ as she walks through the ensemble.
On the same night, Liza Bec will perform with RNS Moves, and they’ll play Liza’s work, Space Dinosaur Music. Liza was previously commissioned by The Glasshouse in 2023 to produce Crystal Queer, collaborative audiovisual music with artist CHAINES.
During the day, people can join a playful day of music-making as part of the Festival of Contemporary Music for All 2024 (CoMa). They can explore contemporary classical music from the CoMA Catalogue for voice and instruments. One of the vocal sessions is with Héloïse Werner, and anyone who takes part in the day can enjoy RNS Move’s performance in the evening for only £5.00.
Tickets are on sale now at www.theglasshouseicm.org/whats-on/rns-moves-heloise-werner/
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For press enquiries and interview requests, please contact:
Orla Noble, Premier Scotland | orla.noble@premiercomms.com
Images:
Credit all photos to Tynesight Photographic
Clarance Adoo – image
Siobhan Clough and Tristen Gurney – image
RNS Moves – image
James Risdon – image
More about the Festival of Contemporary Music for All 2024 (CoMa) at the Glasshouse
Programme
Henry Purcell Timon of Athens: Curtain Music on a Ground
Barbara Strozzi (arr. Richard Birchall) Che si puo fare
Héloïse Werner Like Words
Felix Mendolssohn Song Without Words (No. 1, Book 1)
Héloïse Werner Outside phrases
Jessie Montgomery Breakaway: Songbird
Nina Simone Black is the colour of my true love’s hair
Karlheinz Stockhausen Awake
Liza Bec Space Dinosaur Music
Héloïse Werner Wander (new commission with RNS Moves)
Héloïse Werner Unspecified Intentions
RNS Moves
RNS Moves is a professional, inclusive ensemble bringing together disabled musicians and non-disabled players from Royal Northern Sinfonia. They meet at their home, The Glasshouse International Centre for Music.
The ensemble is at the cutting edge of music-making, reshaping the world of classical performance through its inclusive approach and modern instrumentation. They create ground-breaking interpretations of classical favourites and brand-new sounds.
The ensemble works hard to promote that it doesn’t matter if someone has a disability –music connects all of us, and people can create on all levels.
In 2023, the ensemble joined forces with players from BSO Resound, the disabled-led ensemble at the core of Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, for a monumental performance at the Lighthouse in Poole and The Glasshouse International Centre for Music. The concert was also livestreamed for those unable to attend in person. Earlier that year, they performed to school children with and without disabilities in Middlesbrough.
RNS Moves is a beacon of high-quality playing and promotes inclusivity and connectivity between music and people.
The Headspace instrument
Headspace, invented by Rolf Gehlhaar, is described as a virtual instrument as the sounds are created through a computer using synthesised sounds. It’s very similar to a synthesizer in the way they produce sound, the key difference is how the instrument is controlled.
As an accomplished pianist, Clarence Adoo played a synthesiser many times. Since his accident, electronic controls were installed in his house which he operates with a blow tube, so an instrument that is like a synthesiser, but controlled by head movements and breath is ideal for him.
The robo-recorder
Liza Bec built their own instrument, the robo-recorder. The robo-recorder is featured in the Museum of Science and Industry’s 2022 touring exhibition Turn It Up: The Power of Music and is currently on display in London. It was also chosen to be included in the BBC Radio 6 Museum. Hear more about Liza in a feature created for New Scientist magazine.
The Glasshouse International Centre for Music
The Glasshouse International Centre for Music is a home for live music lovers.
It’s a place where you can hear rock legends or pop icons on the same night as folk trios or string quartets. Where new musicians are nurtured and showcased on the same stages as platinum-selling performers. And where youth choirs and tambourine-shaking toddlers practise in the same spaces as its acclaimed orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia.
Because as an international centre for music they’re focused on creating and celebrating outstanding music – whether that’s unearthing or growing talent from the region or bringing the world’s best artists to their stages. And as a charity they’re focused on making sure all of that is available to anyone – no matter where you’re from, how old you are, how much money you have, or what challenges you face.
Which is why every year more than 2 million people are able to join for top-notch gigs, concerts, and classes – in their venue at Gateshead Quays, out in communities across the North East, and through livestreamed performances and digital lessons.
Whether you’re making it up or taking it in, you’ll find music lives and grows there.
More about The Glasshouse International Centre for Music
- From global stars to artists starting out, The Glasshouse has hosted 10,022 performances, totalling 4.7m tickets. To have seen every performance would have meant seeing one show every day for 27 years.
- It’s hosted over 220,000 music lessons for North East folk. The region’s young people have learnt to play, sing or produce with us, on over 1.7m occasions.
- Royal Northern Sinfonia perform at The Glasshouse, tour the region, and have played to international audiences on four continents, with livestreams reaching people across five.
- Like stepping stones, artists like Ward Thomas have worked their way from their free stages to selling out its big hall and getting global recognition.
- The Glasshouse regularly opens its doors to a wide range of conferences and events. Since 2004, they’ve welcome over 400,000 delegates from the likes of Greggs, NHS and British Engines, and many, many more.
- The charity is one of Gateshead’s biggest employers, and so far it’s generated £500m of economic value to the region.
- The charity has been the proud guardians of The Glasshouse for almost 20 years, safeguarding it when live music was put on hold during the pandemic.
- The centre has 630 panes of glass and stands 40m tall.