Coming together to create an inclusive, super ensemble
RNS Moves is an inclusive ensemble featuring disabled musicians and non-disabled members of Royal Northern Sinfonia.
In February 2023, RNS Moves got together with BSO Resound (Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s disabled-led ensemble) to collaborate and create a new, specially commissioned piece of music called Falling by Kate Whitley (pictured above with Royal Northern Sinfonia Principal Conductor Dinis Sousa).
Tristan Gurney and Clarence Adoo from RNS Moves
Violinist of RNS Moves Tristan Gurney told us about the forward-thinking collaboration.
“By combining with BSO Resound, we created a super ensemble bursting with a range of spectacular instrumental capabilities, from a string ensemble to Linnstrument to piano to Headspace- a virtual instrument designed by German-born American composer-cum-inventor Rolf Gehlhaar, and more.
The process with composer Kate Whitley, who was commissioned to create new work, was collaborative and organic. We explored many ways of working together in our sessions. Kate’s brilliant composition, Falling, encompasses many of these musical techniques.
We spent a few days in Autumn 2022 working with her and BSO Resound, workshopping several of her ideas. Over those few days, all instruments and musicians contributed to the process, and Falling began to emerge. Her freeing and liberating composition combines traditionally notated passages with showcase moments of structured improvisation.
From there, Kate refined and developed the material we had worked on and created the composition. The result is a unique blend of musical approaches and styles, tuning into the potential of each and every player.
The collaboration with BSO Resound felt like a natural step. The two combined inclusive ensembles performed as a large concertino with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Royal Northern Sinfonia. It was great to touch base with a similar inclusive ensemble. Along with discovering various ways to approach and develop music and repertoire, it was valuable to talk about this exciting area of music-making more broadly. It fuelled our ambition to make the world of classical music ever more inclusive and accessible for all.”
