I play clarinet and bass clarinet, write music and make things that happen between the worlds of live music, theatre and radio. With a background rooted in contemporary classical performance practice and an interest in folk and ancient resonances, the work I make moves between the seams that tie these elements together. I’m the Artistic Director of Propellor, a 12-piece cross-genre ensemble - a collaborative engine in the creative north - whose performances, installations and multimedia projects map our collective experience of the natural world, through the lens of soundscape ecology.
I’m involved in a wide variety of performance projects, chamber, orchestral and as a solo clarinet player. Sometimes these projects are large scale tours and sometimes they’re much smaller, intimate events - one-off happenings invented by friends or collaborations coming into being on the hoof. Through my work as a clarinettist, I’ve had the extraordinary pleasure to perform and collaborate on hundreds of new works and recordings, and to learn from a variety of inspiring mentors. I’ve been an artist in residence at Snape Maltings Open Space, The Glasshouse ICM (Sage Gateshead) and Brewery Arts in Kendal. I also teach and have directed various chamber music and creative courses.
I am the clarinettist for Tao of Glass (MIF19), an acclaimed piece of storytelling between composer Philip Glass and performer-director Phelim McDermott (Improbable). Recent creative collaborations include working with Leafcutter John, Robert MacFarlane, Hayden Thorpe, Mark Cocker, Linda O’Keeffe and Kerry Andrew. As a chamber musician I perform with the Sacconi and Gildas quartets, as a quartet with David Le Page, Clare O’Connell and Viv McLean, with Ensemble 360, Britten Sinfonia, violinist Fenella Humphreys, BBC Singers, the Hilliard Ensemble and BCMG. I’ve been an on-stage musician/actor with Sebastian Mathias and Michael Wolters's Danserye, and Thom Luz's When I Die (Teatro Bienale Venezia ‘18), performing and improvising for the Royal Shakespeare Company, recording for Domino and Gecko Theatre. Currently principal clarinet for Orchestra of the Swan, other orchestral work includes the LSO, CBSO and Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. I’ve premiered solo and chamber works by Philip Glass, Richard Ayres, Karin Rehnqvist, Michael Finnissy, Joe Cutler, Ed Bennett, Liz Johnson and Howard Skempton, as well as a new bass clarinet concerto (“Wild” ‘23) written for me by Scott Wilson. I’ve given complete performances of Henze's Le Miracle de la Rose and Stockhausen’s Harlekin; a substantial work performed from memory where the clarinettist is required to dance and mime while playing! I was bass clarinet soloist for a BBC broadcast of David Lang’s The Passing Measures, and performed Der Kleine Harlekin and In Freundschaft in the opening concert of the Stockhausen Festival of Light after training with Rumi Sota-Klemm. I’m a member of Decibel, the Le Page Ensemble and Joe Acheson’s Hidden Orchestra.
As a composer and producer, my work has combined instrumental music with visual elements, live processing, digital media, text and spoken word, real world sounds, movement and theatre. In addition to my work with Propellor and various recording artists, I’ve been commissioned by Aerial Festival and co-created Mahogany Opera’s latest Snappy Opera, “Roll Up!”. I have been supported by the Arts Council England, PRS Foundation, Help Musicians UK, Sound and Music, IVORS, Brighter Sound, Worshipful Company of Musicians and Countess of Munster.