propellor
A collaborative engine based in Cumbria
Propellor are a 12-piece daring cross-genre ensemble of multi-instrumentalists from a variety of musical backgrounds, who’s performances, installations and multi-media projects map our collective experience of the natural world, through the lens of soundscape ecology.
Our journey started back in 2017 on the Suffolk coast, and has taken root in Cumbria.
The ensemble came into being when we were lucky enough to spend two years at Snape Maltings (home to Britten Pears Arts) developing our combined sound and creating our first piece, Loom - exploring our different relationships with the watercourse, charting its journey backwards from the sea to the sky...
We've toured Loom around the UK since its premiere at Snape's Festival of New in 2018, sharing our music in workshops and creating site-specific collaborations with local community groups and professional artists at each performance.
Flight was our second project, an 8-part podcast exploring connections between birds, soundscape ecology and music. Propellor collaborated with one of the UK's leading authors on nature, Mark Cocker, dramaturg Annie Rigby and electronic pioneer Leafcutter John, and developed two live touring performances of Flight - both a full-scale live performance piece and a chamber version (which feels like an edge-of-your-seat live radio show!).
Upcoming collaborations include an adaptation of “Ness” by Robert MacFarlane and Stanley Donwood, alongside Hayden Thorpe and Kerry Andrew. The project will premiere in September 2024 on Orford Ness in partnership with the National Trust and Britten Pears Arts. Propellor are also working with a number of partners in Cumbria and the surrounding area to devise a series of education and participatory projects. Their third large-scale original piece will premiere in Cumbria in 2025.
“An ensemble who cross the worlds of folk, classical, electronic and experimental music. It twists and turns through different sound worlds. An intriguing project.”
“What a joy to tumble into the sound world of Propellor’s Flight - a mesmeric auditory journey into bird migration, landscape and the art of listening. It bubbles with scientific enquiry, sonic wonder and reflections on our uneasy human coexistence with greater-than-human life. And through it all, tugging at your hand, such vivid new music.”
“Flight is a rare bird –– a podcast that pushes the boundaries of sound-speech-music collaboration, fusing beauty, passion and politics into a fascinating, immersive exploration of birds and people.”
the musicians
Propellor’s line-up has evolved as the work has evolved, check out our wonderful guest musicians and live collaborators below…
Jack McNeill clarinets / David Le Page violin / Cath Leech violin / Kay Stephen viola / Clare O'Connell cello (Loom) / Louise McMonagle cello (Flight) / Sebastiano Dessanay double bass / electric bass / Charlie Wild fiddle / Aaron Diaz trumpet / live electronics / Martyn Sanderson trombone / sackbut / Robin Beatty guitars / Jim Molyneux percussion / accordion / electronics (Loom) / Stuart Brown percussion / live electronics (Flight) / Delia Stevens percussion (Flight) / Joe Acheson live electronics / production (Loom) / Leafcutter John electronics (guest on Flight) / Barret Hodgson (Vent Media) visuals for Flight / Tim Southorn sound design (Loom) / Tim Hand live sound for Flight and Flight // In Conversation
Current Propellor line-up photography by Juliet Klottrup
“It was so different from anything I have experienced, a fascinating collaboration of creatives and ecologists. Beautiful in its complex intensity, I’ve been thinking about it ever since!
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“Truly magical to be with that immense music making. Involuntary dancing occurred, it was at times overwhelming – but in a great way.”
“I’ve just been to one of the most world-view changing, evocative and beautiful performances of my entire life”
“It was absolutely stunning! It almost felt like a spell was cast on the hall...mesmerising. Thank you.”
“Invigorating, moving, transported me to another world. So many wonderful moments that delighted my spirit.”
