Arctic Voyages, Whales and more!

Well, it’s been quite some summer! Following on from “The Pilgrim’s Path” by Gemma McGregor at St. Magnus International Festival (see previous post), there was more island hopping over to Lewis in the Western Isles of Scotland for Keening – Song of the Stranding followed by a developmental trip over to ireland with Karen Power.

The Voyage of The Fox and CETACEA in Orkney and Dunblane

Before I tell you more about all that though, just a reminder that Alex South (clarinet), Lesley Harrison (poet) and I will be performing The Voyage of The Fox and CETACEA in Dunblane at the Weigh Ahead Gallery on 31st August. Tickets for the first show sold out really quickly, so we opened a second show at 8pm. Grab your ticket now before they all go from Eventbrite.

For those of you who can make it to Orkney International Science Festival on 9th September, we’ll be performing the same programme in the Orkney Theatre. Tickets from OISF here.

Keening – Song of the Stranding

Keening – Song of the Stranding, a multidisciplinary art project by Sam Gare of North Harris Studio commemorating a whale stranding in Lewis, Outer Hebrides, proved to be a quite incredible and emotional experience. There are so, so many elements to this multi-faceted performance, from workshops to performances to future podcasts and it was an absolute privilege to be asked to create the music alongside Alex and vocalist Nerea Bello, with movement artist Aya Kobayashi choreographing movements on the beach.

The beach performance itself on 12th July took place in weather that was the opposite of the day of the stranding itself in 2023: bright sunshine and 27c. Of all the scenarios we hadn’t planned for…. But what a stage on which to commemorate the whales who lost their lives. In the far distance we could see the entire North-West coast of Scotland from Cape Wrath to Torridon and in the foreground, minke whales and porpoises danced in the water as though they knew we were commemorating their brethren.

Building the sand whales was a family event with young children in particular loving making the small whales. As each larger whale was built, Sam commemorated them, reading out family links between the whales – simple yet dignified. Alex, Nerea and I then performed a lament for them as members of the community linked hands, remembering the events of 2023. A deeply moving thing to witness.

We then repaired to North Tolsta Hall, where we played largely to an audience of professionals: rescuers from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue, Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme and others. One of the rescuers read a poem written on the day of the stranding from the perspective of the only surviving whale. I have no words to describe how emotional that felt that day.

Finally, we returned to watch the sea reclaim the sand whales. A catharsis of sorts as the real whales had, of course, had not been able to return to the sea and thus lost their lives. A fitting and beautiful way to end the day.

All photos of Keening – Song of the Stranding by Phil Hall.

Podcasts and Album

There is much more still to be explored on this project. Sam is an incredible artist, so please do follow Keening here. There will be a series of podcasts created by the wonderful Aoife Glass and Francesca Turaskis and, very shortly, Alex, Nerea and I will be releasing an album of the music from the Keening on Bandcamp. I’ll let you know when that comes out and we will also be linking to it at our Dunblane performances.

Listening to the Arctic/Antarctic with Karen Power

My final trip of the summer was to County Cork in Ireland, where I joined composer Karen Power to work on a new piece based on Karen’s recent research voyages to the Arctic and Antarctic. I have previously performed Karen’s Sonic Cradle for solo instrument and electronics at soundfestival in Aberdeen and at Arctic Science Summit Week in Edinburgh.

Drawing on our shared experience of the Arctic, Karen wanted to work alongside me on developing this new piece, written 10 years after Sonic Cradle. In that time, the Arctic has warmed at a quite terrifying rate and one of the things we were listening deeply to was how much noisier this environment has become as meltwater increases.

Karen’s development of aural scores and parts have become a signature of her work in pairing
musical instruments with field recordings of environments. This process places the act of
listening at the centre of the composition and performance, encouraging the audience to be drawn into the soundscape and to listen in an active way. As a performer, my role is to allow the place to speak for itself whilst bringing a human element into the music. Sometimes that’s standing on the edge, sometimes it’s being immersed in the texture of the ice. I may be guiding the listener, I may be a neutral presence, part of the soundscape.

I learnt an immense amount from Karen: new ways to create sound from my instrument, how to listen really deeply and immersively, becoming a part of the place. I can’t wait to work more deeply on this work and to perform it for you all in Aberdeen at soundfestival this October, where it will be presented as an installation with performances. Details to follow.

Working in residence on the Beara Peninsula was incredible – to have such a peaceful and inspiring place to work, watching the light and the ever-shifting sea. A place I’ll return to for sure!

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With albums coming out, festival performances coming up and lots, lots more to come on Keening – Song of the Stranding, make sure you subscribe to Nordic Viola’s newsletter. We look forward to welcoming you to one of our concerts soon and remember, we love to hear your stories of the North Atlantic region – they’re what drive our projects – so come and speak to us at an event if you have a story to share.