Kit Downes and Tom Challenger have created a collection of interpretive melodies connected by improvising singers – in this event, they are joined by Irish vocalist, improviser and composer Lauren Kinsella, as well as guest artist, Heloise Werner.
Ongemang started with many initial individual components – a midnight exploration of song in a church in Salzburg, to a trip to the misty Faroe Islands to witness Kingo singing, to collective improvisations with harmonium during a hurricane in Galway – and during this second phase of the project they add another musical meeting to this journey, in the in-between.
Kit Downes piano, harmonium, cello
Tom Challenger saxophone, cassette player/sampler
Lauren Kinsella voice
Pedro Valasco visuals
We’ve been working with our wonderful friend from Thoroughly Good, Jon Jacob, on a series of podcasts for you to listen to pre (or post!) our events. We hope you enjoy listening!
Episode 1: What’s in the Spitalfields Festival 2021
Jon Jacob speaks to composers Errollyn Wallen, Edmund Finnis, Howard Goodall, and David Fennessey about their new works, including a tribute to those carers who lost their lives in the first wave of the COVID pandemic.
