Hearing History Showcase - Imagining Unsung Voices at Erddig
On 18 February, the Royal Northern College of Music will host a Research Forum exploring the history of Erddig, long-time country seat of the Yorke family. Located near Wrexham in North Wales, and among the National Trust’s most fascinating houses, it is richly layered with sights, sounds, and stories from 300 years of habitation. Four creative writers will share their re-imaginings of these stories through music, image, and the spoken word. Live performances by RNCM musicians and others will be combined with sounds created and recorded at Erddig itself.
This performance-based Forum presents work undertaken during the project Hearing History: Writing the Sounds of Erddig, a University of Southampton Impact Accelerator–funded project following the large AHRC project Music, Home, and Heritage. The project explored country house histories through their sounding past to investigate how sounds give space to unseen voices and narratives. Hearing History asked creative writers and composers to bring these voices to life, and it tests how to present these through new immersive publication technology combined with traditional print. In this forum, we introduce the audience to this technology and celebrate the creative outputs in their live form.
The event takes place at the RNCM's Carole Nash Recital Room, beginning at 4:15 pm. Admission is free, no ticket required. For directions and further information see the RNCM website.
Introduction, concept, and design
Wiebke Thormählen, Jeanice Brooks, and Sarah Cleave
Poets
Theo Langdale (with sounds by Sophia Hurst), Guruleen Khalo, Iris Skipworth, and Cherry Eckles
Composers
James Waide and Colin Wu