HIDDEN NOTES FESTIVAL
VOL.4
21.09 - 22.09.24

SUZANNE CIANI AND WILL GREGORY MOOG ENSEMBLE TO HEADLINE HIDDEN NOTES FESTIVAL

PLUS:
MARY LATTIMORE / GALYA BISENGALIEVA / ECHO COLLECTIVE / JAMES MERRY / KATHERINE TINKER / GARETH JONES & WILLIAM J. STOKES / HEKLA / LAURA CANNELL / DANIEL INZANI / RACHEL MUSSON / SLOW MOON / GRANDAD / UNICORN SHIP EXPLOSION
AND MORE…

EMBARGO: 09:00AM (GMT) 01.03.24

Following 2023’s sold out Hidden Notes Festival vol.3 the festival returns for it’s fourth year on the weekend of the 21st - 22nd September 2024 taking place in various different venues and performance spaces in the centre of Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK including churches, art galleries, art centres and record shops…

For 2024 Hidden Notes pays homage to the mighty syntheziser with a rare UK show by legendary five-time Grammy award-nominated composer, electronic music pioneer and neo-classical recording artist Suzanne Ciani peforming live in quadraphonic sound on the Buchla modular synthesiser. Will Gregory Moog Ensemble will be stretching the possibilities of the Moog synthesiser through newly composed music, transcriptions of classical works, and their own versions of music from popular culture and film. With Goldfrapp’s Will Gregory at the helm the current lineup also includes Portishead’s Adrian Utley, Simon Haram, Dan Moore, Graham Fitkin, Ruth Wall, Vyv Hope-Scott, Eddie Parker, Ross Hughes and Georgie Ward.

As well as the headliners other performances for the main concerts in St Laurence Church include Los Angeles based harpist and composer Mary Lattimore and Kazakh composer, producer and violinist Galya Bisengalieva. The festival also honours the work of the late Jóhann Jóhannsson with Belgian orchestral ensemble Echo Collective performing 12 Conversations with Thilo Heinzmann in full…Katherine Tinker returns to the festival for a solo piano and organ concert following her performance with Jonny Greenwood at Hidden Notes back in 2022, and the rarely seen/heard theremin makes an appearance in the hands of Berlin-residing Icelander Hekla. The weekend also features the debut of a brand new project between eminent UK synthesist and producer Gareth Jones and producer, musician and writer William J. Stokes,internationally acclaimed composer and performer Laura Cannell from East Anglia brings forth unique sounds which straddles the worlds of contemporary and ancient music and Daniel Inzani (Spindle Ensemble, Cosmo Sheldrake) will be performing tracks from his debut solo album out later this year on Hidden Notes Records.

This year’s Resident Artist will be none other than James Merry; a visual artist from the UK, now based in Iceland where he has worked with Björk since 2009 as a frequent collaborator and co-creative director on her visual output. For HN James will be putting together a rare solo exhibition back in his hometown of Stroud, exhibiting a selection of custom masks and artworks alongside his iconic embroidery, limited edition images and prints plus some brand new work and digital surprises…

Vol.4 also continues it’s ongoing collaborations with two of Stroud’s indie record shops Sound Records and Klang Tone Records with the return of Breakfast Club with saxophonist, improviser, and composer Rachel Musson and the ambient sounds of Slow Moon, the solo project of Tomáš Kašpar followed by Record Shop Sessions with the electronic chaos of GRANDAD and the enigmatic improvisation project Unicorn Ship Explosion.

Film screenings also feature on the programme with A Life In Waves a documentary about the life and innovations of Suzanne Ciani directed by Brett Whitcomb - offering a unique opportunity for audiences to watch a documentary about Suzanne followed by catching her live later in the evening! Saturday’s screening will be Deep Listening: The Story of Pauline Oliveros by Daniel Weintraub which tells the story of the iconic composer, performer, teacher, philosopher, technological innovator and humanitarian.

For this year’s book talks music journalist and author Ben Murphy will be discussing his new book Ears To The Ground: Adventures in Field Recording and Electronic Music and artist and musician Paul Purgas will be talking about Subcontinental Symphesis: Electronic Music At The National Institute Of Design,India 1969–1972 the history of India’s first electronic music studio founded in 1969 at the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad by David Tudor.

Installations and Lates [At] HN (late night DJ sessions) will also appear on the programme but more news on that soon…

The lineup will be announced this Friday 1st March at 09:00am together with a batch of early bird weekend and day tickets via www.hiddennotes.co.uk

Artwork + Press Shots: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1GjXsjCZROeqC5XQJyn9c5VuRlD5ykokg?usp=sharing

For all media requests please contact Alex Hobbis via info@hiddennotes.co.uk or call: 07708630949

Many thanks!

Alex Hobbis
HIDDEN NOTES

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NOTES TO EDITORS:

Founded by local independent arts magazine Good On Paper, Hidden Notes Festival focuses on presenting the works of contemporary classical, folk, electronic and avant-garde composers rarely seen together on the same stage whilst also providing the artists with a platform to perform new music and collaborations in intimate spaces. It also features film screenings, book talks, exhibitions, late night DJ sessions, installations and more resulting in a packed and varied programme of art, music, literature and film. Previous line-ups have included the likes of Jonny Greenwood, Hannah Peel, Midori Takada, Penguin Cafe, Lubomyr Melnyk, Erland Cooper, Manu Delago Ensemble and Hatis Noit to name just a few…

In 2023 Hidden Notes was invited by the F List to be part of their Doing The Right Thing Network:
“I genuinely haven't seen a festival line-up in such an exceptionally long time that has interested me as much as this edition of Hidden Notes.  The most imaginative and profound music is created in the interchanges between more established music genres, and all of the composers listed here are pioneering experts at that.  Contemporary minimalism, electronic music, traditional folk, composition for the moving image, sound art; all genres which are traditionally male dominated, and yet Hidden Notes have come up with a triumph of programming of some of the best composers in these genres today, and they just happen to be women.  This will surely set the quality standard for years to come.” Vick Bain, the F List  

In May 2021 Hidden Notes continued it’s ever widening trajectory, launching a record label Hidden Notes Records which has so far released Inkling by experimental/contemporary classical chamber quartet Spindle Ensemble, limited edition books and album downloads of the award winning excuse the mess podcast ft new improvised works by the likes of Anna Meredith, Hannah Peel and Gold Panda, ondes martenot player, composer and producer Josh Semans’second album To Will A Space Into Being and more…
Next up is the second album by experimental/contemporary folk string duo Fran & Flora in April 2024 (click here for a press release and full private stream of the album!)