Seeking collaborators

I am currently setting up a number of collaborative projects with performers, and am seeking a diverse range of composer-performer relationships. These range from performers that I know extremely well, to performers that I do not know at all. These performers might even be from a different performance tradition. The aim is that I work completely collaboratively with each individual, so that the performer can also get something out of the experience. We will share an equal creative license and ownership over the pieces we produce. I am looking for performers who would also be interested in forming a ‘long term’ collaboration (beyond one piece/work). I want to find out what happens when a composer and performer develop their relationship over time – does the performer’s identity become part of the music? If so, how? I hope that through this project, performers can extend their repertoire to include pieces that are highly personal to their own identities.

I am keen for collaboration to take place with individuals overseas, as well as with people in the UK. How can collaboration abroad unfold when you can only talk over email, skype, etc. How do we collaborate across language barriers? I want to be as inclusive as possible, and open up this project to performers and performance cultures from all over the world.

As a starting point I discuss with each performer whether there are any specific projects they have wanted to work on with a performer, or whether there is something in their repertoire (or on their instrument) that they would like to explore further. If not, then we might just discuss our musical cultures and musical lives, and explore ideas that together we might be interested in. These projects have one thing in common – they begin from conversations between two individuals (me, and the performer).

NB Although I talk of ‘long-term’ collaboration, this does not necessarily mean that we will be working together continuously, and we may dip in and out of phases where we work on a specific piece, or do not work on anything at all. We may be in contact regularly, but we may not. It depends on the type of relationship the performer might be looking for.