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Stage is set for Twittering Machine
22 July 2008
As part of Bank of Scotland Connecting to Culture, four hard but fruitful days of composing, playing, rewriting, rehearsing and recording, have left the stage firmly set for Twittering Machine.
Under the expert guidance of leading Scottish composer Alasdair Nicolson five aspiring young composers have created widely differing but equally impressive musical offerings inspired by the music of Messiaen and the work of visual artist Paul Klee.
Working with four professional musicians the five Scottish students, aged 15 to 18, have each composed a five minute piece of music for cello, oboe, clarinet and flute during workshops at the Hub. All the pieces will be performed together on Friday 15 and Friday 21 at 6pm in the Temperate Palmhouse of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
Bank of Scotland Connecting to Culture is a new arts education initiative created by the Edinburgh International Festival and sponsored by the Bank of Scotland.
As the workshop wound down Alasdair Nicolson said: ‘We started on a Monday morning and by lunchtime on Thursday we were finished so it's a very fast turnaround, but they responded very well and the pieces have grown. What we're doing is giving them the opportunity, which you don't often get as a composer, to have absolutely live playback as they write it. It's the equivalent of sitting in your living room waiting for the next bar so it's fantastic.'
As part of the initiative Alasdair Nicolson has also written a special 10 minute composition which will be played at the Royal Botanic Garden throughout the festival.
Twittering Machine with Alasdair Nicolson's specially written composition, will be on display in the Lower Temperate Walkway Foyer of the Royal Botanic Garden from Friday 8 until Sunday 31 August.
Sponsored by the Bank of Scotland
