eavesdropping conversations

In which eavesdropping host Juliet Fraser talks to Rie Nakajima about trying to make sculpture, trying to be a human being and never mastering the spirit of objects. References: O YAMA O (Rie's duo with Keiko Yamamoto), vital materialism, Beaux-arts de Paris and Cafe OTO. Recommended listening: Rie's album with David Toop, 'Is Spring a Sculpture', released 2025 on Room 40. https://room40.bandcamp....

In which eavesdropping host Juliet Fraser talks to Siwan Rhys about her best laid plans to become a Welsh scholar, the teachers that changed everything, and the wonderful wide web that is contemporary classical music. References: GBSR duo, Explore Ensemble, London Sinfonietta, Riot Ensemble, Colin Currie Group, Ensemble intercontemporain, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, composers Bartók, Ligeti, Adès...

In which eavesdropping host Juliet Fraser talks to Lucy Humphris about asking the wrong questions, the importance of keeping a sense of play and the danger of underestimating our audiences. References: Ensemble Musikfabrik, Bethan Morgan-Williams, Claire Cope, Nneka Cummins, Louise Drewett and Kirsten Milenko. Recommended listening: Obscurus, with pianist Harry Rylance, released 2023 on Rubicon. L...

In which eavesdropping host Juliet Fraser talks to Nathalie Forget about being everywhere and nowhere with this hypersensitive instrument, and the importance of taking time to experiment with composers. References: teachers Tristan and Michèle Foison, Pascale Rousse-Lacordaire and then Valérie Hartmann-Claverie at the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Paris, artist Joseph Beuys, Maurice Martenot...

In which eavesdropping host Juliet Fraser talks to Zosha Warpeha about falling in love with the Hardanger d'amore and finding there a sense of space, about learning and forgetting tunes, and using intonation as an entryway into new worlds. References: Scottish Fiddle Orchestra, Cristina Seaborn, Bobby Vee, Salve Håkedal, Dan Trueman, Eyvind Kang's album 'Riparian', Zosha's new album, 'I grow accus...

In which eavesdropping host Juliet Fraser talks to Émilie Škrijelj about practising the sport of the accordion, working with a (con)fusion of timbre, and the political dimension of touring. References: Lores Binot, her trio BRUINE, percussionist Tom Malmendier, poet/rapper Mike Ladd, turntablist Otomo Yoshihide, clarinettist Michael Thieke and improviser Phil Durrant. Recommended listening: https:...

In which eavesdropping host Juliet Fraser talks to Jennifer Torrence about "etc." as a window of possibility, being happy in the creative fog and memories of Enya blasting in the bathroom. References: Enya, Cats (the musical), Garth Brooks, Madonna, Paula Abdul, Boyz II Men on tape, composer Francois Sarhan (and Juliet mentions composers Kristine Tjøgersen, Clara Iannotta, Jessie Marino), the Berl...

In which eavesdropping host Juliet Fraser talks to Audrey Chen about the voice as a filter for life, the existential question of finding a way to her own elemental language, and courage vs survival. References: Suzanne Fiol at ISSUE Project Room in NYC, her band Mopcut, and collaborators Phil Minton, Nick Klein, Hugo Esquinca and trombonist Henrik Munkeby Nørstebø. Suggested listening: Runt Vigor,...

In which eavesdropping host Juliet Fraser talks to Anna Zaradny about finding inspiration in the grey times of censorship, the paradox of deficit, and the magic and responsibility of intuition. References: Musica Genera festival and record label, co-founded with Robert Piotrowicz, conducting the 'Dies Irae' from Verdi's Requiem (!), DDR (GDR in English), MTV, Bronski Beat, Monty Python, and her pi...

In which eavesdropping host Juliet Fraser talks to Isidora Edwards about the human-like quality of sound, how we can reassess our notions of time, and the improvisatory qualities of research. References: city of Rancagua (Chile), ACÉFALO festival, improvisers Marcio Mattos and Marilza Gouvêa, mopomoso series, London Improvisers Orchestra, John Russell, composers Éliane Radigue and her notion of in...

In which eavesdropping host Juliet Fraser talks to Sarah Saviet about the value of curiosity and confusion, the vulnerability of co-writing music and the steadfast companionship of magical hairy pigs. References: teacher Rebecca Henry, Webern 'Vier Stücke', duo with Joseph Houston, ensemble mosaik, works by Arne Gieshoff, Liza Streich, Liza Lim, Lawrence Dunn & Evan Johnson on her disc SPUN, Feldm...

In which eavesdropping host Juliet Fraser talks to Hyelim Kim about the role of nature in traditional Korean music, cutting her first bamboo flute and finding the groove. References: her monograph 'Tradition and Creativity in Korean Taegŭm [or daegeum] Flute Performance’ published by Routledge in 2021 and recent album 'Songs of the Forest Calm' with Danish jazz instrumentalists Kasper Staub and To...

In which eavesdropping host Juliet Fraser talks to Aya Metwalli about Cairo's soundscape, feline metamorphosis, the joy of listening from the outside and the magnetism of a good performance. References: John Cage, György Ligeti, Diamanda Galás, John Coltrane, Merzbow and Throbbing Gristle. I can recommend Aya's album 'Al Saher' with Calamita. Aya will perform in the eavesdropping festival at Cafe...

In which eavesdropping host Juliet Fraser talks to Rachel Musson about the hazy space between composition and improvisation, the magic of a flow state and imagining an industry that can sustain musicians. References: jazz course at Porthcawl (South Wales) with Tony Oxley, Norma Winstone, John Taylor, Steve Argüelles, sound artist Jobina Tinnemans, composer Tony Dudley-Evans, Paul Hamlyn Foundation...

In which eavesdropping host Juliet Fraser talks to soprano Stephanie Lamprea about recontextualising the 'operatic' voice, technique as a set of muscles, and the joy of going to shows. References: Colombian dance styles cumbia, bachata and salsa, Georges Aperghis 'Récitations', composer Amble Skuse, MiMU gloves, misophonia (selective sound sensitivity syndrome), The Old Hairdresser's in Glasgow, a...

In which eavesdropping host Juliet Fraser talks to Madison Greenstone about exstatic resonances, UPPER CASE music and the importance of live performance. References: Raymond Scott, Don Byron, Esquivel!, Éliane Radigue, Luigi Nono's term 'il suono mobile', TAK Ensemble and their festival SWOONFEST, the 2023 iteration of which featured anarchist punk band Sour Spirit, composers Michelle Lou & Natach...

In which eavesdropping host Juliet Fraser talks to Sandra Kazlauskaitė about tactile memories of sound, how we listen and what we listen for, and how we can shape new futures from hidden pasts. References: Extra Sonic Practice research group, Sounding Borders project, SISU collective, GUYZ, DJ Bleed, Jurango, Livity Sound, TraTraTrax, Astrid Sonne and Enya. Sandra will perform in the eavesdropping...

In which eavesdropping host Juliet Fraser talks to Dafne Vicente-Sandoval about repetition and transformation, volatility, and the boundaries between a private and a public practice. References: composers Éliane Radigue, Phill Niblock & Jakob Ullmann, and her recent release exploring feedback, 'Minos Circuit'. Dafne will perform in the eavesdropping festival at Cafe OTO on Sunday 24 March 2024: ht...

In which eavesdropping host Juliet Fraser talks to Soosan Lolavar about entangled cultures, autoethnography, the art of making alongside working and the value of rest. References: santoor, composer Reza Vali, bell hooks, Audre Lorde, Ruthless Jabiru & conductor Kelly Lovelady, ISCM (International Society for Contemporary Music), her book 'Embodied Research through Music Composition and Evocative L...

In which eavesdropping host Juliet Fraser talks to Anna Dennis about the spectrum of creative input, the potency and potential experimentalism of opera, and its wigs. References: composer Elena Langer, Almeida Theatre, Futurism, Dada, Barbara Strozzi & Hildegard of Bingen. Anna will perform in the eavesdropping festival at Cafe OTO on Saturday 23 March 2024: https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/events/eavesd...

In which eavesdropping host Juliet Fraser talks to Tonia Ko about composition as a coping mechanism, being a worm in an apple and becoming (perhaps) the world's only bubble wrap virtuoso. References: composer Donald Reid Womack, Giacinto Scelsi, George Crumb and Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, American Composers Orchestra, video artist Alexandra Cuesta and the Non-Piano/Toy Piano Weekend in Hamburg. Tonia's...

In which eavesdropping host Juliet Fraser talks to Ellie Wilson about her chance encounter with a violin at school, finding her own soundworld, exploring layers of history, and moths. References: André Previn conducting and narrating Benjamin Britten's 'Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra', Stephen Hough playing Grieg's piano concerto, All Tomorrow's Parties, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Ellie's...

In which eavesdropping host Juliet Fraser talks to Mariá Portugal about labels vs tools, improvising across traditions and the comfort of collaboration. References: Moers Festival, her album Erosão (2021), her soundtrack to the film '1976' (released 2023), Soundtrips NRW. Mariá will perform in the eavesdropping festival at Cafe OTO on Thursday 21 March 2024: https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/events/eavesd...

In which eavesdropping host Juliet Fraser talks to Eliza McCarthy about mindful choices, defining weirdness, the sheer impossibility of failure and the adventure of commissioning new music. References: Donnacha Dennehy, Harry Styles, Gabriella Smith, Linda Catlin Smith, Tonia Ko, Cassandra Miller. Eliza will perform in the eavesdropping festival at Cafe OTO on Thursday 21 March 2024: https://www.c...

In which eavesdropping host Juliet Fraser talks to Isa Otoya about being a rebel, multidisciplinarity as a feedback loop and the power of positivity. References: RETAMA Collective Isa composed our new jingle and RETAMA will present an online provocation as part of this year's festival forum on 2 April 2023.