WORKSHOPS FOR COMPOSERS

Coming Up for Air is an ideal framework for a wide range of educational workshops, open to composers of all ages and experience levels. Sessions have been delivered in diverse settings—from University of Cambridge students to whole-class Year 4 primary groups.

Guided by the question “What is possible to perform in one breath?”, composers are invited into a playful and thought-provoking exploration of breath as a musical phenomenon. Workshops delve into:

    • The universal function of breathing and its expressive potential

    • How sound is produced on the flute

    • The impact of different respiratory conditions on breath capacity

    • Extended techniques: what they sound like, how they’re notated

    • Inventing new techniques to include sounds on the inhale—the often overlooked, yet arguably most vital, element of playing

Examples from the 150+ single-breath piece collection are shared throughout, showcasing a wide range of approaches: text scores, traditional Western notation, graphic scores, scribbles on paper, and pieces that exist only in memory.

Coming Up for Air workshops offer a safe and imaginative space for experimentation. They are accessible, adaptable, and tailored to each setting.

Please contact me for more information on delivering Coming Up for Air workshops.

    • Aldeburgh Young Musicians

    • BBC NOW - Primary Schools

    • BBC Philharmonic Learning - Primary Schools

    • Bristol Pre-Conservatoire

    • Chetham's School of Music

    • Junior Royal Northern College of Music

    • National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain

    • ​Sound & Music Skills Session

    • ​The Purcell School

    • Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme: Composition, Alternative Performance and Performance Art (CAPPA)

    • Cambridge University 

    • Carnegie Mellon University

    • Dartington Summer Music School Advanced Composition Course

    • Royal Birmingham Conservatoire

    • Royal Northern College of Music

    • Sound and Music Skills Session (online)

    • University of Huddersfield

    • University of Leeds

    • University of York

    • Ażtak Festival, Poland

    • Bendigo International Festival of Exploratory Music, Australia

    • Poulton Library

    Coming Up for Air serves as an engaging and interactive installation for all ages. A variety of scores are displayed, and audience members are welcome to handle the scores, ask me questions about the various approaches, and ask to hear examples. They can select one or more pieces they want to hear, and when there are at least 5 scores selected, I perform them like a mini-set. Around the space, there are also inviting, playful prompts for audiences of all ages to enjoy, such as bubbles, balloons, and one-breath lyrics.

  • Based in Greater Manchester, I can offer online, hybrid, and in-person modes of delivery. Please contact me for more options to suit the needs of your setting.

    Hybrid with 1 in-person visit + performance

    • ​online pre-visit workshop (90 mins)

    • open access for fielding questions and giving feedback set to a deadline (to be agreed)

    • in-person workshop and public performance including premieres of all completed pieces (1 or 2 full days)

    • professional recording of each piece (either from the venue or through Turnpike Studios)

    Totally online

    • online group workshop 1 (90 mins)

    • open access for fielding questions and giving feedback set to a deadline (to be agreed)

    • online group workshop 2 or individual sessions (to be agreed)

    • professional ​recording of each piece (Turnpike Studios)

    One-off in-person

    • from Key Stage 2  (50 mins per group)

    • can incorporate children's instruments

    • will involve giant scrolls of paper, many colouring pens, possibly a bubble machine

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OPEN CALL FOR SCORES!

  • The call for scores is open to all!

    Pieces must be limited to the performance of one single cycle of breath. Instructions must be included for the inhalation.

    All flutes available (piccolo, C flute, alto, bass).
    Voice/electronics/speaking/physical movement/objects/tape - all welcome!

    The following durations are just averages - it entirely depends on the material!
    Average duration for inhale with suspension - 40 seconds
    Average duration for inhale without suspension - 15 seconds
    Average duration for exhale with suspensions - 60 seconds
    Average duration for exhale without suspensions - 40 seconds

    I will workshop and record all completed pieces, and will notify you every time I perform your piece in public.

    Please write to me with any questions; pieces do not need to be completed to get in touch in the first instance. 

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