Dancing, Healing, Telling Stories: Opera North Announces RESONANCE 2022 Artists

Opera North today announces the five lead artists who will develop new work in this year's Resonance programme for minority ethnic music-makers, supported by PRS Foundation's Talent Development Partnership, at residencies in Leeds over the next three months: musician Azizi Cole, whose workshop last year was postponed due to the pandemic; flautist Naomi Perera; Persian percussionist Arian Sadr; composer and 'Afro-psychedelic funk' multi-instrumentalist Hannabiell Sanders; and tabla player Mendi Mohinder Singh.

Resonance was launched in 2017 to offer professional musicians and composers based in the north of England and working in any genre the opportunity to develop new ideas, to collaborate with performers from other disciplines, and to take their work in new directions. Previous workshops have led to major commissions for artists including Jasdeep Singh Degun, Testament and Khadijah Ibrahiim.

Born and raised in Handsworth, Birmingham, Azizi Cole is an accompanist at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance. During his Resonance residency he will develop his multidisciplinary work Body Clock, which employs the body as an instrument to compose and perform music as well as to dance, using microphones to amplify the composition. He will collaborate with NSCD alumna Shahada Nantaba and London-based dance artist Issac Ouro-Gnao, with costumes by Jamaican-born, Chapeltown-based seamstress Audrey Mae.

"During these challenging and turbulent times for the arts, it's vital for us to maintain and believe in the longevity of our sense of creativity", says Azizi. "I'm grateful for this opportunity to collaborate and share knowledge and skills with some truly talented artists. As a creative working at the intersection of music and dance, my research explores musicality through movement. This residency with Opera North sees the start of my creative practice as a lead artist. In documenting the process of Body Clock both visually and audibly, I will continue to explore and develop my practice into fuller bodies of work."

York-based flautist Naomi Perera uses electronics and alternative performance contexts to radically expand the possibilities of her instrument. She will work with award-winning saxophonist, improviser, producer and composer Lara Jones on an album detailing the experiences of female music-makers in their own words and performance. Naomi and Lara will improvise around recordings of each musician's playing together with their oral testimony, assembling a soundscape of flutes and electronics in response. The completed album will give voice to the stories of women who are under-represented and routinely discriminated against in the music industry.

"Using conversations and improvisations, we'll be creating five tracks showcasing the stories of five diverse performers", says Naomi. "The time, space and support Resonance is offering is invaluable to us, and we can't wait to get started!"

Manchester-based Persian percussionist Arian Sadr will develop The Wind, a work in three movements exploiting the extraordinary range of sounds produced by the daf (circular frame drum) and the tonbak (goblet drum), to reflect the journeys and upheavals of his life. "I am so pleased and excited to be part of the Resonance project", says Arian. "This is a unique opportunity for me to share my musical ideas with the open-minded musicians of the Orchestra of Opera North, to experiment together, and finally to record the outcome".

Hailing from New Jersey and currently based in Newcastle, composer, bass trombonist, percussionist and mbira player Hannabiell Sanders will weave storytelling, visuals, electronics and percussion through the music of her duo with Yilis del Carmen Suriel, Ladies of Midnight Blue. "The residency will allow me to continue exploring the different ways in which Ladies of Midnight Blue can tell stories through our music by adding electronics and visuals", says Hannabiell. "I will co-create a portable stage set with Yilis and the artist James Davoll that will add a new visual experience for our audiences, and we'll use the residency to practice with it and test out its capabilities".

Picking up the tabla at the age of three was the first step in a career that would take Mendi Mohinder Singh around the world, performing with artists ranging from Peter Gabriel to Take That. Offstage, the percussionist has delivered educational workshops for Birmingham charity Sampad for over 20 years. For Resonance, he will work with four visually impaired people via Leeds BID Services, creating a new body of music that will bring his tabla together with electronics, the sounds of everyday objects, and the rhythms and voices of his collaborators. Mendi hopes that his project will unlock the power of the imagination in music-making, allowing people without specialist training, or even conventional instruments, to take part in a beneficial artistic exchange.

"I am so delighted to be selected for the residency program, and grateful for this opportunity to explore how better to understand, communicate and share in genuinely collaborative music-making with visually impaired and blind people", says Mendi. "Everyone should have the opportunity to make music, to express their creativity, boost their confidence and wellbeing, and this project will be inspiring, uplifting, therapeutic - and fun".

Beginning at the end of February, each of the five lead artists will receive a week of free rehearsal space in central Leeds, a grant of up to £3,500 to cover fees for those involved and other costs, and support and advice from technicians, producers and other specialists. There are also options for a short film to document each project, and a work in progress performance or live stream.

Jo Nockels, Projects Director, Opera North, comments:

"It is fantastic to welcome another group of artists to spend time developing their ideas and trying out new areas of work here at Opera North. While they come from vastly differing musical backgrounds, this year's artists share a concern with contemporary experiences, and the primacy of rhythm and percussion. With collaborators ranging from sight-impaired, non-professional musicians, to dancers and players from Opera North's own Orchestra, we can't wait to share what happens next!"

The Resonance scheme has been enabled by Opera North's membership of the PRS Foundation's network of Talent Development Partners, supported by PPL. The UK's leading funder of new music and talent development, PRS Foundation supports organisations working at the frontline of talent development with a broad range of individual music creators. This reflects PRS Foundation's commitment to supporting composers and songwriters of all backgrounds and genres, through direct investment or by helping organisations which nurture artists and promote their music.

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