ICMS 30th anniversary concert

This performance will take place in the Reid Concert Hall, University of Edinburgh

The Apostrophe Ensemble will premiere a piece for a seven-piece chamber ensemble composed by ICMS Music Fellow Julian Lonchamp and developed through interactions with mathematicians. The performance will be introduced by the composer and followed by a Q&A session.

During his residency with the ICMS, Julien regularly met with a number of ICMS researchers to get to know them, learn about their research, the applications of their findings and the research methods they use, and then to discuss the musical ideas he was developing. The result is a new 20-minute piece for a seven-piece chamber ensemble which will be premiered by the Apostrophe Ensemble as part of the ICMS's 30th anniversary celebrations. The structure of the piece and the development of the musical material were directly influenced by key concepts from ICMS research in fluid dynamics, astrophysics, symmetry or homotopy, which resonated with a number of musical processes. The piece is inspired by the fact that mathematical models can simultaneously describe different scales of the same system. The music invites listeners to initially follow the journey of a single water droplet as it vaporises in the air, before going through large oceanic and atmospheric disturbances and finally following a cluster of stars which are mathematically speaking behaving like squashed water droplets.

Apostrophe Ensemble

Conductor: Derrick Morgan

Flute, piccolo: Roxanne Benezra

Oboe, English horn: Julian Appleyard

Clarinet, bass clarinet: Calum Robertson

Percussion: Darren Gallacher

Violin: Georgina MacDonell Finlayson

Viola: Alastair Mailer

Cello: Atzi Muramatsu

About the composer

Julien Lonchamp is a French composer based in Edinburgh. He is interested in creating novel immersive 'sound-worlds' by combining a wide range of processes (such as microtonality, spectralism or spacialisation) in order to communicate abstract or complex ideas. In particular he is interested in how sound and music work at the interface with other disciplines, including film, visual art and science. His music has been performed by a number of orchestras and ensembles including the Edinburgh Contemporary Music Ensemble, Mr McFall's Chamber and the Tinderbox Orchestra, and has featured at a number of festivals including the Sonorities, Sound Thought and Arches Live festivals.

Composer Julian Lonchamp

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Reid Concert Hall, University of Edinburgh, Bristo Place, Edinburgh, United Kingdom