A song recital about identity, place, and hope.
About this Event
Trailblazing soprano Hannah Dienes-Williams and pianist Gregory May present an intimate evening of contemporary song from some of today’s most exciting composers: exploring what it means to be present, together, and innately human in today’s turbulent world.
The centrepiece of the progamme is the second performance of rising-star composer Zygmund de Somogyi’s 40-minute song cycle, hope songs, channeling themes of mental health, queer self-discovery, healing, and self-love, created in collaboration with poet hazyn forsythe.
The preceding half of the programme consists of meditations on identity and our place within the world. Seminal composer Ben Nobuto’s evocative Sundowning sets dialogue from the movie It’s A Wonderful Life, painting a bleak picture of memory and identity through dementia. A portrait of Womanhood forms the underpinning of Zoë Martlew’s Musae, reflecting the multiplicities of power, frustration, and ultimately love. Contemporary identity is reflected throughout American composer Nahre Sol’s journey to the center of the internet, the titular This is What Makes Us Worlds by composer Nat Jobbins, and the delightful In the Bubble Gum Jungle by Freya Waley-Cohen, setting whimsical text by a nine-year-old child.
Ultimately, WHAT MAKES US WORLDS is an evening celebrating what it’s like to be human. It would be a privilege for you to join us in celebrating our identities and our shared humanity.
Programme:
Ben Nobuto (b.1996) – Sundowning (2025)
Zoë Martlew (b.1968) – You (V), from Musae (2019)
Nahre Sol (b.1991) – journey to the center of the Internet (III), from Apperceptive Algorithms (2022)
Nat Jobbins (b.1997) – This is What Makes Us Worlds (2023)
Freya Waley-Cohen (b.1989) – In the Bubble Gum Jungle (2013)
Zygmund de Somogyi (b.1996) – hope songs (2026)
text by hazyn forsythe
Event venue & nearby stays
The Muddy Puddle, Albion Road, London, UK, United Kingdom
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.