Dundee Contemporary Arts will welcome an exciting night of music to accompany Clare Woods’ current exhibition, a Victim of Geography – a raw and powerful array of oil painted aluminium sheets.
It’s the DCA’s latest venture in their string of Echo projects which aims to shed new light on the works that are displayed in the gallery’s spaces.
Echo looks to invite a multi-disciplinary response to the exhibitions it hosts. It encourages other artistic voice to create their own responses to the work on show in a vast range of mediums.
In collaboration with the Red Note Ensemble and the Edinburgh University Musical Instrument Museum, the project first took place in Edinburgh’s Fruitmarket Gallery to celebrate the reopening of St Cecelia’s Hall and the museum.
It will now make its way to the DCA in August with its four brass players performing a compilation of existing compositions along with a piece written specifically for the project.
Mark O’Keefe, a member of the Red Note Ensemble and the principal trumpeter for the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, will be joined by fellow brass instrument players including; a French horn, tuba and a trombone.
Speaking ahead of the event, Mark said: “We’ll be playing a mixture of pieces from brass quartets, solos, riffs and a piece that was especially composed for this event called ‘Always A Bridesmaid’ by Jim Sutherland”. Audiences can also expect music by Bach, Wagner and much more.
“The players will be playing unconventional instruments which audiences may never have come across.
“The emphasis will be on playing older instruments which are named after or associated with their makers.”
Mark will be playing something similar to a trumpet, called a Khula horn, whereas the tuba player will be playing a Wagner tuba.
The infrequently-used brass instrument that combines tonal elements of both the French horn and the trombone is also referred to as a Bayreuth tuba in English or simply as a Tuben in German.
Mark, who graduated with a Masters in Trumpet Performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, expressed his passion for the project stating that his interests lie in working in unusual venues with different instruments, composers and players.
The music written for this event does exactly that. It takes old instruments from the museum and their accompanying music, and “re-boots” it for a modern audience.
The trumpeter, who lives in Glasgow, looks forward to performing in the DCA and sharing his love of performing. He has worked with his fellow brass players in the past in various different capacities. Previously, he took part in a similar event which worked in conjunction with the work of Mark Wallinger, who exhibited his work at the DCA prior to Clare Woods.
*Blowing Their Horns, Dundee Contemporary Arts, August 10
www.dca.org.uk
