REWILD

Rewild: to return to a more natural or wild state.

Kantos Chamber Choir unites for the first time with folk-classical duo, Stevens & Pound (percussionist Delia Stevens & harmonica/melodeon player Will Pound) in this unprecedented performance.

Beginning with the sounds of seeds in the hands of Delia Stevens, the music grows through soil, roots, branches and birdsong, finally releasing into the air. Scattered throughout the programme are songs from a new song cycle co-written by Stevens & Pound with composer Kerry Andrew. In the Rewild Songbook, traditional British folk songs gently unravel, branching into the genre-bending soundworld of Stevens & Pound and ‘rewilding’ the classical voice. Improvised segues guide us from piece to piece with music as ancient as Hildegard von Bingen through to Stevens & Pound’s raucous reimagining of Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending.

No two performances will be the same; in this experimental musical landscape, we embrace the spontaneity of improvisation, and even perform on wild forest instruments. A musical and ecological journey, Rewild invites us to rediscover our place within nature and reawaken our own wildness.

access

Access information for each venue can be found here:
Manchester | Liverpool

where & when

MANCHESTER FOLK FESTIVAL | Saturday 13 March 14.00
Hallé St Peter's, 40 Blossom Street, Ancoats, Manchester, M4 6BF

LIVERPOOL | Sunday 14 March 15.00
The Tung Auditorium, 60 Oxford Street, Liverpool L7 3NY

The performance will last around 1 hour and 15 minutes without an interval.

The Music

Seeds
Stevens & Pound Seed Improvisation
Hildegard von Bingen O Viridissima Virga
Kerry Andrew with Stevens & Pound Rewild Songbook 1: I Sowed the Seeds of Love

Soil & Roots
Stevens & Pound Burrowing Deep Improvisation
Caroline Shaw Ochre: Siderite & Maghemite
Kerry Andrew with Stevens & Pound Rewild Songbook 2: An Acre of Land

Branches & Leaves
Kantos/Stevens & Pound Branches & Leaves Improvisation
Trad. Improvisation Trees Bend Your Branches Down
Kerry Andrew with Stevens & Pound Rewild Songbook 3: The Trees in the Woods

Birds
Kantos/Stevens & Pound Bird Song Improvisation
Caroline Shaw And the Swallow
Ralph Vaughan Williams arr. Stevens & Pound The Lark Ascending
Kerry Andrew with Stevens & Pound Rewild Songbook 4: My Singing Bird

Air
Kantos/Stevens & Pound Air Improvisation
Delia Stevens Shared Airs
Kantos/Stevens & Pound Breath Improvisation
Kerry Andrew with Stevens & Pound Rewild Songbook 5: Air

the artists

Stevens & Pound 
Kantos Chamber Choir 
Conductor Ellie Slorach