Seven Septets
A collective of outstanding contemporary music talents comes together for a live performance spanning classical, jazz and cutting-edge improvisation.
Seven Septets imaginatively extends the experience of a ‘spatially distanced’ live project that was presented at St John’s Smith Square by acclaimed soprano-composer and cellist Héloïse Werner (who has won widespread plaudits for the lucidity and intricacy of her repertoire, with her 2022 debut album Phrases, being described by The Times as an ‘engrossing exploration of the range of the human voice), cellist-composer Colin Alexander (who has worked across an array of musical traditions, and is also the founder of artist-led independent label and site October House Records), and BBC Jazz Award-winning and Mercury-nominated composer, pianist and organist Kit Downes (who has been described as ‘one of the finest pianists of his generation’ by Jazzwise).
‘It was a mixture of improv, and some of our own pieces integrated into the whole concept,’ explains Werner. ‘It was the first kind of big event that we put on post-lockdown, and we loved the project and the audience response, so we wanted to involve more people that we really love, across different instruments, backgrounds and styles, and expand from that starting point.’
Here, the line-up increases to comprise a septet of distinctly far-ranging artists who have earned widespread acclaim in their own right; all of them promise a captivatingly fluid approach to collaboration. Alongside Werner, Alexander and Downes, there is Jas Kayser: a drummer, percussionist, pianist and composer, whose prolific projects have taken her from London to Boston, New York and Panama City, and whose awards have included the Jazz FM Breakthrough Act of the year 2021. Multidisciplinary artist, percussionist and sound designer Angela Wai Nok Hui has created an impact within contemporary classical realms and beyond, with an intent to ‘explore and expand the boundaries of music, performance and sound art’. Cellist-composer, vocalist and theatre performer Laura Moody entwines storytelling narrative and transformative ritual in her music, and has presented it in settings from the International Handel Festival to underground club nights. ECM artist, multi-instrumentalist and composer/arranger/producer Fred Thomas has been hailed as ‘brilliant’ by BBC Music Magazine for his ‘extreme sensitivity to colour and nuance’.
‘We’ve all worked together previously in different contexts or groups, but this will be the first time with all of us collaborating on stage as a septet,’ says Werner.
‘For Seven Septets, we thought we’d bring in people who are simultaneously composers, performers and improvisers, as well as arrangers,’ explains Alexander. ‘For instance, Jas, as well as being a composer and phenomenal technical player, was an ideal person in this scenario where she would bring her own music as well as reworking other people’s compositions in the moment. So that was the thinking behind each of the selections.’
Werner adds that this format enables artists to explore their full range: ‘Laura and I both sing and play our instruments; Angela is super-versatile as an artist and plays all kinds of different percussion; Kit can take on so much without seeming dominating, and Colin plays the cello amazingly; Fred Thomas plays all the instruments you can imagine he could pick up!’
‘I would say that the personalities involved are very generous and relaxed about how they go about things,’ adds Alexander. ‘For this concert, there will be seven pieces, each led by one of us; it’s basically up to the artist how they want to use an existing piece of theirs that they’ve previously performed on a smaller scale, and create a new extended version, with everyone improvising around it all. It will really shift as the performance goes on.’
‘I find this kind of thing very enriching and very freeing,’ enthuses Werner. ‘I think everyone involved in the Milton Hall concert is so brilliant – I’m really keen to leap into what they’re offering and respond to it. I think everyone is of the same mindset; there’s an element of the unknown which might be scary in some circumstances, but there’s also a base of trust and intuition here.’
Alexander agrees: ‘For me, this is the most joyful kind of set-up in some respects, because there’s this openness, for the audience as well as the people on stage. It will be very much about the strong ideas and the personalities of each of the artists coming across and being given space – and we’re very fortunate thar we’ve got such a beautiful space to do it in.’
‘I’m excited by the intimacy of the venue, as well as the acoustics,’ says Werner. ‘Milton Court has got a really good balance – not too boomy; not too dry, making it really nice to sing in.’ The setting should also accentuate the meditative atmosphere of Seven Septets, as she explains: ‘It’s still a super-chilled vibe, but it’s very focused, in a way. When life is so crazy and busy all the time, it’s just so nice to be immersed in that kind of environment.’
© Arwa Haider
Details
Performers
Jas Kayser drums/percussion
Angela Wai Nok Hui percussion
Fred Thomas percussion, cello & keys
Kit Downes cello & keys
Héloïse Werner cello & voice
Laura Moody cello & voice
Colin Alexander cello
Artist biographies
The prolific 26-year old has been picked up as an artist by Paiste Cymbals and Natal Drums and is winning an international following thanks to her eclectic adventures in sound, which have taken her to Panama, Boston and the heart of the London scene, the city where she is now based.
Since appearing with rock legend Lenny Kravitz in a drum duet on the 2018 Low video, drummer, composer and band leader Jas Kayser hasn’t looked back. In 2021 she won both the Jazz FM Breakthrough Act and Parliamentary Jazz Newcomer awards.
An alumna of the prestigious Berklee College of Music, Jas has found herself playing alongside her mentors Terri Lyne Carrington, Danilo Perez and Ralph Peterson, steadily carving out her own niche, with a little help from an ever-expanding collective of musical chums.
Alongside her original project Jas and Chums, she currently drums for Jorja Smith, Alfa Mist and Poppy Ajudha and has featured in bands with leading British lights Nubya Garcia and Ashley Henry, as well as American drummer Ralph Peterson’s Big Band.
Her sultry debut EP Unforced Rhythm of Grace explores the fertile ground that lies between Jazz and Afro-beat and has been championed by the likes of Jamie Cullum, BBC Radio 3, Jazz FM, Mary Anne Hobbs and Jazzwise, among others.
Angela Wai Nok Hui is a percussionist and multidisciplinary artist based in London and Hong Kong.
She studied classical percussion at the Royal College of Music, graduating in 2016, and now focuses on exploring and expanding her practice, as soloist and collaborative musician, with a particular interest in the contemporary classical scene, composing and sound-designing.
Her first solo work, a multimedia experiential performance, titled Let Me Tell You Something, was performed in Hong Kong and the UK to wide critical acclaim and subsequently recorded for Nonclassical.
She works closely with Tim Cape, Gregory Emfietzis, Alex Ho, Lucy Landymore, Angus Lee and Nicholas Moroz. She has also collaborated with composers such as Patricia Alessandrini, Lucy Callen, Frank Denyer, Farzia Fallah, Daniel Fígols, Charlotte Harding, Zhuosheng Jin, Jasmin Kent Rodgman, Jessie Marino, Scott McLaughlin, Alex Mills, Nemanja Radivojevic, Trond Reinholdtsen, Elnaz Seyedi, Ruta Vitkauskaite, Mátyás Wettl, Sławomir Wojciechowski and Raymond Yiu, among others.
She has also worked with leading ensembles, such as the London Symphony Orchestra, Abstruckt Percussion Quartet, Tangram Collective, Explore Ensemble, Octandre Ensemble, Metapraxis Ensemble, Riot Ensemble and Plus Minus Ensemble, to name a few.
In 2018 she collaborated with Yi- Ling Wo to create ManiMani, a three-day residency at the Hundred Years Gallery in East London, a project they subsequently took to the Sonorities Festival of Contemporary Music in Belfast. In January 2020 Angela collaborated with Ghost and John, a Hong Kong multidisciplinary art duo.
She has appeared at many international contemporary festivals, including Huddersfield, the Venice Biennale and the Warsaw Autumn Festival.
Angela is a co-founder of Hidden Keileon CIC, a multidisciplinary artist-led non-profit enterprise aiming at building inter-racial solidarity, create the yet-to-exist and hard-to-imagine.
Fred Thomas is an ECM artist and one of London’s most sought-after multi-instrumentalists and composer/arranger/producers, known for his breadth of musical styles as well as for specialising in creative re-interpretations of JS Bach. Fred’s first appearance on ECM Records was in 2020, as pianist/drummer on Elina Duni’s Lost Ships. His subsequent debut as a leader was on the ECM New Series label with Three or One, 24 pieces by Bach transcribed for trio and solo piano by Fred himself, featuring cellist Lucy Railton and violinist Aisha Orazbayeva, released in 2021.
Of British and Argentinian background, Fred has collaborated with a wide variety of artists worldwide, including Brian Eno, Yo-Yo Ma, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Jordi Savall, Rachel Podger, Meredith Monk, Jarvis Cocker, Lianne Le Havas, Jeanne Added, Elizabeth Kenny, Jill Feldman, Lucy Crowe, Roderick Williams, Ethan Iverson, Larry Grenadier, Benoît Delbecq, Kit Downes, Tamara Stefanovich, Leo Abrahams, Kadialy Kouyate, Olivia Chaney and Kees Boeke. He has released a large number of albums across various genres, particularly classical and jazz, and is published by Spartan Press and Edition Wilhelm Hansen.
Having started to play classical piano at the age of 5, Fred went on to study jazz piano and composition at London’s Royal Academy of Music, where he developed an interest in rhythmic cultures from Africa and Latin America, free improvisation, contemporary classical, medieval music, the Chantilly Codex, improvised counterpoint and Baroque music, in particular Bach. He works regularly as Musical Director with the National Theatre and Shakespeare’s Globe and teaches at Trinity Laban Conservatoire. He has produced albums for labels such as Warner Classics with international artists such as Abel Selaocoe, The Magic Lantern and Alice Zawadzki. His most recent compositions have been performed by ensembles such as the Phaedra Ensemble and Bittersuite.
Kit Downes is a BBC Jazz Award-winning, Mercury Music Award nominated solo recording artist for ECM Records. He has toured the world playing piano, church organ and harmonium with his own bands (ENEMY, Troyka and Elt), as well as with artists such as Squarepusher, Bill Frisell, Empirical, Andrew Cyrille, Sofia Jernberg, Benny Greb, Mica Levi and Sam Amidon.
As a soloist, Kit gives pipe organ and piano concerts – as well as playing in collaborations with saxophonist Tom Challenger, cellist Lucy Railton, composer Shiva Feshareki, saxophonist Ben van Gelder and with the band ENEMY.
He is also currently working with violinist Aidan O’Rourke, drummer Seb Rochford, composer Max de Wardener and in the organ trio Deadeye.
He has written commissions for the Cheltenham Music Festival, London Contemporary Orchestra, Biel Organ Festival, Ensemble Klang at ReWire Festival, the Scottish Ensemble, Cologne Philharmonie and the Wellcome Trust. He also performed as part of the National Theatre production of Network from 2017–18, featuring actor Bryan Cranston.
He has given solo organ concerts at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Lausanne Cathedral, Flagey in Brussels, the Royal Albert Hall and Royal Festival Hall here in London, as well as at Rochester Jazz Festival, St Olaf, Minneapolis (both US), Stavanger Konserthus, Aarhus Philharmonic Musikhuset, Darmstadt Organ Festival, Stuttgart Organ Festival, Laurenskerke in Rotterdam, Orgelpark in Amsterdam, Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church at Berlin Jazz Festival and the BBC Proms, among many others.
He holds a fellowship at the Royal Academy of Music, where he himself studied and now teaches. He has twice been awarded first place in Downbeat’s Critics Poll Rising Star for Organ and Keyboard categories respectively, and his ECM records Obsidian, Dreamlife of Debris and Vermillion have been released to much critical acclaim.
French-British soprano and composer Héloïse Werner released her debut album, Phrases, on Delphian Records in 2022. It features new commissions by Nico Muhly, Elaine Mitchener, Oliver Leith and Josephine Stephenson, as well as some of Héloïse’s own work alongside a selection of Aperghis’s Recitations and was awarded a Gramophone Editor’s Choice, Presto Classical Editor’s Choice, BBC Music Magazine Choral/Song Choice and Classical album of the week in The Times.
As a soprano, Héloïse has recently made her debut with the London Chamber Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic and the Nash Ensemble. In recital and concert, she has performed all over the UK and has formed a particularly strong relationship with the Wigmore Hall since her debut there in January 2021.
A prolific composer, she has written for musicians including violist Lawrence Power, bassoonist Amy Harman, pianist Mishka Rushdie Momen, mezzo-soprano Marielou Jacquard, pianist Kunal Lahiry, violinist Fenella Humphreys, mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston, The Gesualdo Six, The Bach Choir, CoMA, mezzo-soprano Grace Durham and the Miller-Porfiris Duo, with premieres taking place at the Lucerne Festival and Festival Présences. This season’s commissions include new works for Radio France, CBSO, Wigmore Hall, Aurora Orchestra, Clare College Choir, Cambridge, and the London Handel Festival.
She is also soprano and co-director for contemporary quartet The Hermes Experiment (soprano, clarinet, harp and double bass), with whom she has commissioned over 60 new works and released two critically acclaimed albums.
Héloïse was born in Paris, where she was a member of the Maîtrise de Radio France for six years and studied the cello at the Conservatoire Maurice Ravel with Valérie Aimard. She read music at Clare College, Cambridge, studying composition with Giles Swayne, and went on to complete her vocal studies with Alison Wells and coach Anna Tilbrook at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. She was one of BBC Radio 3’s 31 under 31 Young Stars 2020.
Laura Moody is composer, cellist, vocalist, songwriter and theatre performer from the UK. Her work focuses on storytelling, ritual, the expressive potential of musicians’ physicality and the transformation of spaces through sound, music and movement. She considers all of her work to be theatre of some kind. In her solo work she explores what is possible using only acoustic cello and voice to create songs which draw on hugely diverse influences. In 2014 she released her debut solo album Acrobats to widespread critical acclaim, and she has since performed this music everywhere from the International Handel Festival to Europe’s largest fetish club.
Most recently Laura composed, and performed in, five consecutive shows for The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at Shakespeare’s Globe, each one exploring a different way of reinterpreting the same very idiosyncratic, candlelit space and the function of music and musicians within it. Other recent works include Hildegard Portraits, the seance-like Medium for vocalising, ‘mind-reading’ string quartet, and award-nominated scores for the experimental dreamplay at The Vaults Theatre and the radio drama Mary Rose for BBC Radio 3. In 2017 Parallelist, a collaborative music theatre work with the sound artist Clay Gold, was premiered at the Aldeburgh Festival. Dealing with telecommunications, isolation and theories of consciousness, Parallelist exists somewhere between music theatre, one-woman opera and installation art; it will be touring in the near future.
For 15 years Laura was a member of the Elysian Quartet, a string quartet known for its pioneering performances and recordings of contemporary classical, experimental and improvised music. She is a frequent collaborator with Radiohead’s Philip Selway. Other artists with whom she has worked include Meredith Monk, Björk, Simon Fisher Turner, JARV IS, Anna Calvi, Antony and the Johnsons, Peter Gabriel and Kae Tempest.
Colin Alexander is a composer and cellist working across a range of disciplines and traditions. He is also the founder of October House Records. Whilst collaborating with artists such as Kit Downes, Héloïse Werner, Abel Selaocoe, Max Baillie and Shiva Feshareki, Colin also performs regularly with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, LSO Ensemble, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, 12 Ensemble and Dotdotdot Flamenco. Alongside his performing schedule, he has written new works for the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Contemporary Orchestra, Contrechamps, The Mercury Quartet, Hyper Duo and Le Nouvel Ensemble Contemporain.
He studied composition and cello at the Purcell School, Guildhall School of Music & Drama and the Royal College of Music with David Buckley, Richard Baker, Jonathan Cole and Oleg Kogan.
He has released two albums with Addelam on the Big Ship label, features on both Tre Voci – Auro and I hope this finds you well in these strange times, vol 2 on Nonclassical and has more recently released Timelapse on Accidental Records, as well as Homework, While Swimming and codi on October House Records.
