Workshop 1: Canary Wharf College, Crossharbour (June '21)

The gradual lifting of restrictions meant that in June 2021 we were able to resume our education work, and we recently kicked off a new project developed and presented by the Marsyas Trio and filmmaker Julian Hand, in collaboration with composer Laura Bowler supported by Arts Council England and the Marchus Trust. We spent a day with students in Years 9 and 10 at Canary Wharf College Crossharbour, exploring graphic notation, extended performance techniques and experimental filmmaking techniques. The film Salutem, by Julian Hand, commissioned by the Marsyas Trio, was used as a starting point to explore ways that film and music intersect.

Students heard a presentation from the Marsyas Trio, who demonstrated extended techniques on their instruments, and then created their own graphic scores with the help of Laura Bowler, using both notational symbols representing playing techniques, as well as creative visual elements of their own. The pieces were workshopped, performed and recorded by the Trio, with students leading the workshopping and guiding the players through their works.

The second half of the day involved creating films to accompany the recordings, using experimental analogue filmmaking techniques. Filmmaker Julian Hand demonstrated the technique of manipulating film reels by hand, using ink, paint, image transfers, and even objects like combs and tissue paper. The results were colourful, abstract, dramatic audiovisual works, which despite the similar methods used to create them, were strikingly different from one another. Watch six of the student's finished films in the playlist at the top of this page.

Read more about the workshop on the Marsyas Trio's webpage.

If you would like to find out more about this project or enquire about NMC running the project with your students, please get in touch with Director of Development, Alex: alex@nmcrec.co.uk