St John’s Church and grounds on New Briggate, Leeds will be filled with birdsong, light and the music of Rautavaara, Messiaen, and a new commission from Erland Cooper with Swan Song, Opera North’s installation for Light Night Leeds on 10 and 11 October.
With the Howard Assembly Room currently closed for Opera North’s Music Works redevelopment, the company will move across the road to the historic church for two captivating audio-visual collaborations – with Manchester Collective inside and Urban Projections outside – in association with the Churches Conservation Trust.
In the grounds of the church, flocks of tiny lights will ripple and flow in response to a recording of the Orchestra of Opera North performing Swans Migrating by the Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara, which mixes swelling orchestral melody with the calls of whooper swans. The installation was commissioned for Light Night Leeds 2019 from Rebecca Smith (visuals) and Joff Spittlehouse (sound design).
The oldest church in Leeds city centre, St John’s was built during the “Eleven Years’ Tyranny” leading up to the English Civil War. Its Jacobean fittings and decorations include lavish carvings and decoration featuring natural forms and grotesque heads, ceiling reliefs, and appropriately, angels with musical instruments supporting the roof beams.
Inside the church, specially commissioned new music by Erland Cooper (The Magnetic North, Erland and the Carnival) will be live-mixed between each of the thirteen movements of Olivier Messiaen’s epic Catalogue of Birds, performed live by pianist Kerry Wong.
Swan Song will open in St John’s Churchyard from 6.00pm – 10.00pm, and inside the church from 7.00pm – 10.00pm, on Thursday 10 and Friday 11 October. Like all Light Night Leeds events, it’s free and no booking is necessary.
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