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forthcoming / recent
commissions:
a quiet position | trace elements - seven part podcast - nov - dec 2020
soundtrack / sound design - collaboration with Sonia Levy & Radar - 2021
performances:
interference of objects (with Pheobe riley Law) - steklenik gallery, Ljubljana - March 2021
lectures / talks at:
residency:
residency with Pheobe riley Law - Steklenik, Ljubljana - 2021
installations / exhibitions
dissolves | coral (as part of Sonia Levy's online piece) - ZKM, Germany - May 2020 & TBA21 - Aug 2020
audible silence | turbine hall (geophonics) - Audiosphere exhibition - Museo Reina Sofia, Spain - October 2020 - February 2021
island | fjorar - installation at Steklenik, Ljubljana - 2021
workshops:
murmuration # 3 - 'species' - spring 2021
west dean college of arts - september 2021
new piece released: (open) strings | vristulven / västra
talking with Helen & Mark about ink botanic, dissolves, ants eating apricots, teleferica, ice, the sound of Japanese architecture and working with my daughter, Pheobe riley Law;
(part one - part two available in january)
BBC Radio Scotland Outdoors podcast
two texts published November 2020 (with sounds) - both referencing the colonisation and distortion of sound, borders and how there is so much more...
Migration between Nature and Listening - for the Land Lines project (Leeds Uni, Sussex Uni, St Andrews Uni)
https://landlinesproject.wordpress.com/migration-between-nature-and-listening-jez-riley-french/
Listening>Sound Art>Cinematic Distortion - for the On Chorus project
https://on-chorus.com/?jez_riley_sound_culture
un-transmitted data | interference of objects
collaborative video essay with Pheobe Law (originally intended as a performative lecture)
for Alliances and Commonalities, Uni of Arts, Stockholm - Oct 2020
audible silence | weaves
structures resonating
trace elements - a 7 part podcast series for 'we are all bats' listening channel
the seven works will be broadcast from 5th November to 17th December 2020 and feature traces of durational listening experiences. The 7th 'tourism' is a collaborative work with Pheobe riley Law based on our residency in Japan in 2018
Places need to be reserved online at;
https://www.wereallbats.co.uk/trace-elements
in recent weeks i've been working on a series of collaborations for Marsden Jazz festival, Chronotope.
The first piece is now available online & features Matt Bourne & Keeley Forsyth.
Sound Artist (located sound, field recording, mix, edit) by myself & on this one, Jo Kennedy (assistant).
performances were recorded in full ambisonics, as well as a stereo mix down for the online versions, & other mics to bring out elements of the site and the intensity of Keeley's lyrics and performance.
2 more videos from this collaboration will be published online soon;
https://marsdenjazzfestival.com/…/chrono…/keeley-and-matthew
by Pheobe riley Law & myself
a simple thing for those who want to do it sometime in the coming weeks
score for listening - entice new normality
the score will also be part of the walking from scores event at gmea
http://www.gmea.net/evenement/walking-from-scores…
scores by Peter Ablinger, Doug Barrett, Elena Biserna, Blank Noise, George Brecht, Cornelius Cardew, Stephen Chase, Giuseppe Chiari, Seth Cluett, Philip Corner, Bill Dietz, David Dunn, Haytham El-Wardany, Esther Ferrer, Simone Forti, Francesco Gagliardi, Jerome Giller, Oliver Ginger, Anna Halprin, David Helbich, Dick Higgins, Christopher Hobbs, Jerome Joy, James Klopfleisch, Milan Knizak, Alison Knowles, Takehisa Kosugi, Bob Lens, Ligia Lewis, Alvin Lucier, Walter Marchetti, Larry Miller, Tim Mitchell, Max Neuhaus, Pauline Oliveros, Yoko Ono, Open City [Andrew Brown, Katie Doubleday and Simone Kenyon] & Emma Cocker, Nam June Paik, Michael Parsons, Ben Patterson, Pheobe riley Law & Jez Riley French, Paul Sharits, Hugh Shrapnel, Mark So, Standards, Nicolas Tardy, Davide Tidoni, Ultra-red, Wolf Vostell, Manfred Werder, Ben Vautier, La Monte Young.
released 7/8/2020 - instamatic | japan (2011)
pleased to have part of the 'ink botanic' series of works focusing on the sounds of plants included in this new series on BBC radio 4 - in the 'tree' episode later in July & also a longer extract in this slow radio programme this Sunday 28th June 23:30 (UK), along with lots of other interesting folks of course.
slow radio - last songs of gaia
the plants and insects episode is available to listen to here
Raquel Castro's latest documentary film, SOA, will premiere at IndieLisboa film festival - Aug-Sept 2020. Raquel filmed part of the documentary at the 'murmuration' gathering in 2018 and interview me on the subject of my work with sounds above and below our range of hearing, some of which are also included in the soundtrack
copies of 'ós pressan #4 - multilingual literary anthology from Iceland' have arrived, featuring some of the Icelandic 'scores for listening' by Pheobe riley Law & myself
dissolves | coral
this piece will be used to accompany Sonia Levy's online variation of For the Love of Corals (soundtrack by myself and Georgia Rodgers) for ZKM's 'Critical Zones' exhibition, May 2020
the 'Hyperobjects' exhibition catalogue is now available via Catalyst Arts, featuring Saša Spačal, Mark Peter Wright, Matmos, Jasmin Märker, Joey O'Gorman, Baum & Leahy, ARM & myself. It was put together by the artist / curator, Edy Fung
'Last and First Men'
by Jóhann Jóhannsson
narrated by Tilda Swinton
sound design by Jana Irmert
field recordings by Chris Watson
additional sound recordings by Jez riley French
available on blu-ray, cd & LP
archives opened;
temperance five (JrF, Hankil Ryu, Daniel Jones, Paul Khimasia Morgan & Patrick Farmer)
misshapen lodge - a series of 18 albums of live performances, one per week.
all proceeds to food bank and cancer charities during cv19.
myself and Pheobe riley Law have some scores in the latest issue of Ós - Icelandic Arts Journal - published February 2020
0℃ at ICC from Yoichi Kamimura on Vimeo.
video documentation of the exhibition of 0°C at ICC, Tokyo
documentation of performance at the opening night of 'Hyperobjects', Catalyst Arts, Belfast 2019 - projected texts by Pheobe riley Law
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'climate symphony' by Leah Borromeo, Jamie Perera and Katharine Round gets its premiere at CPH: DOX, with the Danish chamber Orchestra & field recordings by myself & Pheobe riley Law
'The Climate Symphony was developed in our own CPH:LAB and has its premiere in an audiovisual live concert with musicians from the Danish Chamber Orchestra, where the audience will experience humanity's influence on Earth over 12,000 years. From evolution to revolution, from survival to progress, wealth and war. The issues affecting our climate are tonight represented by the orchestra's instruments in an interplay with the voices from nature's many habitats. In the meantime, a collage of archive footage and images is projected, which make up fragments of our memory and the visual detritus of human history.'
__________________________________
also at the festival is a screening of 'Last and First Men' by Johann Johannsson, featuring sound design by Jana Irmert using recordings by herself, Johann, Chris Watson & myself.
____________________________________
happy to have some work featured on Borealis Festival radio throughout the festival & March online, alongside Pheobe riley Law & lots of good folks
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musical ecologies at Onassis Foundation program now available online. Thanks to Valia Christopoulou for programming one of my scores alongside works by;
Annea Lockwood, Alison Knowles, Hildegard Westerkamp, Maggi Payne, Katerina Jedaki, Kaija Saariaho, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Toru Takemitsu, Jennifer Walshe, Pauline Oliveros, Judith Hamann, Michael Pisaro, John Cage, Luc Ferrari, John Luther Adams, Alvin Lucier, Sarah Hennies, Messiaen, Ligeti, Anne LeBaron, Berio, Doina Rotaru, James Tenney, Christian Marclay, Max Neuhaus, Bill Fontana etc.
44O+
a set of pieces commissioned by Spikersuppa Lydgalleri for diffusion through the evening and night
at the Spikersuppa in central Oslo - January - february 2020
jez riley french
with pheobe riley law
teleferica (oslo)
for several years I have been travelling to Italy to document teleferica, Searching along hillside paths and roads for those that are still resonating, still perhaps in use or at least maintained, some that have lost their initial purpose but still register. My enjoyment, my practice then is durational listening, often at micro-levels. I listen for hours, days, the weather conditions impacting the teleferica; storms approaching, heat peaks shifting the drones, insects and birds resting or calling through the structures and the ever present, seemingly infinite detail.
island | fjórar | crystal detector
composed from recordings gathered on several trips to Iceland, listening to the sound of radio antenna cables, glacial melt, snipe and lava rock dissolving.
there is a line between sound tourism and allowing an intuitive response to the performative act of listening to new situations. on one side of the line is imposition, on the other an acceptance of an affected reality
voice, tape, reeds, snare | Jez riley French & Pheobe riley Law
for voice, percussion, shells, stones, snare, reeds, tape - recorded in Oslo (vigeland) and East Yorkshire.
Only a fraction of a second
in the outline of colour
is applied smoothly and decisively,
salts | sopra
‘salts' is a series of works based on recordings of structures and built spaces (using JrF contact microphones & geophones), either without any additional sound source or when sounded by musicians or other activities. The piece for Oslo involves a string ensemble, 16mm film sound and organ, recorded through architecture, filtered by the space itself and recorded using self developed techniques.
(+) ink botanic (extract)
traces of durational listening to the internal sounds of plants, recorded with self-designed and built adapted microphones. This new series seeks to reveal the actual sound of plants as opposed to their sonification, a factor in our sense of the idyll we often create in our perception of ‘nature’. The microphones and techniques I have developed for these works are also currently in use in the filming of a new David Attenborough series for 2020.
https://www.attenboroughcentre.com/events/3537/acoustic-ecologies-festival/
Acoustic Ecologies festival, centred on the work of Hildegard Westerkamp
I'll be premiering a new piece in the island | fjorar series 'resonant silica';
island | fjórar - resonant silica
(2020)
4 channel
using recordings of geothermal activity and the infrasound of the earth revolving on its axis (recorded using specially adapted geophones), this piece reflects on the connection between the personal elements of durational listening, physical / social resonance and the unravelling of false narratives around 'natural' sound.
island | fjórar is a series of works drawing on listening experiences on several trips to Iceland. Pieces have so far been installed and performed in Norway, Japan, England and Northern Island.
i'll also be delivering a masterclass with students on the wednesday.
further info on the festival:
“Some biologists have made it their calling to use their special knowledge and education to look at the natural world from the ecological perspectives. Why then should composers and musicians not make it their calling to use their special knowledge and education to listen to the world from the ecological perspective?” -- Hildegard Westerkamp - 2002
Join us for Acoustic Ecologies - three days of talks, discussions, concerts, films and installations arts with environmentally engaged artists and researchers from the University of Sussex and around the globe. Centred on a celebration of the music and ideas of Hildegard Westerkamp (DE/ US), other artists include: Leah Barclay (AU), Angus Carlyle (UK), Anja Kanngieser (AU), Annie Mahtani (UK), Jez Riley French (UK), Steven Feld (US), Yolande Harris (US), Hanna Tuulikki (FI) & Voces del Bosque (EC) plus new works from Sussex Music students Dylan Beattie, Ryan Bridgewater, Catherine Ireton, Louis Berna Moya, Pete Myson, Max Worgan and Tim Young.
Hildegard Westerkamp (1946-) is a soundmaker, teacher and thinker who is celebrated today as the mother of acoustic ecology - the study of the sonically mediated, reciprocal relationships between the environment and its inhabitants. Westerkamp’s pioneering work at the intersections of composition, environmentalism, acoustic communication, radio arts, listening practices and soundwalking activate an awareness of sound as a decisive dimension of the world, an idea that underpins, and is transforming contemporary thinking across social, political, artistic and scientific practices of environmental respect and concern.
Acoustic Ecologies celebrates Hildegard Westerkamp’s vision of the artist/composer as a crafts person, trained in all disciplines of sound, and as someone entirely connected to and useful in the real world; Acoustic Ecologies highlights the valuable interactions between artistic and scientific concepts and methods for engaging with the soundscape; Acoustic Ecologies explores the role of listening in developing environmental understanding, empathy, communication and action.
The Festival of Music and Ideas is a collaboration between the Attenborough Centre for Creative Arts and the Department of Music, University of Sussex. Artistic Director, Dr. Alice Eldridge.
island | fjorar (glacial objects)
drawing on recordings of glacial melting in Iceland this piece in the ‘island | fjorar’ series this piece listens in on the ultrasonics of glacial ice in situ and drifting in fjallsarlon and jokulsarlon lagoons, minerals recovered from the ice dissolving, the infrasound of the world turning below the glaciers and interactions with a pipe at a harbour fed by an ice-melt river.
Hyperthermia——Thermotherapy ”” related project “0 ° C” will be staged at the ICC theater, Tokyo, Japan - December 13 / 2019 - March 1 / 2020
featuring work by;
Lear Beefman
Jez Riley French
Ryuichi Sakamoto
Philippe Samarzis
Hideki Umezawa + Yoichi Kamimura
“0 ℃” has been operated as a sound project on ice and snow by Yoichi Kamimura and Hideki Umezawa since 2016. While communicating with artists from all over the world, we collect, listen to and perform various environmental sounds of snow and snow, and let us imagine the far-away natural environments such as Antarctica and Greenland. It has been developed as a project to think about the relationship.
This time, we focused on the polar regions where harsh nature spreads, soliciting sounds from artists who went to such areas and recorded the sounds of ice and snow.
The soundscape of drift ice and icebergs spreading under the environment of the 5.1ch sound system of the ICC Theater makes you perceive the ice environment that is definitely decreasing on a global scale. And by experiencing the changes in the environment far away from the city of Tokyo through sound, you can imagine a natural environment that has surpassed human power, but is definitely changing under human influence.
Pheobe has uploaded some extracts from her work with sound, including some from the 'interference of objects' series of collaborations, on to her soundcloud page;
i'm pleased to announce that places on the murmuration # 3 trip in April 2020 are now available for booking. As with previous trips it will be a special week in good company, with good food and stunning scenery:
https://jezrileyfrench.co.uk/murmuration-2020.php
'scores for un-transmitted data'
for this years Newcastle University Degree Show postcard auction (run by students to raise funds for degree show costs) I have put together a series of text scores in collaboration with a number of artists including Pheobe riley Law, Judy Nylon, Eliza Bozek, Gabrielle HB etc.
The set of scores will be printed in an edition of 5, with only 2 being made available publicly via the auction - one online & one at the live auction event in Newcastle later in November.
the scores will be printed on special paper stock kindly supplied by GF Smith & will be accompanied by a coil microphone.
island | fjorar - glacial objects
(4 channel)
NCC / ICC - Tokyo, Japan - from 10th December as part of 0_degree group show; Hyperthermia, including pieces by Ryuichi Sakamoto, Leah Beeferman, Yoichi Kamaimura, Philip Samartzis etc
'dissolves | fjorar' (sound) + live performance (opening night) - Hyperobjects, Catalyst Arts, Belfast 7th Nov - 5th Dec, 2019
I've supplied Chris Watson with contact microphones and hydrophones for some years now & currently he's using a new set of JrF c-series contact microphones to record plant sounds for the next Attenborough series. (photos by Chris Watson)
latest issue of Sonic Ideas Journal (Mexico) is now available, featuring some thoughts on the process of recording & reflecting on 'The Height of the Reeds' project for Hull, Capital of Culture 2017
https://sonicideas.org/mag.php?vol=11&num=21&secc=articles
dissolve | lugnas (4 channel)
Armstrong Arches, Newcastle, October 11-14th, 2019
pleased to announce that 'for the love of corals' by Sonia Levy that I created the soundtrack for, along with Georgia Rodgers will be at Baltic, Newcastle on 20th September
as part of a day of work and discussion around the subject of the climate emergency - more details here
dissolve | lugnas (4 channel)
an extract from a long form recording in the dissolves series
listening in on various structures (built and found) in a state of flux
minerals from near to Lugnas, Mariestad Municipality, Västra Götaland, Sweden
sublimation
set alongside a geophonic recording of a local building being resonated by the earth spinning on its axis
this work, alongside work by
Pheobe riley Law
Phill Niblock
Yvette Janine Jackson
Katt Hernandez
Peter Cusack
Lorenzo Brusci
Tim Shaw
Lucía Hinojosa Gaxiola
Jez riley French
Brett Ascarelli
Jenny Sunesson
Maria Nordsø Lundberg
David Burraston
Kamen Nedev
Martyna Poznańska
Youngjae Lih
Robert Aeberhard
Jacek Smolicki
will be exhibited as part of Detroit, Stockholm's Walking Festival of Sound - 5th-8th September 2019 & in the Armstrong arches at Newcastle University in October
three soundworks for 'Benjamin', Radio Papesse tram shelter transmission project, Florence, Italy - October 2019
Benjamin. Sounds from the tramway , a sound art festival that will occupy the shelters of the Florentine urban tram, from 10 to 13 October 2019 .
Waiting for the next tram - between one service announcement and another - the travelers - urban commuters, residents and visitors - will become public: surprise, participation, interaction, dialogue, disorientation, fun , are the goals that Radio Papesse will try to achieve with a schedule of audio works - selected via Open Call - that talk about travel and waiting. The goal is to transport travelers into an unsettling, surprising elsewhere , to live - even for a few seconds - the experience of places, real or imaginary, far away, contrasting with what they see from the tram stop.
currently working on new prototype mics for listening to plants
https://soundcloud.com/jezrileyfrench/tree-inner-sounds-testing-prototypes-of-jrf-plant-microphones?fbclid=IwAR0ZTd7kTLlExv2hpFuvxXAxoJYBG1f7bQWPx0aq-SSuopLsymeS9zXaURE
(photo by Pheobe riley Law, from her 'desire lines' project / book)
a recent interview by Jude has been published in The Sunday Tribune online:
(the full text can also be found in the 'words' section of my website
myself & Pheobe riley Law have multiple works included in this years Radiophrenia broadcast festival, online and at Glasgow Centre for Contemporary Art
May 2019
For the Love of Corals - film by Sonia Levy, original soundtrack by Jez riley French (also using two pieces by Georgia Rodgers)
commissioned by Obsidian Coast (installation) will also be screened at Goldsmiths University, April 2019 and at the Natural History Museum, Paris, April 13th 2019
from Jardins Des Plantes event information (natural history museum of France):
A reflection on the artistic, ecological and political issues of the seas and oceans through presentations of works by artists, projections, speeches ... As part of the exhibition Ocean, an unusual dive:
https://www.facebook.com/events/364415394380957/ ► Introduction by Hélène Artaud (anthropologist, Museum) ► Presentation by Hélène David, photographer, of her book "Noces or the confines of the wild" (sun / sun editions) ► Screening of Sonia Levy's film, "For the Love of Corals" (26 min - French Premiere) followed by a conversation between the artist and Sebastien Faninoz (biologist, observer of the coral spawning in New Caledonia) ► Presentation by Hervé Glotin (bioacoustician, CNRS - University of Toulon) of his work on real cetacean swimming wave signals in more or less anthropised environments using innovative algorithms. Free admission, limited seating available. Auditorium of the Grand Hall of
I have several pieces included in this years Borealis Festival Radio Programme:
infrared corals / shee(r) glan / copenhagen gate (locked groove)
several of my recordings of structures were used by Jóhann Jóhannsson for the sound (soundtrack & sound design) to his film 'First and Last Men', which has now been completed, by a team including Jana Irmert & will be released fully soon.
i'm pleased to announce that I have been nominated for a Norwegian Grammy award my work on 'Height of the Reeds'. At the very least the recognition of located sound as a compositional creative equal element within explorative music is perhaps important.
Pheobe & myself - residency, Japan
(photos by Hajime Kato)
my daughter and collaborator Pheobe riley Law is now included on the female_pressure visibility website - a site aiming to raise the visibility of the diverse range of women working in all areas of the sound arts
http://femalepressure.tumblr.com/post/181917287715/pheobe-riley-law-artist-sound-artist#notes
four new and archive releases - december 2018
https://engravedglass.bandcamp.com/music
returning | reeds - Jez riley French assisted by Pheobe riley Law
one hour listening to the pebble table - Jez riley French
scores for listening # 70 & 80 - Bethany Nicholson (cello), Jez riley French (score, located sound)
installation | pollau - Natalia Borrisova with Jez riley French
'elusive fields' collects some of my work with sounds above and below our range of hearing - works exploring electromagnetics, infrasound, ultrasound and vlf signals.
extract from the review in November's The Wire magazine:
'Jez riley French has spent many years in pursuit of the worlds more delicate and overlooked sounds...It's not surprising that his interest also extends beyond the audible realms. Comprising tracks recorded over the past seven years for installations, soundwalks and performances, Elusive Fields captures ultra and infrasound, and electromagnetic frequencies, bringing them within the limits of human hearing. What it reveals is often startling...French's skill is both as documentarian and interpreter, selecting and processing the waves in a way that makes them audible, yet preserves a sense of strangeness...'
an extract from the album will be broadcast on Late Junction (BBC radio 3) on xmas day 2018
the first 'murmuration' workshop took place in June 2018 & was a fantastic week. Having run & tutored on workshops for many years I have to say this one was quite something - a combination of great location, fascinating participants & guest artists and an overall atmosphere amongst all attending of a broad, engaged and inclusive exploration of all aspects of located sound (sound art, field recording, acoustic ecology, bioacoustics, sound design, soundscape, sound installation & diffusion etc).
details of murmuration # 2 - 'view', taking place in June 2019 are now available along with a booking form by clicking here.
murmuration # 2 | view
with Chris Watson, Jez riley French & guest artists
June 15th - June 21st 2019
Glenshee, Scotland
£795 per person inc. full board
limited places available
a track from the 'salts | adagios' album will be played on BBC radio 3's Late Junction - 24th May 2018 & the programme will then be available to stream online for a few weeks.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b3fqq8
I shall be giving a series of talks and a workshop in Copenhagen during June 2018:
'the choreography of perception' (talk & workshop) as part of the 'Sounding Bodies research project' at the Royal Danish Academy of Arts - 21st & 22nd June
&
'the elusive fields' (talk) at Rytmisk Musikkonservatorium - 20th June
pleased to announce that the release of the long awaited and much requested pieces from the 'salts | adagios' project is now available. These pieces use JrF contact mics and geophones placed around architectural spaces to capture the buildings being resonated by ensembles performing re-scored compositions - a concept and technique I have developed and established over the past decade or so.
it can be ordered via bandcamp as a limited ty compact disc pr download, or preferably direct from the following link. thanks
I shall be part of the August 'what we talk about' event at The Whitworth, Manchester - along with Poppy Bowers, Kalliopi Tsipni-Kolaza & Sam Belinfante - discussing sound & listening & specifically about my work with recording architecture, including the Whitworth Gallery itself resonated by the infrasound of the world turning
http://whenwetalkaboutwork.co.uk/programme/on-sound-and-listening/
'audible silence' series at Blue Dot Festival, Jodrell Bank - July 2018
I was asked by the curator of the arts programme to create some work for the festival and to curate an afternoon of talks & performances based around sound, science and the environment
i'm pleased to announce the line up includes:
Jana Winderen https://www.discoverthebluedot.com/profile/jana-winderen-audible-silence-series
Dawn Scarfe https://www.discoverthebluedot.com/profile/dawn-scarfe,-'bee-strings'-audible-silence-series
Sonia Levy https://www.discoverthebluedot.com/profile/sonia-levy,-'for-the-love-of-chorals'-audible-silence-series
Alice Eldridge https://www.discoverthebluedot.com/profile/dr-alice-eldridge,-'learning-to-listen-to-biodiversity'-audible-silenc
Jo Langton https://www.discoverthebluedot.com/profile/jo-langton-audible-silence-series
& myself
Jez riley french https://www.discoverthebluedot.com/profile/jez-riley-french-audible-silence-series
murmuration
4th - 10th June 2018
with
Chris Watson
Jez riley French
and special guests inc. Heather Ross, Stephanie John, Yvonne Billimore, Gill Russell
i'm pleased to announce the first murmuration - a Scottish gathering of listeners in an area of stunning habitats from Munros (mountains over 3000 feet) to Loch’s, rivers and glens.
The trip promises to be not only a rich source of inspiration, listening and recording possibilities but a chance to discuss and share knowledge around the subjects of located sound, acoustic ecology and contemporary sound practice in its varied forms.
cost: £795 per person
which includes 6 nights full board accommodation in Glenshee, on the edge of the Cairngorms
Monday 4th June to Sunday 10th June, 2018
to secure your place please email Jez here
ALL PLACES CURRENTLY RESERVEDBUT DO EMAIL IF INTERESTED & YOU WILL BE PLACED ON A WAITING LIST SHOULD ANYONE DROP OUT.
(see below for booking terms & conditions)
The week is intended for those with some experience of working with located sound / field recording & other areas of experiential site-specific work as it will be in the format of a field trip / gathering rather than a series of formal, instructional steps for beginners. That said we of course welcome participants at all stages of experience and both Jez & Chris will be on hand throughout to offer guidance, support and deliver talks on various aspects of the act & art of listening. These will be scheduled on site to fit in with the weather and with the interests of those attending, but will include discussion of subjects such as:
. ambisonic recording
. extended field recording techniques (contact microphones, hydrophones, coils, ultrasonics, geophones & infrasound)
. sound diffusion
. the history of field recording & of contemporary sound practices (sound art, sound design, location sound)
. the ecological ear & environmental sonic concerns
. microphone & recorder choice / listening through the technology
. the psychology of listening
Apart from the always varied and interesting participants who will be coming from a wide range of sound based backgrounds Jez & Chris have extensive experience of located sound recording, sound art, sound ecology, sound design, response to locales and related areas, so whatever your connection to sound or a sense of place there will be plenty of information and ideas to share and explore. We’ll also be inviting some guests to join us, to assist, share their insights, give talks, share work and lead sound walks. full details will follow shortly.
location
Accommodation for this unique trip will be at Gulabin Lodge in Glenshee, Highland Perthshire. We have booked the entire site, including the house, to ensure we can come & go as we please at all hours.
As mentioned, the accommodation is fairly remote and so the nearest train station is either Pitlochry or Dundee, some 45 - 60 mins away by car.
The nearest airports are Edinburgh and Aberdeen, both around 2hrs away or Glasgow which is 2hrs 15mins away.
once all places on the trip are filled we’ll email you all allowing you to connect with each other & discuss car sharing options, lifts to & from the station etc.
Accommodation is in shared rooms, most of which have between 2 and 9 beds. The lodge can sleep a total of 37 people however to ensure we have space to spread out and for a good group size places available for participants are limited to well below capacity. Bed lined is provided but you do need to bring your own towels.
We’ll have full catering consisting breakfast, packed lunches (or soup / sandwiches at the lodge if we’re not out & about) & evening meal. All dietary needs will be accommodated of course.
Itinerary:
Monday 4th June: arrive after 3pm, with our evening meal planned for 7:30pm followed by an introductory meeting
Tues - Saturday: daily activities exploring the area + evening talks & playback / review sessions to be scheduled according to the good old Scottish weather - if its fine we’ll be out exploring no doubt !
Given the location & the wealth of environments nearby it is advised that participants have their own transport & are prepared to spend some time during the week working independently or in smaller groups. We will attempt to car share for exploring further afield once there & in the run up to the course we’ll connect all participants so that any car sharing / lifts to & from the accommodation can also be arranged. There are plenty of locations nearby, including several Munro’s & renowned walking routes, for those who want to explore on foot of course. Jez & Chris will of course be on hand to assist and guide people who wish to learn more about the techniques they use or simply to join in their explorations.
some of the locations nearby include:
. 21 Munros within a 15 mile radius inc. Glas Maol, Tolmount, Cairnwell, Can a Gheoildh & Ben Gulabin
. Glenshee Glen , Glen Lochsie & Glen Tairneach
. The Cateran trail - a walking path used by 15th century cattle rustlers
. several Loch’s inc. Loch Vrotachan, Loch Beanie, Auchintaple Loch & Loch Muick
. Corrie Fee National Nature Reserve
. Mar Lodge Estate, home to BBC’s Winterwatch
. several water courses of various sizes inc. Allta Ghlinne Bhig, Alt Coolah & Shee water + small glen pools that should be rich with aquatic flora & fauna.
. during the week we’ll hold screenings of films with a strong connection to located sound including Emily Richardson’s ‘Cobra Mist’ (soundtrack by Chris Watson & Benedict Drew), Amanda Belantara’s ‘Sonotoki’ capturing simple moments of daily life in a Japanese village, Heather Ross' 'Domestic Dawn Chorus' & a rare UK screening of Christopher Thompson’s documentary ‘The New Wild’ on how human use of remote natural spaces is changing.
Sunday 10th June: depart after breakfast by 11am.
Gulabin Lodge also has on site mountain bike rental which is available for an additional charge payable directly to the lodge owners (£20 per day / £60 for 5 days).
We will be based some distance from the nearest town, Blairgowrie which is approx 35 mins by car, so it is advised that you arrive with any additional supplies you might need for the week, though i’m sure we’ll be making at least one trip to restock.
Although we are going to be in a stunning part of Scotland we would advise that there might well be different sonic elements audible in some of our surroundings; walkers, flights overhead, road hum in the distance in some locations at certain times. Aspects of the reality of environmental sound will be discussed during the trip, including whether expectation might serve to separate us from the reality of a planet in constant flux.
Following the trip participants will be welcome to contribute recordings or pieces stemming from the trip to a special edition of Framework (Resonance FM) curated & compiled by Jez & Pheobe, along similar lines to the ‘a quiet position - orford ness’ edition, which can be found here: a quiet position - orford ness
Above all the trip will be a chance for us to gather together & spend several days listening, recording, sharing our experience and generally having a great time meeting good folks. So do join us & be part of this murmuration of listeners !
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now that Johann Johannsson has stepped away from the new Blade Runner 2046 film I can reveal that parts of his score involved extracts from my contact microphone recordings archive, transformed via an elaborate revox / analogue synth based system. It's doubtful the score will therefore appear but who knows where the experiments will go.
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pleased to announce that Burberry have commissioned a soundtrack / sound installation for their 'Here we are' exhibition of British photography as part of London Fashion Week, with the exhibition from Sept 18th - Oct 1st at the Old Sessions House, London 2017. The piece will feature recordings from around the UK by myself & one of Pheobe Law's soundwalk recordings from this summer.
https://uk.burberry.com/london-fashion-week/september-show-2017/the-exhibition/
'ceramic dissolves' - performance with Pheobe riley Law at Made in Korea exhibition as part of the British Ceramics Biennial, Stoke, UK - September 2017
as part of the same British Ceramic Biennial commission my piece 'Korean dissolve' is available on the soundwalk app 'Celadonaphonic' along with pieces by Hankil Ryu, Jason Singh, Seehee Choi, Young Eun Kim and Joseph Young.
'icelandic dissolve' - a piece exploring the effects of acid rain on Icelandic minerals and the slow retreat of glacial ice was premiered as part of the 'Benthic Caress' event in Plymouth as part of the arts festival, September 2017, along with work by Chris Watson & Leah Barclay. Photo by Laura Denning
myself & my daughter, Pheobe riley Law have curated an edition of Framework radio based on contributions from ourselves, Chris Watson & all the participants of the workshop we ran on Orford Ness. It can be streamed or downloaded here: http://www.frameworkradio.net/2017/07/609-2017-07-30/
happy to be part of a special programme on the soundtrack of & imposed on 'nature' for BBCradio3 Music Matters:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08t159k
'through the more recent things' - one hour curated radio programme for websynradio, france - june 2017
featuring recordings by myself & Pheobe riley Law + a joint improvisation
pleased to announce 'the sonics of transmitted red' will be part of a sound art exhibition at the National Centre for Contemporary Arts, Moscow form June 6th to July 16th, 2017
using a variety of tv monitors displaying GF Smith graded tones of the colour red , in sequence, the ultrasonics and infrasonics of these transmitted colours are made audible through the use of various specialist devices.
to purchase click here
first edition (150 copies)
saddle stitched A5 photobook
with download code to 350+ minutes of sound documenting realisations (listening and performed)
+ initial copies come with a separate limited edition booklet for 'score for listening # 80' prepared for two performances by Nordic Affect in Iceland (at Mengi 2016 & Harpa 2017)
'Jez riley French’s photographic scores series is a compelling intervention in this sea of images. They invite the viewer to see them as conduits, representations, translations or spurs for sound – and this remediation has the effect of reversing some of the effects of our image- saturated culture. Where time in the age of the digital photograph is produced by gliding from one image to the next, French’s photos attempt to bring temporality into the experience of viewing. The images manufacture an experience of time through the visual evocation of sound and soundscapes....By introducing the experience of duration into our consumption of images, via the mediation of phonography, they invite us to attend seriously to our mediated environment and consider our contribution to it'
- Haworth (Source Journal of Photography - spring 2016'
pleased to announce publicly that I will be creating an installation around sounds recorded in Iceland for the John Grant curated 'North Atlantic Flux' festival as part of Hull 2017. Expect to hear glaciers being heated by the sea, found strings and the the sound of the world turning....
https://www.hull2017.co.uk/whatson/events/john-grants-north-atlantic-flux-sounds-from-smoky-bay/
my deep thanks to Nordic Affect for their realisation of 'score for listening # 80' at Harpa, Dark Music Days festival, Reykjavik, Iceland on 27/1/2017 - their sensibilities and intuitive response to the score are amazing. The full recital is available to stream here:
http://www.ruv.is/sarpurinn/ras-1/myrkir-musikdagar-2017/20170130
some of my 'scores for listening' series will be exhibited on the listening wall as part of this exhibition in London - alongside work by Yoko Ono, Pauline Oliveros, John Cage, Salome Voeglin etc.
the ever fascinating Nordic Affect ensemble will perform a realisation of my collaborative photographic / text score 'score for listening # 80 - four variations' at Reykjavik's Dark Music Days festival on 27th January 2017
i'm pleased to have been appointed co-director of the Sound and Environment Symposium at Hull University - June 2017
'not much is a lot that can happen in fifteen minutes....its a matter of scale and position'
sound / video
Jez riley French & Pheobe riley Law
in response to the publication by Helen Shaddock - for the No Niceties exhibition - Newbridge Project, November 2017
one of the limited artist edition (10) 'our, of the olive tree' postcard contact mics + 3inch cdr of 'soundtrack for a postcard # 1' will be available as part of the Newcastle Uni fine art auction 2nd December. Online bids are possible - do support it if you can as the students there are doing some really interesting work (as usual)....
http://www.nclpostcardauction.com
several of my field recordings are included in two 'one minute of listening' educational packs alongside pieces by Bjork, Coltrane, Jason Singh, Anna Meredith, Mica Levi & others - supplied to every primary school in Hull during 2016 / 2017.
recordings include the sound of periwinkles, water beetles, minerals dissolving and teleferica's
http://soundandmusic.org/projects/news-minute-listening-comes-hull
the Icelandic ensemble, Nordic Affect have commissioned me for a new photographic score & the result is 'score for listening # 80 - four variations.
Nordic Affect will premiere their unique realisation of the complete score at Mengi, Reykjavik on October 26th,2016
Halla from the ensemble also included elements of the text based score from myself & Pheobe riley Law in her installation at Nordic Music Days, Reykjavik recently & also at Transistor, Malmo, Sweden
H e (a) r Soundscape connected to ecology, acoustics and embodiment; drawing on encounters and what happens in the connection. Performers are Carina Ehrenholm, Angela Rawlings, Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir and Liv Kaastrup Vesterskov. Text score extracted from writings and digital works by Angela Rawlings (In Memory: Jökull*, Jöklar) as well as by Pauline Oliveros, R. Murray Schafer, David Suzuki, Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir, Jez Riley French, Phoebe Riley French, Bernhard Leitner, Heidi Fast and Roni Horn. H e (a) r was directed and composed by Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir and mixed by Kent Olofsson at Inter Arts Center in Malmö, Sweden.
pleased to announce that I will be collaborating with Opera North, Jan Bang, Eivind Aarset and Arve Henriksen on Ten Worlds - a new piece that blends field recordings of the bridge itself (inside, outside & its locale - recorded by myself for this project) with orchestra, choir, electronics, guitar and trumpet, as part of Hull's Capital of Culture 2017 year. This major new commission will involve an interactive timed, performed realisation and a longer term sound walk along the bridge.
https://www.operanorth.co.uk/news/two-opera-north-commissions-for-hull-2017-uk-city-of-culture
'a glacier heated by the sea' - based on recordings of transitions of glacial ice in Iceland, will premiere at the Museum of Water exhibition at Rotterdam Schouwberg - 25th September 2016, 10:15am
https://www.rotterdamseschouwburg.nl/agenda/5709/Jez_riley_French/Sound_of_water/
a wide selection of my work with photographic scores is now available on the British Music Collection online archive, accompanied by a soundcloud stream of realisations
http://britishmusiccollection.org.uk/composer/jez-riley-french
very nice realisation by Philip Thomas & Matthew Bourne of the photographic / text score by myself & Pheobe Law in Leeds yesterday - score is exhibited at Munro House Gallery for a couple of weeks & then it'll be at Bank Street Arts in Sheffield, with a further performance on 30th June
works begins on project with Opera North at the Humber Bridge
interview with the folks at Rycote:
interview with the folks at Rycote: http://rycote.com/rycote-interviews-jez-riley-french/
'score for a footbridge' as sound for video piece 'a tinta esbate-se em forma de onda' by Carina Martins - Jardins Efemeros arts festival , Viseu, Portugal - July 2016
http://jardinsefemeros.pt/eventos/a-tinta-esbate-se-em-forma-de-onda/
movere | soundtrack for an unfocused image # 1
my piece for the fascinating Acoustic Camera's project is now online.
the soundtrack for a live webcam feed from Iceland is based on recordings of marsh fences, lava dissolving, the ultrasonics of a glacier lagoon and weather events in the ionosphere. this particular webcam has become clouded and hopefully will remain so. as with the listening watching the image involves time - it changes constantly, but subtly - at certain times the sun light creates angular glares or at night car lights spin globe shaped reflections into the camera.
http://www.acousticcameras.org/playlist/jez-riley-french/
whilst you're there you can also find pieces by Chicaloyoh, Sylvain Chauveau, Jarboe, Lionel Marchetti, Simon Fisher Turner, That Summer and more (with more being added)
JrF contact mics & hydrophones - built specially for the acoustic garden display at this years Chelsea Flower show, in collaboration with the Peter Eustance, Papworth Trust & Evelyn Glennie:
https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/sound-out-17th-may-2016/
Carole Finer's Resonance FM programme on the 2016 Northumbria field recording workshop / trip with myself & Chris Watson
'glen buck loch' + photographic score
0℃ exhibition
BlanClass, Yokohama, Japan
27-29 / 5 / 2016
exhibition also includes work by: Sawako Kato Hafdís Bjarnadóttir Akio Suzuki Jana Winderen Francisco Lopez Leah Beeferman Yukio Fujimoto Katie Paterson Philip Samatzis & more
http://bbc.in/20pIeI9
my article on Sami yoik, featuring interviews with Ande Somby & Chris Watson + audio from Ande, Nils-Aslak Valkeapaa, Johan Ander Baer & Ulla Pirttijarvi is now online at Caught By The River. As you can hear / read Yoik is a tradition that remains locked to the environment & some of the most powerful recorded examples were (& still are) recorded in the field:
http://www.caughtbytheriver.net/2016/01/17/yoik-jez-riley-french-chris-watson-field-recording-norway-ande-somby-nils-aslak-valkeapaa-sami-ulla-prittijarvi-johan-anders-baer/
https://architectofsound.wordpress.com/2015/08/15/aos-presents-jez-riley-french-field-recordist-artist-and-creator-of-jrf-microphones-qa/
'movere | dolomite paths' - 4 channel field recording piece
as part of:
EMBEDDED FREQUENCIES
is a confluence of sound and materiality. Compositions constructed of field recordings from oil fields, dissolving minerals, sea-life, abandoned space, and cross border travel will play in an atmosphere of nearly complete darkness.
Live performances by Chicago-based artists ambiguously layering the found and constructed.
Compositions Austen Brown Peter Cusack Jez Riley French Alyssa Moxley Martyna Poznańska Jana Winderen
Live Performances Peter Speer Coppice
The locations of contributed recordings include: Bakken (North Dakota), Barents Sea (Norway/Russia), the Dolomites (Italy), Selassia (Greece), Odessa (Ukraine), the Caspian Sea (Azerbaijan).
EMBEDDED FREQUENCIES is curated by Phil Peters and Alyssa Moxley.
LODGE (in service of the dark arts) is a winter project-space organized and curated by Angharad Davies and Phil Peters.
Sited in a former banqueting hall, windowless with partially dilapidated faux-finishings, LODGE presents a series of film screenings and public exhibitions; an arc of dark light to guide us through the winter months.
pleased to be part of foundsoundscape project, curated by Janek Schaefer.
artists include:
Brian Eno / Chris Watson / Charlemagne Palestine / Phill Niblock / British Library Sound Archive / Stephen Vitiello / Douglas Benford / Graham Dunning / Simon Fisher Turner / Taylor Dupree & others
http://www.foundsoundscape.com
approaching | subject to further listening
re scored | durations
recorded under | surface resonances
nice to be asked to write something for issue 3 of 'Reflections on Process in Sound' and some of my daughters (www.pheoberileylaw.yolasite.com/) photo's are also included.
Issue 3 of "Reflections on Process in Sound" is online now: Viv Corringham gives an account of how her ongoing series Shadow-walks came about, as an amalgam of singing and walking; Riley Frenchconsiders three specific trips he took this year to record telefericas, geological dissolves and other fascinations in Italy and Iceland; Felicity Ford explores how wool and sound come together for her in her project KNITSONIK, with some excursions into feminist concerns; Michelle Lewis-King explains how and why her Pulse Project blends accupuncture with sound; Jo Joseph Hyde considers his take on visual music; Rob MacKay discusses the parameters of the world’s first concert for artificial and human voices.
http://www.reflections-on-process-in-sound.net/issue-3/
GENE POOL#69 SONIC SEASON: JEZ RILEY FRENCH

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'foxley wood fence posts'
will be part of the new season of concerts / events at the Juan March Foundation, Madrid, Spain during March 2014
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a special 8 channel mix of 'teleferica's' will be premiered as part of Artisphere's Fermata exhibition.
line up for this major exhibition:
Alvin Lucier
Christine Sun Kim
Jez riley French
Lawrence English
Ryuichi Sakamoto
The Books
Brian McBride
Eddie Ruscha
Francisco Lopez
CFCF
Alberto Gaitán
Annea Lockwood
Chad Clark
Kate Carr
Forest Swords
Jarboe (Swans)
Scarfolk Council
Devin Underwood (Specta Ciera)
Markus Guentner
Toni Dimitrov
Lucianne Wolcowicz
Salome Voegelin
SaåadIM Rawes (London Sound Survey)
Don Zientara and Ian Mackaye
John Henry Blatter
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/spring-arts-preview-gallery-picks/2014/01/31/5a080e12-82b6-11e3-bbe5-6a2a3141e3a9_story.html
4 extracts (sheffield staircase, tate ultrasonics, bethlehem wires and teleferica's) are now part of MoMa's 'Soundings' online resource / exhibition archive:
https://soundcloud.com/groups/moma-soundings
i'm pleased to announce that my commission for Tate Modern 'audible silence: the tate, sleeping and waking' is now available online, to listen of download free from the tate modern website: click here
UPDATE: my piece for The Tate is being included in TWO news installation for Tate Modern / Britain:
'foxley wood fence posts'
will be part of the new season of concerts / events at the Juan March Foundation, Madrid, Spain during March 2014
____________________
a special 8 channel mix of 'teleferica's' will be premiered as part of Artisphere's Fermata exhibition.
line up for this major exhibition:
Alvin Lucier
Christine Sun Kim
Jez riley French
Lawrence English
Ryuichi Sakamoto
The Books
Brian McBride
Eddie Ruscha
Francisco Lopez
CFCF
Alberto Gaitán
Annea Lockwood
Chad Clark
Kate Carr
Forest Swords
Jarboe (Swans)
Scarfolk Council
Devin Underwood (Specta Ciera)
Markus Guentner
Toni Dimitrov
Lucianne Wolcowicz
Salome Voegelin
SaåadIM Rawes (London Sound Survey)
Don Zientara and Ian Mackaye
John Henry Blatter
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/spring-arts-preview-gallery-picks/2014/01/31/5a080e12-82b6-11e3-bbe5-6a2a3141e3a9_story.html
LIMINAL (Mcgallery, Tate Britain) will be soundtracked constantly in the space by the piece
+
Juke Box Meets Tate Britain will be based in the new Learning Gallery from 23rd November till the end of February 2014. Devised by sound artist Yuri Suzuki, Juke Box Meets Tate Britain will aim to provide a wide-ranging and accessible sound archive related to Tate Britain's collection. Each week the aim is to also offer vinyl-cutting sessions where visitors and invited guests will be able to create a record to go in the juke box, contributing their personal response to the Tate Britain collection displays.
original installation:the piece is available at the Tate Modern gallery as a headphone listening experience from June 22nd & is available to experience saturdays, sundays + thursdays & fridays during school holidays.
audible silence: the tate, sleeping and waking
jez riley french

buildings sing....their walls, their floors, chairs and tables are full of sound, of their own music, made by vibrations, made even by the world turning. these pieces feature only untreated sounds directly recorded with special microphones and listening devices in the tate building itself.
'for this set of 3 new pieces Jez spent several nights alone in the Tate Modern building, listening for hours, capturing moments when the surfaces of the structure resonated or the sounds normally beyond our range of hearing offered up particularly evocative, unscripted compositions'
2013 also sees the publication of a new book on the art of field recording 'in the field' (click on the image below to order), which features conversations with myself & other recordists + a nice cover picture taken by my daughter, Pheobe (proud dad moment here !)
audible silence: the tate, sleeping and waking
jez riley french

'for this set of 3 new pieces Jez spent several nights alone in the Tate Modern building, listening for hours, capturing moments when the surfaces of the structure resonated or the sounds normally beyond our range of hearing offered up particularly evocative, unscripted compositions'
Jez riley French - teleferica (extract).mp3
all content is copyright Jez riley French and cannot be used without the express permission of the artist