Plenty of fireworks and a timely reminder that music should be seen as well as heard.
In music theatre's early days, some 35 years ago, we were often confronted by musicians trying to act or actors trying to play. Black Hair, one of the sleekest groups around, reminded us that those times have gone, for good.
Martin Dreyer, York Press
Black Hair is an ensemble of musicians who share a commitment to exploring new ways of presenting new music. Their programmes always include pieces which need to be seen as well as heard, and together the group devises programmes which take the audience on journey - sometimes quite literally. The group has appeared at festivals in Denmark, Ireland, Portugal and Italy, and has toured in the UK since 1995. Experienced workshop leaders, the group also strives to share its ideas through collaborations and residencies, especially with young musicians, actors and dancers. Black Hair is currently an Ensemble in Residence at the University of York, leading a music theatre project and composition workshops. The residency has just been extended to the end of 2010. We appear annually at the York Late Music Festival. In November the group made its London debut at the Warehouse, London as part of the "Cutting Edge" series. In 2009 we look forward to new programmes at Fuse Leeds and at the Rotherham Festival.
Most of Black Hair's repertoire is new music, some of it commissioned or premiered by the ensemble, including several pieces by founder members of the group Roger Marsh and Damien Harron. We also play classic pieces of modern chamber music by Berio, Takemitsu, Boulez, Webern, Varese; and in 1997 we toured a fully staged version of Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire. But in recent years most of our programmes have concentrated on new work, with pieces being commissioned especially for the group from young composers whose work suits the theatrical flamboyance of our players.
