Sounding Change is a new Artist Residency programme hosted by the Department of Music at the University of Birmingham. It will support musicians, composers and artists at pivotal stages of their careers to explore new ideas, and develop their practice in our research environment.

The programme is focused on engaging with artists that are currently underrepresented within the Department of Music, including artists who identify as d/Deaf or Disabled, Neurodivergent, LGBTQ+, those from the Global Majority and those from a low socioeconomic background.

During the 10-month programme, artists will conceive and deliver a new work to be presented as part of the University’s Spring / Summer Concert Series between March and May 2024. Artists are encouraged to choose from a variety of venues, both on the University campus and across the city, in order to present their commission. Artists will have opportunities to work alongside academics from across the university to develop their ideas as well as access to the Department of Music’s facilities and University Music Ensembles.

Each programme will be unique from artist to artist and that excites us. It’s an opportunity for artists to take essential time to explore and develop work. We want to be challenged as a Department and to enable bold and ambitious projects.

Artist Applications are Now Closed for the 2023-24 Sounding Change Artist Residency Programme

Selected artists will be announced in early July 2023. To be kept informed about any future Sounding Change callouts please email soundingchange@contacts.bham.ac.uk

Research team

Principal Investigator

Dr Annie Mahtani

Associate Professor in Music

Annie is a composer of electroacoustic music, specialising in acousmatic composition and multichannel audio. She is currently Head of the Department of Music at Birmingham

Annie's profile

Co-Investigator

A portrait of Ryan Latimer on the University of Birmingham campus

Dr Ryan Latimer

Lecturer in Music

Ryan is a composer, primarily of instrumental and vocal music. He has written for variety of forces ranging from music for orchestras, choirs and ensembles; to opera and theatre; and more recently, for dance.

Ryan's profile

Project Producer

Becky Woodcock

Producer

Becky has over eight years experience of producing and project managing creative, collaborative and cross-artform projects and festivals from inception and planning through to delivery, ensuring all projects and events are delivered smoothly and with care and compassion.

Becky's website

Meet the Artists

Azizi Cole

Born and raised in Handsworth with backgrounds in dance and music. Over the last few years Azizi has been developing a creative practice that encompasses knowledge and experience of both backgrounds with a heavy emphasis on musicality within movement. For his Sounding Change residency he will be developing his compositional and choreographically movement practice Body Clock into its first physical creation as a full body of work, collaborating with brother Xhosa Cole and four other dance artists.

@zidrums

BULLYACHE

Bullyache is a musical duo and dance company created between friends and artists Courtney Dean and Jacob Samuel. They make working class, queer reconstructions of classical texts through the lens of a pop music video. For their Sounding Change residency they will develop their show called A Good Man is Hard to Find - a reconstruction of the story of Medea: a funeral set inside the sculpture of a pop music video, think Princess Dianna meets Hype Williams, asking how grief is dealt with in a performative landscape. The music moves between electronic instrumentals and traditional pop songs composed by themselves. The residency will allow them to expand their musical knowledge and work with an arranger and a classical ensemble for the first time.

@bullyache_

Mwen

Mwen is a multifaceted artist working as a theatre sound designer and composer, music producer, DJ and live performing artist. Their creative practice blends the realms of music technology, electronic music, live sound and performance. As a queer non-binary artist of East African descent Mwen is interested in artistic works that explore themes of identity, resistance , solidarity and narratives of self. During their Sounding Change Residency they will incorporate spatial audio into their live performance practice, delving into the possibilities of wearable tech and motion sensors. They will expanding the boundaries of expression and create new immersive experiences for their audience.

Mwen's website

Sounding Change website