Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival is delighted to announce sound artist Hayley Suviste as its first Artist of the Month.
Throughout the Artist of the Month series, hcmf// will be presenting in-depth examinations of composers from Fielding Talent, its artist development strand.
As well as featuring their work, hcmf// will be offering these musicians a space to provide first-hand accounts of their music. This February, hcmf// shines a spotlight on the work of Hayley Suviste, and to highlight her recent hcmf// commission Edgeland.
Working across field recording, archival sound, electronic hardware and live instrumentation, Suviste uses her music to explore community and culture.
Her work celebrates identities and traditions of the world, drawing on first-hand oral histories and working closely with those who can provide the most accurate document of their environment.
Much of her music is immersed in the urban narratives of her local Manchester, observing the ways in which the city’s past ripples out into the present day, with industries and communities impacting how it is now.
Throughout the next month, Suviste will be featured in the Artist of the Month section of the hcmf// website, where she’ll be providing her own perspective on the processes that go into her pieces, including musical improvisation, community research and building immersive soundscapes.
hcmf// is excited to be providing a second chance to listen to Suviste’s piece Edgeland, an hcmf// commission premiered at the festival in 2020. Written as a commentary on Manchester’s disappearing urban spaces, the piece centres on the threatened Ryebank Fields space, and gathers testimonial from activists trying to keep it alive. Edgeland will be available from the hcmf// website from Thursday February 11.
Graham McKenzie, hcmf// artistic director and chief executive, said: “This has been an extremely challenging time for artists and live performers, and we are incredibly grateful to the fantastic support of our partners during this difficult period allowing us to present new commissions for 2021 and beyond.”
Established in 1978, hcmf// is the UK’s largest international festival of new and experimental music, with 50+ events taking place at venues in and around Huddersfield, over 10 days in November each year.
Due to Covid-19 restrictions, hcmf// 2020 took place online for three days (Friday, November 20 – Sunday, November 22) over what would normally have been the festival’s first weekend.
There were also three live concerts in association with BBC Radio 3’s New Music Show plus two specially-commissioned audio-visual installations at venues in Huddersfield for a limited and socially-distanced public.
