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Writer's pictureAlistair Appleton

the space behind the whatnot

Who would have thought being creative was so much fun?

I who prevaricate at the drop of a teaspoon and find myself downstairs making toast before I know what I’m doing, suddenly find myself glued to the computer, writing till 3 in the morning and cooing over video footage I’m sticking together in a happy haze, unable to remember when I shot it.

It all started when Rolf Hind (three-handed pianist… or so it sounds) who I met doing the Young Musician of the Year phoned me and asked if I wanted to do something with spnm. Flattered by the thought and the coffee I got bought – I went home and thought about it. Picked two composers from the spnm shortlist and then set to work. It’s like real creativity. Just how I imagine it. Catching the train to Cambridge to sketch out ideas. Meeting in the members bar of the Tate Modern to discuss staging. Rehearsing with singers. Writing stuff and hating it. Writing it again and rather liking it. Coming back two weeks later and hating it again.

Highlights: filming with Jeremy in his backgarden in the idyllic Cambridgeshire countryside in the freakishly hot April weather, just as the light was fading. Being at City Lit during their Deaf Day and being electrified by the vibrancy of Deaf culture and having to look at people properly. (Who in London ever really looks at people?) When your signing – you have to be seen. Hearing the wall of sound Tazul imperturbably created from the four singers while wading through extreme jetlag in Hackney. Sneaking a peek at Wiltons Music Hall one Saturday evening in the dark. Can a venue be more atmospheric?

Meditation, babies, deaf-sign-language, birdsong, water and sound. Two pieces. One performance. One hour.

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