Location
Chancellors' Hall, Senate House
Join for an evocative evening of musical performance and readings exploring the experiences of mothers bereaved during the First World War. This performance acknowledges the universality of bereavement as the defining experience of the conflict, with a special focus on the impact on mothers – an overlooked aspect of grief from the period.
Through newly-composed pieces by acclaimed violinist and composer Clare Connors, and powerful readings bringing to life the voices of mothers and their sons and daughters serving in the military, this performance explores their relationships, and the experience of a mother losing their child.
This is a free but ticketed event. Visit http://www.history.ac.uk/events/event/16556 to book.
Registration: 18.00-18.30
Performance: 18.30-19.30
Clare is an award winning British composer living in London. She has written commissions for London Arts, Women in Music and the PRSF, as well as critically acclaimed albums for the Balanescu Quartet, ‘Possessed’ and ‘Luminitza’. She wrote, played and produced for the Balanescu Quartet from 1991 to 2001 and after formed her own group Red-Angel, writing and performing her own material. More success followed with ‘Big Small and Sideways’, a Women in Music commission for the London Jazz Festival. ‘Traffic Ocean Archway’ was commissioned by the Arts Council and Islington Council in 2013. Her first orchestral piece for the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, ‘Corelli Leaves’ was performed in the Royal Festival Hall during the same year.Throughout her career she has enjoyed collaborating with a range of artists, from David Byrne to Kraftwerk, Carla Bley to Spiritualised, continuing to experiment across musical genres.This public lecture is part of the Motherhood, Loss and the First World War conference on 5 – 6 September 2018, led by Big Ideas, the London Centre for Public History, and the Institute of Historical Research. You can book tickets to the conference here.
A second evening event will be held on Wednesday 5 September. Click here for more details. To join the Motherhood, Loss and the First World War community project, visit http://www.big-ideas.org/project/motherhood/.