News
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Bela's summer performances
The live page is misbehaving! Until normal service is resumed, please check here for details of upcoming performances:
30th June, Starfish Studios Lewes: Twenty performers, eighteen fuzz organs, bass & (Chris Cutler on) drums. This ensemble doesn't get out often, but when it does, it's immense.
More details: www.facebook.com/events/394721913971309/
3rd August, William Morris Gallery London: with the magnificent Brighton Mummers' Horseplay
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Newlyn Art Gallery till 29th June
A selection of Tereza Buskova's films featuring Bela Emerson's soundtracks are exhibited at Newlyn Art Gallery, Cornwall, till 29th June.
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Brighton Fringe and beyond
Three wildly diverse performances this coming weekend:
31st May: with dance artists Carousella (live set) at Brighton Sea Life Centre for a magical subaquatic fashion show
1st June (11am): with the marvellous Brighton Mummers at Kemptown Carnival for their Horseplay show
and 1st June (evening) with Howard & Dalia (AKA Bare) inside Soul Dome at Jubilee Square: a fully immersive 360° cinema - beautiful songs & beautiful acoustics under a dome of beautiful images (www.souldome.com)
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Elle Osborne Trio at Great Escape, 18th May '13
Elle Osborne (fiddle/voice), Adam Bushell (percussion) & Bela Emerson play on the Great Escape's Resonance FM Stage at Brighthelm Centre, at 3pm.
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Bela & Same Actor - Antibothis #4
Antibothis #4:Bela Emerson/Same Actor track, Devine, features as part of this just-released Portuguese occultural anthology, on its beautiful accompanying Philippe Petit -curated CD (also features Si-cut DB, Scanner, Cindytalk, Mark Beazley, Murcof & others)
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Atlas Eclipticalis, 16th March '13
Bela plays as part of a hand-picked ensemble performing John Cage's Atlas Eclipticalis -a piece from the early 1960s based on tracings of star charts - as part of this exciting one-night-only programme at the Unitarian Church, New Road, Brighton.
More details soon
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Bela's gigs '12 - '13
Apologies but the live page is messed up & as it's party season it might not be fixed for a while.
So here are the next few places you can see/hear Bela:
9-12-12: Cafe Oto, London: Pimmel's Music for Massed Organs
10-12-12: The George Tavern, London: Bela made the music for Tereza Buskova's beautiful new film, The Baked Woman of Doubice & this is its second showing
31-12-12: Hanover Centre, Brighton: New Year's Eve benefit for Brighton Peace & Environment Centre, with Pog, Asbo Derek, Super Janet & much more!
26-1-13: Abergavenny Arms, Rodmell: with Elle Osborne & Adam Bushell
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Near Wanstonia project, November-December '12
Near Wanstonia is a full-length track by Baby (ex-Vole, ex-ViV; Bela Emerson contributes) which was recorded by a road built in east London in the 1990s: Wanstonia was a 'free state' set up by environmental activists along the proposed route.
Preview here: http://www.babbby.com/nearwanstonia/ & launch on 9th December at 491
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Bela Emerson - new live set & interview for VPRO Netherlands
Hear a live studio set & interview on Netherlands' national radio - listen
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Bela Emerson, Tereza Buskova, Zoe Simon LIVE at Imprint Art Festival October '12
A fully collaborative, fully improvised performance from filmmaker/actor-model/musician on 13th October, for this unique arts' festival in Newcastle, at the Northern Charter Gallery.
IMPRINT is an ongoing project supported by the artists abher behn and Zoe Anderson, which seeks to reclaim an autonomous space for women's experimental art. The project's focus is on the documentation and archival of women's creative continuities as well as the promotion/platforming of women's work.
Festival starts in Manchester on 4th October & proceeds to Newcastle on 12th October.
More details here: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Imprint-2012-Experimental-Feminist-Art/358880604191320?sk=info
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Art in Romney Marsh (AiRM) commission, with Toby Tatum - launch 23rd September '12
The Secret Places of a Hidden God
The spirit of Pan is abroad, inspiring film-maker Toby Tatum and cellist Bela Emerson to undertake a series of journeys into the wilds of Sussex and marshes of Kent, seeking places both sacred and secret. Their itinerary includes stop-offs to secluded groves, haunted grottoes and magic forests. The enchanted vistas, hallucinatory visions and otherworldly sounds that they document along the way have been collaged together to make this short film, which is offered here in praise of the enduring presence of the evergreen god.
The film will be shown throughout the festival in September-October, at St. Clements Church, Old Romney, Kent. AiRM is a visual arts project offering artists the unique opportunity to make experimental visual responses in the context of medieval churches.
http://www.artinromneymarsh.org.uk/
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Whitstable Biennale with Tanya Axford: The Path Made by a Boat in Sound (3 Down)
This new work combines a performative video projection vying for attention with musicians Leo Chadburn (AKA Simon Bookish) & Bela Emerson playing live in the space; to observe one, one must also observe the other. Joining this intimate connection, the spectator's own movements become a participant in the work, creating an encounter that is as unexpected as it is beautiful. Created in collaboration with composer Leo Chadburn.
14.00 to 14.45 and 15.30 to 16.15 Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd September, Whitstable Youth & Community Centre
http://www.whitstablebiennale.com/biennale-programme/section/weekend-one/projects/TanyaAxford.html
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Bela in the studio - and images from Falling Up
Bela's back in the studio, working on two new short film soundtracks for month-long screenings in London & Kent in the autumn.
In the meantime, catch her with Stuart Flynn in Brighton on 21st July, and also see the Mimbre acrobats' show, Falling Up, touring this summer throughout Europe - some photos of it here from France to whet your appetite...
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Elle Osborne Trio debuts 1st & 2nd July '12
Acclaimed folk singer-fiddler-composer Elle Osborne has been rehearsing up a vibrant new trio, with Bela Emerson (cello & electronics) & Adam Bushell (percussion), debuting this weekend in Brighton (Nightingale Theatre: Sunday 1st) & London (Green Note, Camden: Monday 2nd).
Elle's most recent release, 2011's So Slowly, Slowly She Got Up garnered attention throughout the UK press; The Independent awarded it Album of the Week as "one of the most original, confident folk albums of the year".
More details on the live page, and at www.elleo.com
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Brighton Festival Fringe 2012: Vocal Explosion choir live with guests at WoWo campsite
Vocal Explosion: ‘moving and powerful’ BBC Radio 4's Woman’s Hour
Bela guests with Vocal Explosion at this special event on 20th May '12.
Warmed by roaring fires under starlight at Wowo campsite village, hear blissful vocal harmonies over powerful rhythms. The highlight of an evening of sensational ...WoWo Live music. Deckchairs recommended!
On the night there will be a licensed bar selling local ales, ciders and wines alongside lobster cooked in our wood-fired oven, moules mariniere and Scottish Oysters!
www.vocalexplosion.co.uk
www.boxoffice.brightonfringe.org/event.aspx?pfID=2470
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Mimbre summer tour dates announced!
Bela's (PRS For Music-supported) soundtrack for circus company Mimbre's new production Falling Up is completed - this spectacular outdoor acrobatic-dance-theatre show tours the UK and Europe this summer, starting at Norwich and Norfolk Festival (UK) on 19th & 20th May 2012.
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Bela & Mimbre - Female Contemporary Circus Company
Bela is hard at work composing for circus company Mimbre's exciting new show Falling Up, touring this summer - watch the development of the show's progress
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Throw of a Dice (15) - 14th London Asian Film Festival
Bela contributes to the soundtrack for the exciting new feature film Throw of a Dice, premiering at this year's London Asian Film Festival at Waterman's, on Tuesday 20th March '12.
Tickets & more details here: http://watermans.ticketsolve.com/shows/126523107/events
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Experimental String Workshop, Brighton, Saturday 3rd March '12, 10am-4pm
A limited number of places are still available on this one-day workshop, led by Bela Emerson & violinist Lizzy Carey (ex-Bat for Lashes), for players of all levels of violin, viola, cello and double bass.
Elements to be explored include acoustic looping, isorhythms and improvisation, scordatora tuning & extended technique (& much more).
Please use contact form for more details!
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New video: Meeting Kate (Expo67 remix)
Great new video by Musik Kollektiv (Moscow):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3g6gvlhnu0
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Bela Emerson guest appearance on The Lawless - Habit Forming
A beautiful cinematic album. Bela appears on two tracks. Samples here: http://vertical.fm/releases/364.htm
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Bela plays live in scratch champion JFB's new project MULTIJAM
2x UK DMC scratch DJ champion JFB presents a new groundbreaking technology-infused 100% improvised jam session!
9 musicians onstage, inc. keys, trumpet, bass, cello, violin, vocals...everything you hear will be performed live.
JFB takes on the task of controlling extremely skilled musicians - from jazz/funk to dubstep/drum&bass, most genres will be covered.
THURSDAY 15th December '11 at Sticky Mike's Frog Bar, Brighton, 11pm, £5/£3
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Four late-Autumn Saturdays
Bela plays four consecutive Saturdays from late-November in Brighton, in four very different guises:
Simon Whetham's active crossover project at the Phoenix, to collaborations with Elle Osborne & Stuart Flynn.
See live page for more details - collect the set!
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New session track: Heavy Dials - Burnt Trees
Download this beautiful track for free!
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Bela Emerson appearance on new Dead Voices On Air CD, release date 1-11-11
Bela features on the beautiful new limited edition DVOA release Michael and the Angels Fought (Lens Records), with Mark Spybey, alongside other guest contributors/performers Lori Cole, Jared Louche, Michael Morton, Michael Page, Philippe Petit, Ivana Salipur, Soriah, and Robin Storey.
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Bela performs at Art in Romney Marsh, 25th September 2011
Bela plays at Old Romney's 12th century church St. Clements for the wonderful Art in Romney Marsh festival.
St. Clements is Derek Jarman's resting place as well as having featured in the cult 1963 film Dr Syn: The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh.
A beautiful array of new artwork (for artists, see festival website) will be displayed in the church.St. Clements on YouTube: Dr Syn
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Bela Emerson on BBC Radio 3's Late Junction & in the Observer
Bela Emerson's set from Latitude Festival will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3's Late Junction on Tuesday 19th July 2011 for one week; a review of the broadcast by Miranda Sawyer appears in The Observer on 24th July & is also available online.
The Observer radio review 24th July 2011
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Bela Emerson plays BBC Radio 3 Late Junction stage, Latitude Festival
Bela performs on the BBC Radio 3 Late Junction stage at Latitude on Friday 15th July, in between fado group Deolinda & the folky Alasdair Roberts trio - and if you miss the set, it'll be broadcast on Late Junction the week after. Should be great.
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Bela Emerson remix featured on Paper Tiger Comix 19-track War & Peace CD accompanying WAR: THE HUMAN COST
An exclusive Bela Emerson track - a remix by Tim Science of Space Heroes of the People - appears on the 19-track compilation CD accompanying this outstanding graphic anthology.
£1 donated to Campaign Against Arms Trade with the sale of each 260-page book & CD.
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M0nster Inc Physical Theatre performance 29th May 2011
Bela provides the live soundtrack to M0nster Inc's solo performance at St Peter's Church, Bournemouth, as part of the Anne Frank & You exhibition.
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Bela Emerson: Lydia Lunch & Philippe Petit - Requiescat in Comfort
Bela features on a track on the new Lydia Lunch/Philippe Petit 3-track picture vinyl 12" In Comfort, released 6th May.
Review here:
www.cargo-records.de/de/p3208/id/48479/lunch_lydia_andamp_petit_phillipe.html
Listen here:
http://soundcloud.com/comfortzone/lydia-lunch-philippe-petit
Buy here:
www.discogs.com/Lydia-Lunch-Philippe-Petit-In-Comfort/release/2766986
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A Branch of May: Adam Bushell, Bela Emerson & Bing Lyle, 30th April at the Coach House
This seasonal one-time-only show features renowned musicians Adam Bushell (vibraphone, voice), Bing Lyle (accordion, voice) & Bela Emerson, combining a mixture of traditional English music and song, free improvisation, contemporary composition and songwriting, with the three musicians playing some specially-arranged trios as well as each performing a solo set.
Advance booking is recommended as the venue is...intimate.
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A huge thank you to the Kleefstras
Abundant thanks to Jan Kleefstra for the wonderful tour-planning and hospitality and to both him & Romke for the transport on the recent Netherlands tour...
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new tracks on music page!
Bela's playing a few dates in the Netherlands in a few days' time - 16th-20th March - bill-sharing with the beautiful spontaneous soundscapes of Jan & Romke Kleefstra, Chris Bakker & Gareth Davis (spoken word, guitars, clarinet): www.myspace.com/janromke
To welcome new Dutch fans, there are two new tracks on the music page: an exclusive (Tooting Bec) and a fine remix by Ros of Hespera's 5HTP.
Hello! Hope you enjoy the site
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Women Tellers at Komedia, International Women's Day Centenary
8th March 2011, 7:30 sharp (doors 7pm):
Women Tellers will delight you with tales true and bold, new and old, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day.
Performances - including specially-commissioned collaborations - from Amanda Evans (storyteller, narrator, physical theatre and spoken word maker), Bela Emerson, & cabaretiere/singer-songwriter Sam Chara.
Ages 12+
£6
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live at Brighton Science Festival, 5th March
Big Science Saturday at Sallis Benney Theatre: Dr Harry Witchel's talk at 12:45pm features live musicians Bela Emerson & Jacqui Attwood to illustrate the aspects of music that wield power over our emotions.
Brighton Science Festival’s Big Science Saturday
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Dr Harry Witchel (with Bela Emerson & Karl Dürr-Sørensen) at the Royal Institution, January 2011
Dr Harry Witchel researches music, pleasure and the brain. He suggests that we evolved music for the same reason as birds and gibbons, using music to establish social territory. In this way, music can influence what you think, what you decide to buy, and even how smart you are. Music stirs such powerful emotions in us because territory is not a place — it is a state of mind.
Dr Witchel's new book, You Are What You Hear, is launched on 27th January, with a special pre-release event at the Royal Institution of Great Britain on 19th January. Both events feature live musicians (cellist Bela Emerson & clarinettist Karl Dürr-Sørensen) to illustrate the aspects of music that wield power over our emotions.
Royal Institution of Great Britain's website
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Exclusive Bela Emerson remix on Moscow's Kollektiv Artists #4, released 1-1-11
Bela Emerson's Seeander has been remixed by Moscow's Bobo Lo; the Industry in Mind mix appears on Kollektiv Artists volume 4, released 1st January 2011. Download the whole album for free here!:
www.musickollektiv.org/volume4.html
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SteamPunk Brunch, Shoreditch, 5th December
Bela performs at the SteamPunk Brunch Sessions: a Wallace and Gromit-style breakfast machine will crank out toast to tunes from a line up of independent live music acts as well as theatre, performance and art in completely wild surroundings...
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Bela’s back!
Thanks for your patience.Bela performs live again from October: 16th in Southend-on-Sea, 21st in Newcastle, 29th at De La Warr Pavilion (Bexhill), 30th in Brighton (White Night), and more over the next few months. See ‘live’ for more details.
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Bela Emerson live from October 2010
Bela takes a break from her manic live schedule for a few months - she'll be back in Autumn 2010
In the meantime, you can hear her here (visit shop & music), on her YouTube channel and as a guest on various other recent recordings: Nick Pynn's Times-acclaimed Colours of the Night, The Damned's smashing So Who’s Paranoid?, Ergo Phizmiz's epic Faust Cycle and Philippe Petit & friends’s beautifulSilk-Screened.
There'll be updates here periodically, on new film collaborations with Tereza Buskova (website & YouTube) an upcoming live DVD and some currently-secret new musical collaborations…
For updates sent to your inbox, go to the contact form, thanks!
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13th February '10: Bela Emerson's final Brighton performance! (...till Autumn '10)
Bela Emerson plays her last pre-sabbatical show in Brighton on Saturday 13th February at the beautiful Unitarian Church. This will be very special, especially as Bela will not perform in Brighton again until the autumn. Booking now: www.meltingvinyl.co.uk
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[reciprocess : +/vs.] compilation nominated for Qwartz 2010 award
Philippe Petit (BiP_HOp)’s collaborative compilation, originally released as an accompaniment to The Wire magazine in March ’09, has been nominated for Best Compilation of the Year category of the prestigious Qwartz Electronic Music Awards.The compilation features Petit’s collaborations with a wide variety of musicians, including Bela Emerson, Douglas Benford, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Lydia Lunch, & Simon Fisher Turner.Voting is still open; hear all the nominations at Qwartz Electronic Music Awards - Qwartz 6 - Compilation
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BBC Radio 3's Late Junction 22nd December '09
Viv's track Billy (with Bela Emerson on cello) is broadcast on Late Junction on 22nd December & can be listened to on BBC iplayer till the 28th: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00pdk37 The track is taken from Viv's album Sea Shells Listening: www.myspace.com/vole & www.radioviv.com/shop/shop.html
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Marianna Harlotta & the Contessa's New Year's Eve recital
Soprano Marianna Harlotta with her accompanist, the Contessa Bela Bella, on cello, will be giving a very special New Year’s Eve recital in the charming town of Lewes to usher in the new decade, at the All Saints Centre, as part of Floss and Tann’s Congress of Wonders. See live page for more details!
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Bela Emerson exclusive track released: The Sound Projector magazine November '09
John Wills (Pumajaw, ex-Loop)'s remix of Laurasia's Meeting Kate makes its only public appearance - though it’s often on repeat-play at the Emerson household - this month on The Sound Projector's compilation English Wildlife. Buy the magazine (www.thesoundprojector.com/outlets) & download the album!
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Bela Emerson & Carlos Vera (US) at Coachwerks, 20th October ‘09
Hot on the heels of their packed-out show at Amiens Nuit Blanche, Bela & Carlos perform their only UK date, in Brighton on Tuesday 20th. Using cello, effects, canvas and paintbrushes, they will create an improvised intermedia performance that has already been described as ‘spellbinding’. The evening opens with a live music/visuals set from Kopek (www.myspace.com/kopekmusic) & an enchanting storytelling performance from Say Bon.
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Bela Emerson’s Movietronica, 19th October ’09, at the Roxy, Borough
The acclaimed live soundtrack-to-film programme comes to London this month, at what Time Out London has called ‘one of London’s top five cinemas’: the Roxy, on Borough High Street. This event, organised by 7 Inch Cinema and Electric Sheep, also features shorts, and a DJ set from Warp’s Bibio.