What happens to our secrets? What happens to our hidden stories? Eventually they find their way out. Unwept Tears began as a story and became a piece of music before turning into a film. Text and music by Rachel Beckles Willson Narration, oud, udu and sampled voice: Rachel Beckles WIllson Read more…
A wry hearing of a kitchen in 1950s England
My compositional work had great support this month as I was privelaged to have a residency at The Red House, formerly the home of Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears. I stayed in Cosy Nook, the cottage of Nellie Hudson, Britten and Pears’ housekeeper. It had a beautiful acoustic, and I Read more…
As part of the SOAS Summer School I am thrilled to lead an experimental online course in modal creative work
Creative Migrations with the Oud: Technology, Memory and Musical Storytelling.
An opportunity to present one of my own compositions, Acem Kurdi Saz Semai, live for the BBC, with a mysteriously dramatic background – not really in line with the melancholy of the piece! Please contact me if you would like a copy of the score.
A concert of Ottoman court music along with my song cycle “Sing no Sad Songs with Me”, in the elegant Reid Concert Hall of Edinburgh University.
Un “Liederkreis” tra il Tamigi e il Bosforo Sonorità lontane tessute con ricordi di donne Poesie di Christina Rossetti Musiche di Rachel Beckles Willson Musicisti: Rachel Beckles Willson (voce, oud), Ciro Montanari (tabla), Kostas Tsarouchis (contrabbasso), Evgenios Voulgaris (yayli tanbur) ‘Sing no Sad Songs for Me’ nasce dall’incontro tra la poesia Read more…
A song-cycle connecting the Bosphorus and the Thames – resonances woven through the memories of women Poetry by Christina Rossetti Music by Rachel Beckles Willson Performers: Rachel Beckles Willson (vocals, oud), Ciro Montanari (tabla), Kostas Tsarouchis (double bass), Evgenios Voulgaris (yayli tanbur) ‘Sing no Sad Songs for Me’ connects the Read more…