Laura Bowler - Wicked Problems Mees Vervuurt - Une Partition Claire Hu - Fleurs encores fermées Jenni Hogan - Gregor Amy Bryce - WAX (world premiere) Diana Soh - un-broken - (world premiere)
Mezzo-soprano Rosie Middleton and flautist Helen Whitaker perform works for voice and flute that explore the peculiarities of the body, the extremities of expression and the imprints we leave on each other. Centred around a virtuosic new work for voice and bass flute by Diana Soh, this 50-75 minute programme brings together composers who score the voice, the flute, and the body. The programme includes a number of pieces written for Rosie and Helen, and these works draw on the embodied experience of the performers.
Mezzo-soprano Rosie Middleton performs and creates experimental music, contemporary opera and performance art. The 2020 winner of the Michiko Hirayama Prize, Rosie’s projects include PLASTIC BODIES (HCMF, Tete-a-Tete - ‘astonishing, like…Cathy Berberian with an axe to grind’, TLS), and 12HOURS - a marathon performance by/with Catherine Kontz (Somerset House, Rainy Days, Luxembourg - ‘radiant, violent, mesmerising’ - Opera Magazine).
Recent opera roles include The Blue Woman (Laura Bowler, Royal Ballet and Opera), and Carmen, cours d’assizes (Diana Soh, Opera National de Bordeaux). Other recent performances include Songs After Nature (Pia Palme, Finland), Wernicke’s Area (Emily Howard, Irish Museum of Modern Art), Oracle Song (Melanie Wilson, Barbican), works by Laura Bowler and Hannah Kendall for Donaueschinger MusikTage and Gosch (Zara Ali, Podium Festival).
Helen Whitaker is an award winning flautist who specialises in contemporary and experimental music. She currently performs with numerous contemporary music ensembles including the Colin Currie Group, CAPUT, p.e.r.s.o.n.a.l.c.l.u.t.t.e.r and Lontano. In recent years she has premiered works by Jessie Marino, Helgi Ingvarsson, Berglind María Tómasdóttir, Martin Butler and Jenni Hogan, and performed at venues including Carnegie Hall, Tokyo Opera City, the Royal Festival Hall, Harpa (Iceland) and Berkeley CA.
Helen is a featured recording artist with prestigious collaborators including Butch Vig, Ray Davies and Laura Marling. She has recently recorded Double Sextet by Steve Reich with the Colin Currie Group, due to be released in 2026 for Reich’s 90th birthday along with the world premiere and tour of a new work by Reich.
