The acclaimed Scores of People project returns with several neurodiverse graphic score composers who have been commissioned for a hands-on concert to coincide with the Cornwall G7 summit.
Scores of People – launched last year by local arts company Moogie Wonderland – will present a new programme called Music for a Better World.
Kate Perry, Eddie Callis, Kyle Coleman, Oliver Goulding, and Rory Bray Harper have been commissioned to create graphic scores based on the themes of the summit: tackling climate change, the global recovery from coronavirus, and championing free and fair trade.
Graphic scores enable any person to become a composer. It may be someone who cannot play an instrument or read music. To express themselves musically they can use shapes, colours, items around the house or garden. Anyone can join in; no-one is held back by lack of ability or musical experience.
Using the graphic scores, the public will be invited to improvise music on specially created ‘noise stations’ at an all-ages event to be held in Cornwall this summer.
Rory Bray Harper launches the event with two graphic scores based on ‘machines that can save the planet’. One is shown below.
He explains: “My graphic scores are actually machines that clean and pick up rubbish, including microplastics, dog poo and shopping trolleys that lazy people can’t be bothered to put back. People could make music where they imagine pressing the buttons on the machine and make sounds based on the cleaning task it then does.”
Children from all over the UK, whatever their concerns, have been invited to submit their graphic scores. In this way, the project allows them to connect with other communities and become more involved in local and global matters.
‘Timing this new programme to run in parallel with the G7 was too good a chance to miss,’ explains Elizabeth Howell, co-director of Moogie Wonderland. ‘Throughout history, music has been commissioned for globally important events such as coronations or world fairs. We’re really excited that, when all eyes are on Cornwall, we’re commissioning a talented group of neurodiverse local artists and musicians to compose pieces that will be relevant to everyone, and that can be performed by anyone.
‘With children around the UK being able to submit their own graphic scores, too, the project will give everyone a voice in the topics of the summit, such as climate change. It’s important that discussions about things that affect us all, include us all – and making music is a great way to express yourself.’