Voice

Clemmie Franks writes about the upcoming gig at The Forge, Camden, Thursday 6th September by her trio ‘Voice’ with poet Jasmine Cooray.

Voice, (Victoria Couper, Clemmie Franks, Emily Burn), is the culmination of over a decade of singing and music making together. We grew up together in Oxford where we were lucky enough to work with a broad range of inspirational musicians / composers such as the baritone, Roderick Williams, Dufay Collective folk and early music vocalist Vivian Ellis and instrumentalist / composer Stevie Wishart .

We pursued separate studies after school but came together again in 2006 (when two of us were studying Ethnomusicology at SOAS) to form a vocal trio so that we could continue singing the music we loved while growing up, but also explore other a cappella vocal music for three voices from other musical traditions.

Following a gig at a pub in East London with the promoter NONCLASSICAL run by Gabriel Prokofiev, we were heard by composer Marcus Davidson. Since this meeting we have worked with Davidson a lot and he has written us a number of pieces including Angelica the Doorkeeper which takes inspiration from both Hildegard of Bingen medieval chant, Eastern European folksongs and a poem by the Iraqi-Assyrian poet Sargon Bolous.

Voice met Jasmine Cooray at a gig promoted by Last Mango in Paris at Stoke Newington International Airport a few years ago and while sharing the same bill as her we were blown away by her honest, emotive poetry and her beautiful delivery. Although it has taken a couple of years, we are very happy to finally be working with her and developing new projects together.

The next stage in our collaboration will be on Friday 2nd November at St Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation and Peace, London, when we will present Megaphones for the Unheard which includes new poetry by Jasmine, and new compositions by Ayanna Witter-Johnson, Helen Chadwick and Stevie Wishart celebrating the female voice through music and poetry.

Thursday 6th September 2012, The Forge, Camden Town – Tickets

More information about Voice and forthcoming projects, including a 2013 US tour is HERE