Open Bridges – Hull City of Culture 2017 to be split in two
For the first time in Hull’s history the city will be split in two when all Hull’s 13 bridges will be simultaneously raised or barriered, momentarily denying the freedom of movement east or west across the River Hull. On September 22nd Open Bridges will signify the vital role bridges play in our everyday lives with a river journey, the mustering of historic vessels representing three centuries and a new musique concrète commission by BAFTA winning Hull based composer John Stead.
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PRESS RELEASE
Open Bridges – Hull City of Culture 2017 to be split in two
For the first time in Hull’s history the city will be split in two when all Hull’s 13 bridges will be simultaneously raised or barriered, momentarily denying the freedom of movement east or west across the River Hull. On September 22nd Open Bridges will signify the vital role bridges play in our everyday lives with a river journey, the mustering of historic vessels representing three centuries and a new musique concrète commission by BAFTA winning Hull based composer John Stead.
Open Bridges is the concept of independent Hull group, Duffy-Howard Music who have commissioned the new acousmatic composition ‘Moments in Time’. The world premiere live octophonic performance of John Stead’s new work will take place at Hull’s Stage@The Dock on September 22nd. Electro Acoustic Ensemble director, John will diffuse the music featuring found sounds recorded from Hull bridges movements and operations.
The River Hull runs directly through the centre of the city defining East and West Hull and the culture of the city – fishing heritage west of the river and commerce in the east.
Open Bridges organiser Richard Duffy-Howard said: “The motor barge Syntan will travel down the River Hull passing through Hull’s 13 bridges. It will be met by Humber Keel Comrade and schooner HMS Pickle between North and Drypool Bridges for the final part of the journey out into the Humber. As the 3 vessels pass through Drypool, Scale Lane, Myton and Millennium Bridges at 20:17, the barriers on all of the bridges across the river will descend. 13 flares for 13 bridges will shoot into the sky as the 3 vessels are welcomed into the Humber Estuary by tugs from Svitzer (Maersk) and SMS Towage firing water cannon and searchlights. The city will then be reunited as all of the city’s bridges re-open to road traffic.”
The City of Culture 2017 is united in a shared respect of Hull born politician and abolitionist William Wilberforce whose work to make slave trading illegal gave rise to Hull’s Freedom Festival and City of Culture Freedom Season.
Open Bridges organiser Lou Duffy-Howard explains: “Freedom is a big part of the city but the only way to truly understand something is to experience it. Open Bridges means that everybody in Hull will experience a suspension of the freedom of movement – everyone will know about it and have to consider its impact on them. To delve deeper, we are exploring the notions of freedom and freedoms denied to so many people in the world today at workshops in schools, prison, hospice and community venues. “
A river journey by three historic vessels will take place for Open Bridges and will be documented by Humber Film.
Richard continued: “This is something that can’t be done in any other city in the world. A lot of cities are built around rivers but no other city has so many opening bridges over its navigable stretch. It’s never happened before and is unlikely to ever happen again. This is also the first time vessels representing 3 centuries will be seen on the Hull together: the Schooner – 18th century, Humber Keel – 19th century and Motor Barge – 20th century, to be met on the Humber by 21st century tugs.”
The music concert programme features John Stead’s ‘Moments in Time’, and includes rare performances of musique concrète works by pioneers of electronic, electroacoustic and acousmatic music – Jean-Claude Risset’s “Elementa” and Francis Dhomont’s “Cycle du Son”.
Tickets for the music premiere and event on Friday 22nd September at Hull Stage@The Dock, Queen Street, Hull. HU1 1UU, doors 7.30 pm, £10 + booking fee available from Hull Box Office.
Open Bridges website https://openbridgeshull.com/
Music premiere and event ticket sales Open Bridges website https://openbridgeshull.com/
Open Bridges is an independent Hull based project by Duffy-Howard Music taking place during the Hull City of Culture Freedom Season. It is supported by Arts Council England and Hull City Arts Fund with partnership support from Hull City Council Streetscene and project partners Malcolm Scott, John Stead, Streetscene’s Andy Burton, Pete Curry, Graham Lownsborough and Bridge Operations staff, Helen Thackeray: Hull Events, John Medland, Phil Withers, Mal Nicholson and Historic Motor and Sail, Paul Escreet: SMS Towage, Simon Lee: Svitzer (Maersk), The Humber Keel and Sloop Preservation Society, The Beverley Barge Preservation Society, Freedom Festival’s Jenny Coombes, Hugh Jones of HPSS , C4Di, creative writers Christina Lewis and Russ Litten, photographers Piotr Korczynski and Graeme Oxby, Humber Film Creative Community and Octovision Media.
Notes for Editors
Duffy-Howard Music
Hull based musicians and event organisers Rich and Lou Duffy-Howard are known for their involvement in city events since 1999 – Grassroots Free Festival (2000-2008), Wilberforce 2007, Winterlude Festival, Hull700. Former Red Guitars bassist Lou and photographer Rich’s current band Loudhailer Electric Company are currently gigging their debut album Cursus to critical acclaim. Website: https://loudhailer.net/
John Stead
John Stead is a multi-award winning and internationally respected composer who has lived in Hull for most of his working life. Best known for light and sound installations, John’s work throughout the UK includes son et lumieres to celebrate the opening of Hull Tidal Barrier and Princes Quay, sacred space installations Day of Light at Lastingham and Another Mighty Angel at York’s NCEM. ‘Fractals’ at Hull City Hall gained a Holst Foundation Award in 1994. John’s diverse international music projects include work with the sound artist Max Eastley, composer Stanislaw Hansel, cellist Gabriel Prynn (Trio Fibonacci). His collaboration with Anne Parouty and Sakab Bashir won them a BAFTA Digital Arts Award in 2004. Recent work includes collaborations at galleries in Prague, Utrecht and at the Salle Camille Claudel, Clermont-Ferrand, France. ‘Cycles and Rounds for Peter Maxwell Davies’ (2016) – a tombeau for Peter Maxwell Davies and ‘DUET I for ‘cello and computer’ (2016/7) – a graphic score, premiered at the Charterhouse in Hull in March 2017. John is Artistic Director of the Electro-Acoustic Ensemble. Website: http://www.eae.org/
Moments in Time for Open Bridges Hull – invites us in with familiar sounds, allowing us to hear everyday life and unfamiliar sounds of the bridge mechanisms and then shaping this into a piece that has momentum, a point of repose and reflection before taking us to a world of musical freedom where the sounds are transformed into a dream like musical landscape before returning us to the familiar, as the composer says ‘in a moment.’ Shaped sounds and intricate rhythms take the listener on an evocative journey building dynamically to the ‘revelation’ of the working sounds of the bridges and beyond.
Weblinks
Open Bridges website https://openbridgeshull.com/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/openbridges/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/HullSubCulture
#OpenBridgesHull
HMS Pickle: https://openbridgeshull.com/hms-pickle/
Motor Barge Syntan: https://openbridgeshull.com/motor-barge-syntan/
Humber Keel Comrade: https://openbridgeshull.com/humber-keel-comrade/
ENDS
For more information, photographs or photo opportunities contact
Rich and Lou Duffy-Howard
richandlou@duffyhoward.karoo.co.uk
Mob: 07971 956963 or 07813 599551
