Cath Roberts: And Then The Next Thing You Know

And then the next thing you know is a piece for improvising trio by Cath Roberts, originally commissioned by hcmf// (Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival) for their 2021 programme. Created specifically for cr-ow-tr-io – Cath Roberts, Otto Willberg and Tullis Rennie – it takes the form of a giant, fragmented graphic score hanging in space, with a sample set of cut-up audio taken from recordings of the group playing together over the internet during lockdown.

It was first performed in the Bates Mill Blending Shed, Huddersfield on 19th November 2021. This concert will see the installation take a new shape, responding to its setting in City's Performance Space and presenting the trio with a fresh context for their collective improvised music. Inspired by Cornelia Parker’s atmospheric installation artwork, Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View (1991), which comprises the suspended fragments of an exploded garden shed and its contents, Roberts' hanging score debris provides an immersive environment for audience and performers.

Please note, this event is free to attend, but seats are limited, so please do sign up to attend, via the 'register now' button above.

About cr-ow-tr-io:

• Cath Roberts - baritone saxophone, sampler
• Otto Willberg - double bass, sampler
• Tullis Rennie - trombone, sampler

Cath Roberts' work explores free improvisation, composition and the music at their meeting point. Her band Sloth Racket has toured widely and released several albums, and she collaborates with many other artists as an improviser, primarily on baritone saxophone. Cath Roberts' website.

Otto Willberg plays and improvises on electric and double basses, and has aspirations of playing other low end instruments too. He often plays in various groups, which all sound different. Otto maintains the website bootlegspatialrecall.net, a collection of public space reverbs and sporadically releases music via the Heavy Petting label. Otto Willberg's website.

Tullis Rennie is a composer, improvising trombonist, electronic musician and field recordist. He is co-founder of Walls On Walls with visual artist Laurie Nouchka, and a member of the Insectotròpics audio-visual collective, based in Barcelona. He curates the multi.modal label with Claudia Molitor. Tullis Rennie's website.