Hayden Thorpe brings Ness to life, transforming Robert Macfarlane’s words into a spellbinding musical experience featuring the 50+ ethereal voices of SYRINX

Through the resplendent choral arrangements set to innovative songs, Ness reimagines the atmospheric landscapes of Orford Ness – once a weapons development site, now a rewilded place of paradox. Inspired by Robert Macfarlane and illustrator Stanley Donwood’s Ness, Thorpe crafted the music by redacting words from the book to uncover hidden songs.

With haunting melodies, the echoes of history meet the forces of nature, brought to life in this one-of-a-kind performance. Following a very successful touring run of Ness around the UK and Europe, Thorpe closes the current chapter with this very special choral collaboration with SYRINX.

ARTISTS:

SYRINX

SYRINX is a new contemporary choral project based in South London. The choir performs a wide range of music: medieval chants, folk tunes from far and wide, pop bangers, environmental protest songs, new choral compositions, urban shanties and Scandinavian herding calls. The choir’s name SYRINX comes from the vocal organ of birds. In Greek mythology, Syrinx was a beautiful nymph who metamorphosed into a reed from which Pan then made his pipes. Claude Debussy, Benjamin Britten, and several other composers have written works inspired by the character Syrinx, and that beautiful bird-like sound.