New Music & Collaborative Performance
Making weird sounds and hoping you feel something from it.
Paul Hindemith
“Remove the keyboard from a piano and what remains is basically a harp […] The harp in its natural form, unhampered by a keyboard, has, in spite of its closeness to the player’s touch, enough weaknesses to prevent it from assuming a place in the very first rank of important musical implement.”
Photo by Phoebe Apfel, Canon Event (2023)
I have to disagree with Hindemith.
The quote he makes above is what inspired me to dedicate my life to changing the narrative surrounding the harp. As an instrument, the harp is capable of so much more than we give it recognition for, and I hope to push the boundaries on what the harp is and can be.
Below are some examples of works, events, pieces, and moments I’ve had the pleasure of commissioning or being a part of with some exciting artists I have had the pleasure of working alongside to broaden what function the harp can have in the contemporary world.
Guildhall New Music Society
The NMS strives to place the works of up-and-coming composers at the centre of their performances, premiering new works by young composers throughout the year.
As a resident harpist with the Guildhall NMS from 2020 onwards, I have had the privilege to premiere various new works ranging from Contemporary Classical pieces to new and experimental works from multiple composers.
SEE YOU IN THE STARS (2023) by Zygmund de Somogyi.
Part of Guildhall New Music Society’s Canon Event
Jo Fraser, theremin/spoken word
Chris Clarke, harp
Recorded at the Future Strategies Club, Brixton
Poster design by Jo Fraser
beautiful, but useless (2023)
Featuring new works from five up-and-coming composers who I have had the pleasure of befriending.
Focusing around the themes of gender, exploration, and finding footing within an unpredictable environment, beautiful, but useless aimed to thrust the harp out it’s box as a “beautiful” instrument and discover what else it could be.
The concert featured music for solo harp, harp and electronics, harp and percussion, and harp with brass quintet.
The concert was graciously able to run in partnership with the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Harp Festival as well as the Guildhall New Music Society.
The programme included works by Audrey Wu, Charlotte Corbett, Charlotte Glyn-Woods, Carla Ng, and Jo Fraser.
Tongues & Savage/Love (2024)
A collaborative piece that I had the pleasure of working on, Tongues & Savage/Love are originally theatre pieces written by Sam Shepard and Joseph Chaikin.
Originally written for solo actor and optional musician, I had the opportunity to work alongside directors Jane Moriarty and Laura Allen, actors Bernice Pike and Suzy Whitefield, guitarist Juan Carlos, and lighting designer Benjamin Vetluzhskikh to bring these shows to life at the Seven Dials Playhouse in West London with music fully devised by our team.
With a year-long process in devising story, setting, music, and delivery, this was a memorable experience in bringing more experimental music into theatre.
Age of Consent 40 (2024)
A celebration of the 40th anniversary of the seminal queer album The Age of Consent by Bronski Beat, this concert took the original album and reimagined it through the voices of ground-breaking queer and trans contemporary artists, and featuring a live house band to help bring the music to life.
Produced by Laurie Belgrave of The Chateau, and supported by the Southbank Centre with orchestrations by Tom Foskett-Barnes, the process became a collaborative exploration reimagining the music of Bronski Beat for a contemporary audience, while still respecting the iconic sounds of the original album.
The original concert was a smash-hit, and has led to the Age of Consent UK Tour in 2026, reprising many of these reimagined works with most artists involved across the UK.
