Synth Remix celebrates pioneering female electronic musicians

Featuring live performances and DJ sets, Synth Remix aims to showcase the aesthetic and technological legacy of musicians such as Delia Derbyshire and Daphe Oram as well as the continued innovation of female artists working today.

Electronic musician Jo Thomas will interpret and reframe music by the pioneering female composers of the 1960s and 70s including Delia Derbyshire and Daphne Oram with archival research at the University of Manchester, BBC Archives, and Goldsmiths College offering performance of previously unheard music. The nights will culminate in a headline set by contemporary artist, Olivia Louvel, who will present her audio-visual work, Data Regina.

Launching in London at 93 Feet East, and broadcast live on digital station, Resonance EXTRA, the night will tour to Manchester (the Anthony Burgess Foundation), Leeds (Belgrave Music Hall), and Birmingham (Ikon Gallery).

Synth Remix is made possible by the generous support of Arts Council England (using public funding from the National Lottery), Sound and Music’s ComposerCurator scheme, the PRS for Music Foundation, and The Fenton Arts Trust.

Throughout the 1960s and 70s a group of pioneering women working at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Bell Labs and elsewhere, developed and composed for innovative early synthesisers. Synth Remix will use live performance to explore the living potential of the radical music. Working with award-winning musician, Jo Thomas, _REMIX is collaborating with the Delia Derbyshire archive at the University of Manchester, the BBC Archives, and the Daphne Oram archive at Goldsmiths College, to unearth previously neglected music and build a fuller picture of these composers’ life and work. Jo will interpret this historic music, performing on a range of synthesisers including Tom Richard’s reconstruction of Daphne Oram’s ‘Mini-Oramics’ synthesiser, the only one in existence, which translates drawn shapes into electronic sound.

DJ sets throughout the informal nights will showcase music by female artists working in the 1970s and 80s (Suzanne Ciani, Laurie Spiegel, Doris Norton and others), through to today (including Kara-lis Coverdale, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith,

and Carla Scaletti).

Olivia Louvel’s multimedia performance, Data Regina, will conclude the nights. Performed alongside computer-generated animations by Antoine Kendal, the work sets text by Mary, Queen of Scots to explore female creativity, power and ‘atmospheres of misogyny’ (The Wire). Fusing organic vocals, computer generated music, and immersive visuals, Olivia’s performance will showcase the best of experimental electronic music making today.

At the Belgrave Music Hall, Synth Remix will run until 1am, moving from gig to club night. Accompanying workshops in London, Manchester and Birmingham are supported by The Fenton Arts Trust.

For details visit www.classicalremix.org/synth-remix