New Project to Support Music and Creative Innovation
Published 18 June 2021
We’re thrilled to welcome musician Jack McNeill for a five month artist residency in the Brewery Arts venue. Launching in July, the residency will support Jack and other collaborators to establish a base in the heart of our organisation and community, to develop new work and new ideas using our performance spaces and new music and filmmaking facilities.
Jack will be working on a series of projects, both individually and with Propellor, the acclaimed ensemble that he directs. One of the projects is the major new performance Flight, which Brewery Arts is supporting through co-commissioning. The residency will also help to revitalise our music education and talent development programmes, and Jack will work closely with our staff team to introduce new activities, including workshops and drop-in sessions for young creatives.
Miriam Randall, CEO/Artistic Director said: “This is a really exciting and significant project for us and I can’t wait to see how it unfolds. The pandemic has had a profound impact on the music industry, decimating opportunities for artists to perform live. Not only will this project support an innovative cross-disciplinary artist to keep thriving and pursuing critical projects, it will put music and performance back in the heart of the building.”
Jack McNeill added: “I’m absolutely buzzing about this residency. Now is a vital and exciting time for the Brewery’s role as a working cultural hub in Cumbria, and is the right time for makers to be creating locally. I feel very grateful to be given this opportunity. I’m looking forward to experimenting, making new work in the town where I live and meeting lots of people. I’ll be collaborating with the skilled Brewery team to find new ways of telling stories through sound in and around Kendal, developing my skills and sharing my experiences with the next generation of makers in the region.”
About Jack McNeill
Jack McNeill is a clarinettist, composer and maker from Cumbria, interested in exploring the points where different traditions, disciplines and sound worlds meet. He directs Propellor, a twelve-piece cross-genre ensemble, and writes music using live electronics, field recording and (lots of) clarinets! Jack’s work is full of variety as on-stage musician/actor, improviser, recording musician, educator, premiering new works and performing solo, with orchestras and chamber ensembles. He’s a member of Decibel, Joe Acheson’s Hidden Orchestra and is the clarinettist for Tao of Glass (Philip Glass/Improbable), which premiered at Manchester International Festival 2019 and is touring in 2021/22.
