Recent Projects
Climate Hackathon
June 2023, Leeds Conservatoire
“This experience has ignited a newfound drive within me to take more decisive action”
The Climate Hackathon was organised by Jacob Thompson-Bell and Maria Rovisco. The event brought together delegates from arts, sciences, and community activism to explore the potential for climate collaboration. Delegates were invited to explore these issues through discussion, and to form collaborative teams to apply for seed funding for transdisciplinary projects engaging with the hackathon themes of climate change, biodiversity loss, and social inequity. Read the Climate Hackathon Evaluation Report.
The Climate Hackathon was supported by the UKRI Covid-19 Recovery Fund.
Photograph: (C) Leeds Conservatoire 2023
(C) Neil Jarvie 2022
Unusual Ingredients
2018 - ongoing
“The effect is as invigorating as it is absorbing” The Times
Unusual ingredients is a multisensory collective exploring connections between flavour and sound. This is a collaboration with producer Adam Martin (Nightports) and food artist Caroline Hobkinson. We released our first multisensory album in March 2020, packaged as a box set combining selected food with our original music composed to modulate flavour perception. Our live multisensory show invites audiences to eat as we perform . Recent shows include Sonica Festival, Glasgow (March 2022) and KiKK Festival, Namur (October 2022). Commercial collaborations include Pink Lady® and Magnum UK. unusualingredients.co
(C) Angus McDonald 2019
(C) Neil Jarvie 2022
Launch series of events produced by Third Ear. Design by Split. Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, with funding from Help Musicians UK Fusion Fund and Leeds Conservatoire.
Holding Space
2020 - ongoing
movement by Julie Havelund and Rob Keates
video by Belinda Ackermann
music by Jacob Thompson-Bell
A collaboration with dancers Julie Havelund and Rob Keates, and artist Belinda Ackermann. The project began life under lockdown in 2020. All visuals are created using only the dancers’ hands, captured remotely.
ONE
Concert series, September 2017
Recording, October 2018
performed by Ben Gaunt
visuals by SHARP (except broken pirouette)
engineering by Paul Baily
photography by Adam Martin
music by Jacob Thompson-Bell
Performances in London (Iklectik), Brighton (The Rose Hill), Manchester (IABF) and Leeds (Seven Arts). Featuring music for ONE, my collection of piano studies, alongside compositions by Shiva Feshareki, Frank Laws and Ben Gaunt, together with a newly commissioned graphic score improvisation book by Claudia Molitor. The book was created by collaging together photographs from each venue and musical sketches commissioned from Michael Betteridge (Manchester), Daniel Kidane (London), Ben Gaunt (Leeds), me, and Claudia (Brighton).
Supported using public funding by the national lottery through Arts Council England. Part of the Composer-Curator programme 2017 from Sound and Music, the national charity for new music.
Postcards from Eyemouth
April - May 2017
An exhibition and performance of graphic scores created with students at Leeds Conservatoire, inspired by postcard reflections from residents of the harbour town of Eyemouth, Scotland. Reflections were collected throughout 2016-17 by post, in meetings with community groups and through workshops in local schools. Produced and directed in collaboration with drummer Nick Katuszonek and Eyemouth Hippodrome.
Supported by funding from Creative Scotland Open Project Fund and Leeds Conservatoire. Film produced by Shadowcat Films.
Fresh Yorkshire Aires
Concerts and exhibitions, June 2016
New graphic scores from Katie English, Nigel Morgan, Jacob Thompson-Bell and Jez Riley French, exhibitions in Leeds and Sheffield, piano duo performances by Matthew Bourne and Philip Thomas.
Fresh Yorkshire Aires also showcases work online by artists based across Yorkshire. I produced and directed the project.
The project was supported by Arts Council England Grants for the Arts, Sound and Music, Leeds College of Music, Leeds Gallery and Bank Street Arts, Sheffield.
Photography: Matthew Moorhouse. The Gallery at Munro House, Leeds.
a lot like this...
music by Jacob Thompson-Bell
cello by Joely Koos
engineering and mastering by Chris Rogers
photography by Belinda Ackermann
A score for solo scordatura cello, in three continuous movements. Score available on request. Recorded in St Michael’s Church, London.
