Milapfest & Hope Partnership files: Dr Ian Percy

Since taking residence at Liverpool Hope University’s Creative Campus in March 2010, Milapfest has enjoyed several formal and informal collaboration with the academic staff here, as well as bringing our flagship performances to the Capstone Theatre.

Earlier this year,we reported on the successful grant application and collaborative work with Dr Manuella Blackburn (read about it here). We have also been working since 2010 with Lecturer in Music and Music Technology Dr Ian Percy.

First, in 2011, Ian was Producer of our CD release “Khoj”, the debut album of Sitarist Roopa Panesar. Khoj was the first CD release by Milapfest to be made available online via iTunes and other online retailers. Since its release, Khoj has received excellent reviews not only for its music and artistry, but also for its excellent production quality, and we’re already planning future CD releases in collaboration with Liverpool Hope University.

One of the proposed future projects is an adventurous collaboration with Ian’s compositions in Electroacoustic music, and we began work on this in August, at Music India, with members of our Tarang ensemble. Two sessions during the Summer School residency saw our musicians working with Ian.

The first of the two sessions involved an introduction to electroacoustic composition and performance (instrument and technology) and the participants were invited to prepare an improvised performance to accompany an existing piece of pre-recorded acousmatic composition (composed for multiple loudspeakers). The second session involved a discussion about the effects of intonation and tuning when trying to authentically combine Indian classical performance with 21st century western classical composition.

As the practical schedule for the musicians was quite intense, the participants were invited to audition their ideas at a future date and it is hoped one or two of them will be recorded to a professional standard in the Hope recording studios and will be invited to perform their work during the Liverpool Hope Cornerstone Festival.

You can read more about Ian Percy here.