Bristol-based composer and producer John Bence uses music to explore the deepest recesses of the human psyche. Raised in Bristol’s burgeoning underground electronic music scene and a graduate of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, his elegiac works move in a sound world in which he incorporates elements of British avant-garde and electronic music, Gregorian chant, orchestral arrangements, rippling synthesizers and field recordings into dark compositions.
The album Love, along with Kill and Disquiet, forms the final chapter of a trio of works that chronicle Bence’s experiences with addiction and his subsequent journey to recovery. In his February 2023 album Archangels, written two years into his recovery, finds the composer casting his gaze heavenward, sculpting radiant soundscapes that offer a glimpse of the divine. Bence comes fully into his own as a composer here, deftly and creatively threading together gauzy electronic atmospheres, brooding orchestral passages and minimalist piano meditations; revealing new surprises and paths beyond classical traditions at every twist and turn.
Bridget Ferrill is a composer/engineer/synth-builder. She operates out of Real Surreal Studio in Berlin. Her music plays between composition and noise, exploring augmented instruments, handmade electronics, and experimental computer music. Her album with Áslaug Magnúsdóttir, Woodwind Quintet, was released on July 20, 2022, on Subtext Recordings. Her latest solo album is Only, released on ENXPL.
John Bence and Bridget Ferrill
Wednesday, 31.5.2023
Kuppelhalle silent green | Gerichtstrasse 35 in 13347 Berlin
