Songs For Wild Horses is a platform for commissioning new work by local artists and musicians.

As part of this year’s New Forest Arts Festival, Coda has commissioned Bob Burke to create new music to be performed on Saturday 17th June at The Friends Meeting House in Ringwood.

Bob’s work will take inspiration from the landscape of the New Forest and Thomas Hardy’s novella from 1872, Under the Greenwood Tree – and the music will be developed collaboratively around the skills and abilities of the members of a new ensemble.

To this end we are urgently looking for local musicians to take part in the project and will be running rehearsal sessions on Sunday 28th May, Sunday 4th June and Sunday 11th June between 10am and 12.30pm.

If you would like to take part and play any of the following stringed instruments: guitar, mandolin, banjo, violin, viola, cello, bass guitar; or would like to be involved in the percussion ensemble (hand percussion e.g. shakers, bells, cajon etc) and are available on the dates above (including the performance on the 17th June), please do get in touch with us!

We are looking for confident, open-minded performers of all abilities who are keen to embrace the idea of “sound painting”. The instrumental elements of the composition will be built around collages of patterns which recall the pastoral avant-pop of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra and the modal compositions of Ludovico Einaudi.

If you would like to sign up to perform in Songs for Wild Horses 2017, please contact Coda at marina.tucker@coda.org.uk 

If you play a different instrument to those listed above or would like to know more about the project, please contact Bob Burke at bobburkemusic@outlook.com.

Songs For Wild Horses 2017 is supported by New Dimensions and the New Forest National Park Authority.