Watch the video above to find out more.
Make Piece Together
Make Piece Together is a fully interactive performance work: this 40 minute piece connects a series of spontaneous collaborations between cellist and community musician Bela Emerson and individual audience members, who are invited to play and co-create with her for two minutes each, to generate a one-off site-specific piece: a collaborative flow of sound. Participants are offered an initial choice of three approaches to collaboration: two sonic and one visual.
The piece has been performed in various locations, including Buddhafield (2019), The Green Gathering (2016 – 2018), Fort Process (2014), Leigh Folk Festival (2015), Emergenc(i)es (2016, Bristol), and with groups of school-aged children. It is designed to support participants in co-creating a one-off improvised piece whatever their experience. Participants are actively encouraged to bring their own instruments / sound sources. As the piece is entirely co-created in the moment, each audience member has an equal opportunity to shape it, to take it in a completely new direction.
Drawing on her extensive experience of creating thrilling spontaneous work which responds to time, place, performers and participants, Bela has further expanded her artistic practice with the adventurous collaborative improvisation project Make Piece Together, a 40-minute piece woven together from a series of two-minute audience interactions.
Aimed at a broad audience of all ages at festivals and music events, Bela creates a setting where she invites the participants to direct her musical improvisation through means of their body or hand gesture, drawing, facial expressions.
In this way, people with no musical experience or skills can direct their own improvised composition, and is accessible to anyone, regardless of age or physical ability.
Make Piece Together is a unique and proactive approach to collaboration and improvisation, where Bela creates a safe space for the audience to move beyond their comfort zone and experience the joy, humour, exploration and challenges of actively participating in an event where no two performances will be the same.
Only Connect…
“Make Piece Together is a 40-minute piece made up of two-minute interactions between me and audience members, who are invited to interact with me and my cello in various ways. You don’t need to have any particular expertise to join in, just a sense of curiosity.
No-one is forced to do anything, and people say that it’s compelling being part of the experience as it unfolds: not even I know what’s coming next…
‘Who is it for?’
Everyone – I’ve taken this to lots of different places (festivals, schools etc), so I know it’s a great experience for people of all ages including children & older people (& everyone in between), musicians, non-musicians, all backgrounds & interests…the wider the better the piece!”
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Make Piece Together – Video
Make Piece Together is a fully interactive performance work: this 45- minute piece connects a series of spontaneous collaborations between cellist and community musician Bela Emerson and individual audience members, who are invited to play and co-create with her for...
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