Brudenell Piano Sessions 2

Brudenell Piano Sessions returns for it's second edition following the wonderful first event in July. The lineup for this second event is just as exciting and eclectic and we'll be treated to yet more beautiful, interesting music centred around a real piano at Leeds' best live music venue.


Brudenell Piano Sessions is a new semi-regular night of live music featuring piano-based music by artists from Leeds, the wider UK and beyond. Showcasing emerging artists and musicians from the world of modern-classical instrumental music through to piano-based singer-songwriters, each night is carefully curated to showcase this wonderful instrument and the diverse & eclectic music being created and performed on it.

Taking place at the iconic Brudenell Social Club, each night will feature one singer-songwriter on the piano, with the other featured artists being drawn from the exciting and growing modern/neo-classical instrumental scene, in addition to musicians exploring elements of experimentation and improvisation that fall between neatly prescribed genre classifications.

Through initiatives such as Piano Day, created by German pianist & composer Nils Frahm, the piano continues to inspire and enable musicians to create ever-increasing musical soundscapes. Finding opportunities to see and hear these artists perform live on a real piano is often quite difficult...Brudenell Piano Sessions seeks to try and challenge that.

The lineup for each event will look to highlight the outstanding musical output being created here in Leeds, whilst also bringing some of the most interesting and creative musicians from the UK and abroad to the North.

Brudenell Piano Sessions is hosted & curated by Leeds-based pianist & composer Simeon Walker, in collaboration with Brudenell Social Club & High & Lonesome


Line-up:

Lucy Claire:
Lucy Claire is a remarkable composer and producer, whose music fuses classical, cinematic and world influences. Her bittersweet piano motifs and melancholy string melodies, loaded with atmospheric soundscapes, along with off kilter harmonies and deep and compelling structures, have often been compared to music by composers such as Nils Frahm and Johann Johannsson as well as post rock artists like Mogwai. 

A young, London based composer originally from the North East of England she is perhaps best known for her Collaborations series which has seen her work with artists such as Alev Lenz and Yuri Kono, where intricate thought-provoking vocal melodies are combined with her wistful spectral, piano and string based sound. 

Throughout 2018, Lucy will release a series of EP’s with Swedish label 1631 Recordings. The first release, entitled 'String Works' was released in March and is available on CD and digital downloads. The collection of tracks will focus mainly on the stringed instrument family with occasional support from the piano and atmospheric soundscapes. The EP features playing by violinist Marie Schreer and The Iskra String Quartet. Her most recent release 'Piano Works' was released in June.

‘A swell of strings that leaves you feeling suspended in a sea of melodies’ - Drowned in Sound

'A must-listen for everyone who is into classical, ambient and/or experimental music' - Nothing But Hope And Passion

'Extraordinary - a really complex, deep work' - Tom Robinson, BBC Radio 6 Music

Watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7LXB8NX6p8


RIC NEALE:
Ric Neale is a musician and songwriter. As well as releasing work as a solo artist (notably 2015's "All That Counts", 2016's "Pencil" and 2017's "Ric Neale Does Pet Sounds" and 2018's LULLABIES FOR PARENTS, all of which were live piano and vocal records) with which he has toured extensively, he has also written music for other artistic projects.

Ric worked as Songwriter, Musical Director and performer in the sell out show "Dancing Bear" with Jamie Fletcher and Company that toured The West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds and The Palace Theatre in Manchester and, with his band The Housekeeping Society, wrote and performed in the show "Dancing With The Orange Dog" which toured nationally. They also created the piece “45RPM” for the art exhibition “Thud, Crackle, Pop” in partnership with visual artist Pete McKee which was shown all over the country and featured at the prestigious Festival No.6. Ric was commissioned along with spoken word artist Rob Reed to create the theatre piece "Never Worn" for Wakefiled Literature Festival in 2017.

Two songs Ric co-wrote got into the top ten of the UK Songwriting Contest in 2013 and he was invited to write a segment in Andrew Dubber’s book “The 360 Degree Deal”. He has recently been touring the UK performing all of the Beach Boys album Pet Sounds to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Ric has lectured on the craft of songwriting for over ten years.

Watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocajRmnckTM


Sternlumen:
Sternlumen, Thomas Kudela, invites his audience into an experimental universe found somewhere in the intersection between jazz, minimalism and improvised contemporary classical.
With temperamental piano play and minimalist intensity Sternlumen draws the listener into a journey through the music.

Sternlumen has been compared to artists like John
Abrahams (The Necks) and Max Richter. His music also conjures thoughts of Lubomyr Melnyk and Philip Glass.

In 2016 after a seven year break from music, the self-titled come-back album Sternlumen was released. His current second album, Nørrebro Nights, is an homage to the neighbourhood in Copenhagen where he loves to live in.

He has played in Germany and New York as well as Denmark, Iceland, Sweden and Poland in prominent venues such as 
Café OTO in London and Copehagen's JAZZHOUSE.

The music on Nørrebro Nights is simple and complex at the same time. It's constantly magnetic, at times meditative,
sometimes melancholic. ✭✭✭✭✩✩ - Gaffa DK

Sternlumen goes its own way with his music. I don't think that there is anyone else like Sternlumen in modern Danish
music - CAPAC

There is more variety in Sternlumen's music than in The Necks'. But they both have this sense of drama and
tension. - Jazz.dk

Musically this is an album to get totally absorbed and lost in, that weaves beautiful patterns that totally consume the
mind. [...] The whole album has been thought through so clearly and paints vivid pictures of the Nørrebro district.
✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✩✩ - Nordic Music Review

Watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=604&v=1v0sXh9TRpo


Simeon Walker:
Brudenell Piano Sessions is hosted and curated by Leeds-based pianist Simeon Walker. Following a decade working as a musician, UK-based pianist and composer Simeon Walker has quickly emerged as a leading light in the burgeoning Modern Classical scene in his own right, following the release of his EP Preface (2016) and his debut full length album Mono at the end of 2017, followed by a European Tour and airplay for his latest single ‘Shelter’ across BBC Radio 3.

With consecutive official Piano Day playlist features and numerous glowing reviews from across the music world, Walker’s calm, introspective piano instrumentals invite the listener to find stillness and beauty as much in the spaces between the notes as the notes themselves, as musical stories are woven with each tender, intimate performance.

“Resplendent” – The Big Issue
“Beautifully captivating” – GoldFlakePaint
“A tender-hearted collection of thoughtfully composed pieces in slow bloom and wrapped in hushed intimacy” – Stationary Travels
“Listening to ‘Mono’ is remembering to breathe again” – GIGsoup

Watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9IlfLpA7UI