Free

8 Jun 2025

Mercury Songs

Emily Levy and Matthew Bourne

3pm: Loading Bay
Enjoy an experimental piece by a five-piece ensemble that recasts British folk traditions for today

Event Details
Date 8 Jun 2025
Times 3 - 4pm
Location Loading Bay

Performer-composers Emily Levy and Matthew Bourne present a new work that recasts British folk traditions for today.

Award-winning performer-composers Emily Levy and Matthew Bourne’s new work for five-piece ensemble, with experimental orchestration and rich vocal textures.

Mercury Songs is inspired by Bradford-born Julia Varley, a 20th-century activist for women’s and worker’s rights. It is a subversive reimagining of British folk traditions in a post-#MeToo world.

About this event

This New Music Biennial 2025 event is free, but ticketed. Seating is unallocated and tickets don’t guarantee entry: admission is on a first-come, first-served basis for those with tickets. Please arrive early to avoid disappointment.

This event includes two performances of the same work and a short interview with the creative team in between the two, enabling audiences to experience the second performance with greater insight into the creative process.

About New Music Biennial

New Music Biennial is a three-day festival celebrating the best new music across all genres from the country’s most exciting composers – and in 2025, for the first time, it’s coming to venues around Bradford.

Credits
Presented in partnership with PRS Foundation, Southbank Centre, BBC Radio 3 and NMC Recordings, and supported by Arts Council England.

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A group of musicians performing on stage. They are all stood in a line silhouetted by white light behind them.

Part of New Music Biennial 2025

Explore the cutting edge of contemporary music at this free weekender.

6 – 8 June 2025

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