Continuo Connect — Artists

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Being in the garden on a warm and bright spring day!

What is your greatest fear?

The fear that we have become so individualised, and that personal gain/attainment/competition are prioritised over community and co-operation.

What non-musical hobbies or interests do you have?

I am increasingly interested in land-based practices - everything from regenerative agriculture (beginning with my humble veg patch) to coppicing to green woodworking (though I’m no good at it!). The severance of the connection between humans and the natural world is something we must address, and I am always seeking ways to address this in my own life.

You recently toured Earth Song with Endelienta Baroque, in which you use early music alongside newly-penned works as a means of exploring the environment and the ecological crisis. Do you feel these kind of projects can make a difference?

Our aim with Earth Song was to create conversations around the climate and ecological crises through our work. One way in which connection to the natural world is fostered is through close observation (essentially the art of "noticing”), and Alice Beckwith’s brilliant new works set the vivid and detailed “noticing” poetry of Brockes. The focus of the workshops was similar: children wrote songs in small groups inspired by noticing and comprehending their own surroundings. Before the song-writing, a sense of awareness of place and others was cultivated in the children through Dalcroze Eurhythmics-inspired workshops led by Dalcroze Practitioner and Workshop Lead Rosalind Ridout.