What is it?

Somewhere in the Middle is a performance that crosses from folk to minimalist classical to contemporary songwriting. The whole show is accompanied by video and glowing visuals. It can be performed with the use of electronics (as a full show) but also as a completely acoustic performance - both of which have been hugely successful and make the performance completely malleable to the venue and audience.

What are the pieces, in more detail?

Sensoria by Richard J Norris is an experience of the senses, written around the concept of colour and ASMR. It takes the listener on a journey of three sections - white, blue and red. At some performances the audience have even contributed ideas for sounds and textures that have then been incorporated in the performance making it entirely tailored to them. Stylistically Sensoria covers classical, electronic dance and songwriting with singers, keyboards, guitars, violin, cello and even trumpet at a recent performance. The video has been created by Diego Barraza at SaGuarda Studios and Richard is very grateful to have received DYCP Arts Council Funding for the development on this project.

Alkevan are a folk/songwriter harmony trio singing songs whose songs cover topics from nature to wayfaring tales. They have recently released their album, Saltwater Rain, and are actively on the folk club circuit and finding interesting venues to play. Matilda Harvey on violin and Nicholas Allen really do enhance the whole experience.  "The songs took me to new places with Alkevan's blend of harmony and journey" - CV Folk; "Saltwater Rain is a rare album these days that just seems to work whilst travelling through beauty and intensity in the fantastic writing and arrangements" - Folk Matters.  

Cello Counterpoint by Steve Reich is written for eight cellos (either tape or live). Nicholas Allen has created a new version, having recorded all of the cello parts himself and created an amazing new video, full of colour and contour to accompany his performance of this amazing piece. This piece is rarely performed due to its technical nature and Steve Reich himself described it as one of the most difficult pieces that he had ever had to write. Despite this, it is still accessible for a wide audience and has really gone down well in our live performances.

Why would you want it?

This is a performance that stands out for providing a huge amount of variety, yet still under an accessible umbrella. We have had completely positive feedback from our performances and have quotes as long as our arms - some including "Spectacularly collaborative; all for one and one for all!”, "It allows those of us who don’t experience art and music to begin to appreciate it" and "The collaborative variety and mix of music styles was just amazing"

Could you book the individual performances separately?

Of course, and we are all enthusiastic to talk further if one particular element would work best at your venue or for your audience. We have found that these three pieces really do complement each other in the same performance though and, of course, we love performing with each other and have each migrated into each other’s performances making this a really cohesive set.

How long does the performance last?

The whole performance lasts around 2 hours with a 20-minute interval.

How much does it cost?

For each performance we have 5 musicians (Richard J Norris, Nicholas Allen, Matilda Harvey, Alan Harvey and Kevin Moffat). We also have a sound engineer and a tour manager. Each person is paid the same, at the MU rate of £120 bringing the total cost to £840. Travel costs over 50 miles are at 45p a mile for one vehicle.

Can we do anything if this is out of our budget?

We completely understand the nature of putting on gigs and the costs involved (we have done it a lot ourselves). We are constantly applying for funding and it is incredibly useful for us to have venues on our books that have expressed interest should we be able to contribute to the costs down the line. If this sounds like it could be of interest to you, please do even just send an e-mail or call saying that you would be interested.

How do we contact you?

somewhereinthemiddle@gmail.com

Or contact our booking manager, Fran Regan, on 07772 381527