Francesca Ter-Berg is a cellist and composer known for her unique style which blends Klezmer, Improvisation, and electronic synthesis. Her debut EP (released on the Phantom Limb Label) achieved Best Experimental Music on Bandcamp + Quietus Best Releases of 2021. Francesca writes for film and TV, commissions include the Turner Contemporary and Margate NOW Festival. Her critically acclaimed duo Fran & Flora (“Border-defying” – Mojo, “vibrant, mournfully expressive, and creatively imaginative” – Line Of Best Fit) released their 2nd self-produced studio album Precious Collection in April 2024 on Hidden Notes Records (The Guardian Top 10 Folk Albums of 2024).She tours and records with Imogen Heap, Tom Skinner, Portico Quartet, Ziah Ziah and prominent klezmorim including Grammy award winner Frank London, Zoe Aqua and Craig Judelman. She has spent many years developing her Klezmer style, adapting the cello to explore all aspects of the music from accompaniment, tenor lines and bass to melody and simultaneously singing. Francesca performs and teaches at Klezmer festivals globally including KlezMore Vienna, KlezFest London, Yiddish New York and is a Professor of Electronic & Produced music at Guildhall School of Music & Drama.
“Ter-Berg’s vocals have a cool charm [whilst her] cello passionately laments” – Clive Bell, The Wire
“Francesca Ter-Berg has a sense of levitating above and around the material world” – Jennifer Lucy Allen, The Quietus
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Anna Clock is a musician and sound artist whose solo music projects blend cello, field recordings and electronics, blurring the lines between sound, noise and music and inviting the audience to listen to their environment in new ways. Their latest EP UMBRA was released on Fort Evil Fruit to critical acclaim.
The label describes: ‘Between sinewy cello and rumbling vocals, we are invited to eavesdrop on intimate domestic scenes and the steps of a solitary dancer. The hum of waves dragging over rocks and leaves wilting in the rain draws us into an assured quietude, contrasting with moments of fury and ecstasy.’
Alongside their solo work they score film, theatre, radio and installations. They have collaborated, performed and recorded with musicians including Ailbhe Nic Oireachtaigh (IRL), Lori Goldston (USA), Thruoutin (CN), Woven Skull (IRL), Hozier (IRL), David Lacey (IRL), David Turpin (IRL), Roger Kim (USA). Recent commissions include sound and musical works for The Science Museum, Wellcome Collection, Royal Court Theatre, Lyric Hammersmith (UK), Times Square, Irish Arts Centre (NYC), Dresden Staatsschauspiel (GER), Project Arts Centre (IRL) and Cirko (FIN). Their audio works have been played on BBC Radio 4, Radio 3, Resonance FM, Radio na Life and RTE Lyric radio. They are currently pursuing a funded Collaborative Doctoral Award with the Science Museum in the UK exploring how we listen to outer space.
‘Cello played with gorgeous dark energy…a constant reminder of what a great instrument the cello can be’ – Byron Coley, The Wire on UMBRA
‘Quite simply, it rules.There’s something just so satisfying about the simple-yet-strange arrangements — a sense that you’re being passed to and fro between a domestic space or studio and a trippy dreamstate with a gentle hand.’ – Eoin Murray, Anois, Os Ard on UMBRA
Music : Baba Yaga’s Hut Presents: Francesca Ter-Berg / Anna Clock. Wednesday 3rd December 19:30
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