Riot Ensemble announces a new artistic structure
January 2024
Aaron Holloway-Nahum – conductor, co-founder and current Artistic Director & CEO of Riot Ensemble will be joined by two members of the Ensemble: Marie Schreer (violin) and Adam Swayne (piano & co-founder) as Co-Artistic Directors alongside their playing roles, and independent Creative Producer Jackie Newbould in an overseeing role, forming a new Artistic Planning Team of four that will lead and continue to cherish the unique ‘artistic democracy’ that gives Riot its strength, and building on the wealth of entrepreneurial skills that exist within its body of players – the ‘Artistic Board’.
The three Co-Artistic Directors relish the future as they embark on the new working structure:
Aaron Holloway-Nahum – Co-Artistic Director & CEO: “I wish I could express how much founding and leading Riot Ensemble over its first decade has meant to me. The 23 soloists that make up our Artistic Board are my closest friends and (both literally and metaphorically) my family. They have each given me so much as we made this wild and wonderful music together. The past years in England have been especially difficult for artists and makers. Any vibrancy, any innovation, any strength that remains in our communities is entirely down to the people giving everything to swim against the strongest of tides. I’ve had the chance to perform alongside Adam and Marie for years. I know their qualities as musicians, leaders and human beings. I could not be more excited to continue serving Riot alongside them, and all of the Artistic Board as we keep doing what we’ve always done: make the next thing.”
Marie Schreer – Co-Artistic Director: “Riot Ensemble is an incredibly special group to experience, perform with and work for. Its open-mindedness musically and as an organisation is unique, and since my first involvement in 2015 I have admired the ensemble and each of its members for their skill, dedication, leadership, creativity and curiosity. I’m immensely grateful to feel endlessly inspired and driven by the sheer calibre of the colleagues and friends around me and to work and create in an environment as welcoming and trusting as this. To be able to deepen my relationship with the group in this new way, as part of such a fantastic team, is invaluable to me and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.”
Adam Swayne – Co-Artistic Director: “Aaron and I are founding members of the ensemble (with Claudia Maria Racovicean - piano, Kate Walter – flutes and Celeste Cronje-Doyle - soprano ). It’s been wonderful to see how the ensemble has developed over the past decade. Members of our Artistic Board have always played a key role in this, in both volunteer and part-time positions. Our international presence has mushroomed thanks to Sarah Saviet (violin), our ensemble branding is distinctive thanks to Stephen Upshaw (viola), and our educational work is pioneering thanks to soprano Sarah Dacey’s enormous and continued energies. All the efforts of our brilliant artists, trustees and supporters make Riot one big family. I’m delighted to be helping to sustain our tradition of unique and effective artistic democracy with broad and dynamic leadership.”
The Ensemble looks forward to a busy year ahead, including:
Two concerts at London’s Wigmore Hall:
Sat 24th February 2024 @ 1.00pm
Programme:
Brian Ferneyhough Liber Scintellarum
Hilda Paredes The Hearing Trumpet (World Premiere)
Aaron Holloway-Nahum (conductor) & Nicolas Ireson (horn)
Programme:
Clara Iannotta Limun
Jocelyn Campbell forever 1990 (World Premiere)
Aaron Holloway-Nahum conductor
Return visits to international Festivals including SPOR/Aarhus in May 2024; and GAUDEAMUS/Utrecht in September 2024 with two newly-commissioned works by British-Rwandan artist Auclair and British-Iranian composer Soosan Lolavar.
Collaboration with Mahogany Opera on a new commission, Sky in a Small Cage by composer Rolf Hind and poet Dante Micheaux: a contemporary staged oratorio exploring the life of the Sufi poet Rumi. A stellar cast including Yannis François, James Hall, Loré Lixenberg and Elaine Mitchener alongside the musicians of Riot Ensemble and Copenhagen’s Athelas Sinfonietta will be directed by Frederic Wake-Walker, with performances at Copenhagen Opera Festival (Athelas Sinfonietta) and at the Barbican, London (Riot Ensemble) in August and September 2024.
An extensive programme of residencies and workshops throughout the year, nurturing young composers and performers in higher education including at London’s Royal Academy of Music and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance; The University of Manchester; The Royal Northern College of Music; Cardiff University; The University of Liverpool; and younger students at the Royal College of Music’s junior department.
To get in touch:
ARTISTIC PLANNING TEAM:
Aaron Holloway-Nahum – Co-Artistic Director & CEO
Marie Schreer – Co-Artistic Director
Adam Swayne – Co-Artistic Director
Jackie Newbould – Creative Producer
PRESS:
Jackie Newbould – Creative Producer
Reviews
“Volcanically creative.”
– Alex Ross
“…musically inventive and arresting.”
– The Times
“Always impeccable; Entrancing and highly seductive.”
– The Times