Local young musicians from the Norfolk and Suffolk Music Hub (NSMH) will perform alongside actors and City of London Sinfonia in The Exoplanets at Norwich Theatre Royal between 6 and 7 Sep.
Seven NSMH musicians, aged 16 and 17, are an integral part of this groundbreaking production. They’ve been collaborating with the creative team since May to develop an improvised score that supports the story. Their performances will support the theatrical narrative, which explores themes of parenthood, creativity, and scientific progress, all set against the backdrop of seven newly discovered exoplanets. The group will be back in the rehearsal room with the creative team later this month.
The group includes: Arthur Curtis-Lundberg on cello, Isaac Hinchliffe on trumpet, Thomas Lucchini on violin, Thomas Manrique on alto saxophone, Isabella Grubb on flute, Amelie Robinson on soprano saxophone, and Kumi Stevens on clarinet.
David Stowell, Area Manager, Norfolk Music Service, said: “It’s been a very special opportunity for the students. It is an amazing opportunity for them to have a platform to perform their instruments while collaborating with a world-class orchestra and theatre company.
“They’ve been able to watch it all develop from the ground up. These are things they’d never usually have the opportunity to see if they weren’t part of this project. It’s remarkable.”
Jack Lowe, Artistic Director and CEO at curious directive, said: “The young people of NSMH have been working closely with The Exoplanets creative team. They’ve been exploring the story with curious directive, music with our composers, and playing technique with members of the City of London Sinfonia. They are on stage for the entire performance, supporting the live scenes with a live, improvised score which explores sounds from the natural world and the emotional heart of our story.”
The Exoplanets is an extraordinary blend of theatre, live orchestral performance, and planetarium experience. Created by Jack Lowe, Artistic Director of Norwich-based curious directive, The Exoplanets is a rare performance collaboration between a multi-award-winning theatre company and an innovative and world-class orchestra. The Exoplanets is supported by Astrophysicist Prof Ruth Angus and is inspired by the Conceptual Image Lab (CIL) at NASA.
The music of The Exoplanets is a new kind of orchestral suite, created by a ‘super-group’ of composers from around the world, including Theo Whitworth, Anibal Vidal, Robin Haigh, Blasio Kavuma, Samantha Fernando, Zhenyan Li, and Pauchi Sasaki, who have been commissioned to write individual works as part of a collective response to scientific advances in planetary discovery.
Since 1995, 8000+ exoplanets have so far been verified, and this group of composers, alongside curious directive, are creating musical responses to seven of these strange new worlds alongside a theatre narrative. A first glimpse at planets beyond our solar system, The Exoplanets is a human story of everyday life, mapped onto the cosmos.
Audrey is in her garden.
An orchestra watches her and waits.
As her mind wanders back and forth in time, The Exoplanets come to life.
A story about parenthood, creativity, and scientific progress.
The Exoplanets is a curious directive and City of London Sinfonia co-production, in association with Norwich Theatre and Norfolk and Suffolk Music Hub, inspired by the Conceptual Image Laboratory (NASA) and funded by Arts Council England.
The production will open at Norwich Theatre Royal for two performances from 6 Sep. It will also be performed at the London Hackney Empire on 13 Mar 26.
