GBSR Duo: Lines of Resistance
Lineup
About the Event
Artists-in-Residence, GBSR Duo join forces with close collaborator Pianist Joseph Havlat and guests for a charged evening in our Composer-in-Focus, Steve Martland series.
At the centre of this programme are two landmark works by Steve Martland and his mentor Louis Andriessen, composers who fearlessly challenged musical and political convention. Martland’s Drill and Andriessen’s Worker’s Union are fierce, percussive and unapologetically direct, embodying their shared belief in music as a vehicle for social comment and collective energy.
Luke Lewis’ O Dreamland, was written in response to the parallel anniversaries of Martland and filmmaker Lindsay Anderson. Drawing on Anderson’s realist portrait of seaside Britain, Martland’s Liverpool roots and the maritime thread of his Sea Songs, Lewis folds historic recordings and Martland’s own voice into a vivid, time-bending soundscape.
Together, these works celebrate two visionary composers and the artistic legacies they continue to inspire.
This event will last approximately 1 hour and 50 minutes, including an interval.
This event is supported by:
GBSR Duo
2026 Artists-in-Residence, GBSR Duo – George Barton (percussion) and Siwan Rhys (piano) – combines two of the UK’s finest young contemporary chamber instrumentalists. The duo has built its reputation on a combination of exceptional interpretations of the existing piano-percussion repertoire, committed performances of ambitious new commissions, and inventive collaborations.
Known for their fearless, intense and boundary-crossing performances, GBSR Duo’s work ranges from the twentieth-century modernism of Stockhausen and Ustvolskaya to music by Brian Eno and Aphex Twin; from the exquisite delicacy of composers like Morton Feldman, Eva-Maria Houben and Barbara Monk Feldman to the experimental and cross-genre work of Oliver Leith and CHAINES.
With an emphasis on commissioning and repertoire-building complemented by the respect and trust of composers, GBSR Duo’s recent world premieres include works from Eva-Maria Houben, CHAINES, Lawrence Dunn, Cassie Kinoshi, Alex Tay, Linda Catlin Smith, Julius Aglinskas, Tim Parkinson and many others.
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