SOUND ARTIST
During the lockdown of 2020 I performed online for the first time, wrote an opera called Persephone’s Dream over Zoom (for more details go to my composer page) and was asked to put together a digital artwork based on that opera for the Electric Medway Festival. This piece was called Somnambulist and its creation sparked a new way of working for me, as a sound artist.
SOMNAMBULIST
This binaural piece was created for Fat Lady Opera and SparkedEcho by Anna Braithwaite using fragments of music from the opera ‘Persephone’s Dream’. Anna was lent a binaural microphone as part SparkedEcho’s Test + Develop programme. She explored her local environment during lockdown to create this immersive soundscape. ‘Somnambulist’ was included in the digital festival ‘Electric Medway’ and was broadcast as part of alt. radio festival ‘Radiophrenia’ at 1pm on 21st Nov. 2020.
Instructions: Listen through headphones to enjoy the binaural audio.
Opera conception by Tania Holland Williams, composition by Gavin Alexander, Anna Braithwaite and Kevin Grist. Cello played by Clare O’Connell. Improvised vocals by Anna Braithwaite.
HULKED
SOUND WALK
Hulked is a creative heritage project inspired by the histories, stories and songs of the Thames Barges, many of which are now ‘hulked’ along the Medway River.
I worked as sound artist on a geolocated sound walk which weaves together stories, poems, songs and music as you follow the self-guided route through The Old Brickfields at Lower Halstow.
Co-created with writer Jeremy Scott, the sound walk includes contributions from students of Lower Halstow Primary School and members of the Oast House Community Choir and Thames Barge Community. The Hulked sound walk was shortlisted for the SWS 2024 international sound walk award. To learn more go to:
HULKED AUDIO
HULKED FILM
The film is shot around and within the hulk of the Surrey barge which was left to rot on Glass Bottle Beach in Lower Halstow, Kent UK. The piece was conceived by Anna Braithwaite who also performed in the film and created the soundtrack, with additional ideas and instrumental performance by Dr. Jeremy Scott (University of Kent). 'Hulked' was directed, filmed and edited by Matt Rowe. The film was informed by the research Anna undertook with project partners Ed Gransden of Tiller & Wheel, Dr. Jeremy Scott (University of Kent) and Prof. Katharine Cockin (University of Essex).
The Hulked project was originally commissioned by Creative Estuary with support from University of Essex and University of Kent. Subsequently funded by:
PILGRIMAGE
In summer 2024 I was selected to be a Screen South ‘Showcase Artist’. Since then I have received training, time to play with a 360° sound rig and support to complete a commission from Deal Festival to create a sound installation for exhibition in July 2025.
‘Pilgrimage’ is an immersive audio artwork which reimagines the coastal hike from Deal to Dover as a pilgrimage: a carving out of time and space for deep listening and self-reflection. It blends field recordings with improvised vocal and church organ music which were also recorded en route, in St Margaret of Antioch church.
I recorded sound as I walked the route, resisting preconceived notions of what this stretch of the Kent countryside should sound like. Instead Pligrimage directs the viewer's attention to the overlooked and ephemeral – for example, the squeak of a metal gate, which takes precedence over the English Channel, whose vast visual presence barely registers on the microphone.
Inside the church, I had no plan for music-making, only an openness to what emerged from within. I entered seeking quiet, an auditory blank canvas, but found a space which resonated with personal associations, where local and biblical stories vibrated through the stone and were stained into the glass.
The piece unfolds as a meditation on presence, place, and the unplanned symphonies of pilgrimage.
Image: Bruce+Marshall: The Strangeness of Seeing, installation detail, 2025
NEW EXHIBITION hosted by Screen South
Venue: Glassworks, Mill Bay, Folkestone, Kent, UK CT20 1JR
Artists’ talk 5pm - 6pm Friday 12th Sept. 2025, followed by a chance to view the rest of the ‘Reveal’ exhibition.
Pilgrimage (18 mins) will be played on the hour on a loop with ‘Wastelands’ (37 mins) a new work by Magz Hall, listeners can choose how long to spend. To guarantee entry please book your free place
Open between 12 noon - 5.30pm 11th - 14th and 17th - 21st Sept.
The venue is fully accessible.
Pilgrimage was commissioned by Deal Music and Arts Festival and has been developed with support from Screen South’s Arts Council England NPO Artist Showcase Programme.
This project has been developed with support from Deal Music & Arts and Screen South’s Arts Council England NPO Artist Showcase Programme.
AUGMENT
For six months in 2019 I was artist-in-residence at Chatham Historic Dockyard. In 2022 I started researching how to create a VR interpretation of the performance captured in one of the films I made during that residency called Rope Cycle. Using Unreal Engine I aim to create an immersive, playable sound world with artist (and regular collaborator) Matt Rowe using an avatar of me performing within a virtual recreation of the original location. We are now investigating how ‘players’ might influence/recompose the music themselves as they move through triggers in the virtual space and more generally how the performance will translate into the VR environment.
To learn more about Anna’s 2019 Dockyard residency click HERE
ROPE CYCLE
Research images for the immersive VR artwork.
Mood board for a VR instrument which can be played by the user inside the dockyards inspired immersive space. The instrument sounds and reverberation of the space will be sourced from the dockyard.
This work was supported by: Hi3 Network [London South Bank University in partnership with Canterbury Christ Church University, Creative Folkestone, Maidstone Studios and Screen South]