Interview: London Contemporary Orchestra’s Hugh Brunt, on Portsmouth Festivities

Pictured: Hugh Brunt, Principal Conductor for London Contemporary Orchestra | Photo by Trent McMinn

The London Contemporary Orchestra perform the Portsmouth Festivities opening gala concert at Portsmouth Cathedral on Friday 17th June.

I spoke to spoke to LCO’s co-Artistic Director and Principal Conductor about his passion for what he does, and excitement for the forthcoming Portsmouth Festivities concert, for a piece on Team Locals Portsmouth.

How did you get into conducting, and how did you come to be co-Artistic Director and Principal Conductor for the LCO?

I met co-Artistic Director Robert Ames when we were 17/18 in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain – it was around then that we were both developing an interest in conducting.

We headed off to university/music college and towards the end of our degrees thought it would be a good idea to bring together many of our friends from NYO days, who were passionate about contemporary music, to start a new ensemble.

Interview: Trash Arts Portsmouth release ‘The Making of’ mockumentary

Trash Arts, an independent creative and cultural collective in Portsmouth, have produced The Making of, a mockumentary about filmmakers with ambition but no money, ideas, or hope.

I spoke to project leads Jackson Batchelor and Sam Mason Bell about the series, which is now available on the Trash Arts Portsmouth YouTube channel, for an article on Team Locals Portsmouth.

Where did the idea and inspiration for making this mockumentary come from, and how did you make it a reality?

Jackson: Well we entered the Colchester 60 Hour Film Challenge in 2014 so we decided to do a mockumentary about a team trying to complete the challenge. The film turned out great and we actually had a 20-minute film, The Making of ‘Footsteps’, that we had to cut down to five for the challenge.

Adam Young scores Omaha Beach

Adam Young’s Omaha Beach score is so jarring, so audibly vicious, that it perfectly encapsulates a gruesome historic event which I can only imagine the horrific hellishness of. The artwork that goes alongside it, by James Eads, is my favourite to date, and has got me digging back through some photos I snapped of landing craft on Southsea Beach a couple of years ago during the D-Day 70 events. Crazy good score.

Listen to it now, for free, at ayoungscores.com.

Arkansas Airways: A Sestina

Unexpectedly fell in love in the spring,
Unexpectedly fell apart in the fall,
I didn’t have my eyes open,
We didn’t see the end so close,
Four with the first, two with the second,
Halved — I no longer cared to keep watch.

In her car, glance down at my watch,See the dials, the hands, the spring,
Begin to notice every minute and second,
Seeing the time slow made my heart fall,
Began wanting our story to close,
The road ahead once seemed so open.

I recall holding the door slightly open,
5:00pm came around and I’d keep watch,
I didn’t like the bus stop being so close,
Wasted late sun gifted by the spring,
When night fell, you let my hands fall,
Over jeans on the first, under on the second.

Outside your house I didn’t waste a second,
Unbuttoning your shirt, pulling fabric open,
We made it inside, you let your guard fall,
Speeding up, beating heart and ticking watch,
Hot, wet, steamy, a natural spring,
Holding your electric body close.

Her three months here came to a close,
Planes booked to her in a split second,
A brief stint of summer followed our spring,
Before inevitable winter storms began to open,
Conversation froze, all we could do is watch,
As a lack of understanding led to our fall.

In her car, the speedometer begins to fall,
The ‘E’ of the fuel dial is so very close,
A red light by the river, boats to watch,
Changing direction with every passing second,
I want to join them, the blue looks so open,
I feel lethargic, burned by the sun of spring.

It only seemed like a fall, just for a second.
The truth was always close, a friend helped my eyes open.
I threw away my watch — you can’t time unending spring.

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My friend Mo, from Arkansas, recently introduced me to the concept of the sestina, while introducing me to more complex forms of poetry. This was my first attempt, so I tapped into some quite generic themes of past loves and all that wishy-washy crap.