Sage Gateshead

www.sagegateshead.com/artists-in-residence/

This September, Sage Gateshead welcomes four new artists for a 10-month residency: Anna Hughes, Ceitidh Mac, Kerrin Tatman and Late Girl. The artists will work on ambitious projects leading to a final showcase performance in 2023.

With over 70 applications this year, the selected artists are four of the most exciting up-and-coming musicians in the North-East. Each of the artists is at a pivotal moment in their career and Sage Gateshead will support them on bold projects that take their work in a new direction. They will push boundaries and explore issues prevalent today, from the climate emergency to the cost-of-living crisis.

As an Artist in Residence, they will access funding, investment in a creative project of their choosing and a residential retreat. They will also access dedicated rehearsal space, one-to-one advice, video footage of their final project, and an end-of-residency concert at Sage Gateshead.

Wendy Smith, Director of Contemporary Music at Sage Gateshead, said: “We are delighted to welcome Anna Hughes, Ceitidh Mac, Kerrin Tatman and Late Girl to Sage Gateshead. Our Artist Development programme represents the organisation’s commitment to supporting artists – giving space, time and resources at a point when it might be needed. We’re looking forward to working with these artists on some exciting new work, and to showcase the diverse creativity of our region.”

Anna Hughes is a composer, collaborator and performer based in Newcastle and well-established on the North-East music scene. During her residency, Anna is excited to investigate the relationship between human activity and the natural world, and the impact of sound pollution on ecosystems. She will use the residency to work on a new composition, Fell Silent.

“This residency with Sage Gateshead will see me explore a new holistic approach to writing music, working alongside nature and reimagining my whole creative process. With expert guidance from mentors and provision of equipment, I’ll be able to break through the intensity that composing so often lends itself to, playing with the limits of what I can make and taking risks in a really supported setting.” – Anna Hughes (She/Her)

Welsh-born Tynesider Ceitidh Mac is a Newcastle-based alt. folk cellist/singer with a progressive twist to her music. Growing up in the wilds of Pembrokeshire before heading North, she has been carving a name for herself across the North-East and beyond. She was named as BBC Introducing NE tips for 2022. Ceitidh will be using the residency to develop an hour-long radio show, along with a live show of the material. She will delve into the artform of the ‘Radio Ballad’ – a documentary type radio show consisting of original music, reworkings, interviews and field recordings. The idea behind the project is to find out what issues are affecting people based in the North-East.

“Sometimes it’s a challenge to prioritise creativity, even though that’s the root of my job as a musician! With the time and funds afforded by this residency, I get to dive deep into a format of writing, interviewing, recording and researching in a way I haven’t done before. I love observational song writing and reflecting our lives and situations back at us. I feel so excited to get stuck into this process and see what the next 10 months hold!” – Ceitidh Mac (She/Her)

Kerrin Tatman is an award-winning composer, multi-instrumentalist and creative producer who writes contemporary classical and neo-folk pieces for stage, film and concert hall. They perform as a cellist, pianist, singer and accordionist. During their residency they will work with lyricist Rosie Bristow on a Requiem which will be scored for choir, singers, and an ensemble of instruments. The piece aims to feature puppetry, stop motion animation and an accompanying printed comic. It will tell a post-apocalyptic fantastical tale relevant for our times. Offering an alternative interpretation of the traditional Requiem and making contemporary classical music accessible and visual.

“I am so thrilled to have been selected as one of the Sage Gateshead artists in residence for 2022/2023. It will give me the rare opportunity to write something on a large scale – a Requiem – and to merge my passion for composing contemporary classical music with puppetry, stop motion animation and comic book art. I am also very much looking forward to getting to know the other resident artists and experiencing their work.” – Kerrin Tatman (They / Them)

Laura Stutter Garcia is an electronic musician based in Newcastle playing under the name Late Girl. She makes music by mixing found sounds, electronic instruments, and vocals with “poetic polemics and a sly sense of humour to craft an intelligent and distinctly modern form of experimental pop” (NARC).

Having moved from Spain trying to swiftly avoid the economic crisis there, her music is a hybrid of her outsider view, mixture of cultures, and interest in the links between technology and art. She is determined to release her music soon and hopes to use this residency to help her in the process.

“I’m incredibly excited to be one of the new artists in residence for this year. I’m really looking forward to seeing myself develop more ambitious projects with the support of Sage Gateshead and getting to meet and collaborate with a whole range of new people.” – Laura (She/Her)

ENDS

Images for social media:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/2pednbemgjs9h8wu5larr/h?dl=0&rlkey=3cql9q3az4tzpzg0kzn5ir7i1

High-res images for print:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/giutlal1l9k7kdul1ibue/h?dl=0&rlkey=i0kzwe2a23accxfag34vaxwx7

For further media enquiries please contact Susie Gray, The Corner Shop PR: susie@thecornershoppr.com | 07834 073 795

NOTES TO EDITORS

Artist Development at Sage Gateshead

Sage Gateshead is a PRS Foundation Talent Development Partner in association with Youth Music. The residency is supported through this scheme and is part of Sage Gateshead’s commitment to artist development and the future of the music industry in the North East. Every year Sage Gateshead supports more than 100 musicians through its Artist Development programme. The programme includes one to one advice sessions, GP clinics, networking events and performance opportunities, as well as an annual Summer Studios residency programme.

About Sage Gateshead

• Sage Gateshead is an international music centre for the North East and wider North. Through music, creative learning and artist development, the organisation demonstrates what music can achieve for communities.
• Since opening in 2004, Sage Gateshead has worked side by side with partners and the wider community to help address the complex blend of social and economic challenges the region faces.
• Sage Gateshead continues to be a major employer bringing investment and tourism into the region. We’ve generated a c. £500 million contribution to the local economy.
• Sage Gateshead has brought social, cultural and educational value to over 10 million people and millions more via digital and broadcast activity. The scale of its artistic, learning and artist development activity places Sage Gateshead amongst the UK’s largest cultural organisations, while reaching a substantially more socially and economically diverse audience.
• Pre-pandemic Sage Gateshead attracted 2 million visitors; 5,000 people took part in weekly music classes; 17,854 school children experienced live orchestral music and we worked with a further 2,418 vulnerable young people; more than 2,000 adults a week took part in music making designed to tackle social isolation.
• The North East region is one of the worst affected by Covid-19. The region will be one where the recovery is slow and hard. Arts and culture have a pivotal role to play in regional and nation-wide recovery.
• Covid-19 presents a major financial challenge to Sage Gateshead. 80% of its income has been affected, and in 2020/21 £10 million in revenue was lost. The organisation has taken swift action to overcome this crisis. 90% of the workforce was placed on furlough, significant cost savings have been sought and found, and it launched a fundraising campaign to raise £3 million to help secure the organisation during the next three years. Further challenges lie ahead; in 2021/22, Sage Gateshead estimates box office and trading income to be less than half of what would be expected in a normal year.
• Sage Gateshead temporarily closed to the public on 17 March 2020, five days ahead of the announcement of the national lockdown. Performances recommenced in October 2020 with a season of socially distanced concerts featuring Royal Northern Sinfonia and artists across types of music, made available by live stream. Audiences were able to be present in the hall for two weekends of those performances.
• In 2020 Sage Gateshead received a grant of £2.8 million from the Culture Recovery Fund Round One to help it through the pandemic and associated financial crisis. In 2021 the charity received a loan of £3m from the Culture Recovery Fund Round Two to support recovery. It has thanked the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and Arts Council England for this vital support.