• Sky Orchestra 2020: A Moment in Time

    New music for the seven hot air balloon artwork conceived by Dan Jones and Luke Jerram.

     

  • 100% of proceeds from EP go to charity.

     

    Sky Orchestra was first staged in 2003 by artist Luke Jerram and composer Dan Jones when it launched over Bristol and subsequently in Birmingham for the Fierce Festival.  Making news headlines wherever it has gone, it has flown all over the world including, a version for the Royal Shakespeare Company celebrating A Midsummer Nights’ Dream, over Switzerland and Canada as part of the Stratford Festival, and in 2007, opening the Sydney Festival.  

    This version, generously commissioned by Bristol Old Vic, is an attempt to create an artwork that can be experienced by as many people as possible during the Covid-19 crisis, while theatres and other venues have been closed and struggling to survive.  
     
    We’re delighted to welcome some of Bristol’s foremost musicians, and our great city poet, to join us in creating this piece, working alongside some of Bristol’s rising stars.
     
    Clearly for many years Bristol has been a launchpad for some of the world’s most successful musicians.  This event, in part, forms a way of saying thank you to such an such inspiring city and its people, and not least, to create some much needed funding for the next generation of composers and musicians who face a challenge for survival right now.
     
    We’re charging £5.00 for this 27 minute collection of pieces, mixed down from the seven separate streams of music from each balloon.  But if you feel like contributing more then we are very grateful indeed.
     
    100% of the sales of this EP will go to charity to help musicians in Bristol, (no costs whatsoever going to administration).  We hope you keep this as a lasting memory of the day, during this difficult moment in human history, music fell gently from the sky over Bristol.
     
     
  • Tracklist and Credits

    1. Harmonies

    Music by Stew Jackson and Dan Jones; produced by Grant Marshall; featuring Joanna Bacon, Jerome Gamble and Joe Harding on guitars; Drew Morgan on cello; string recordings by FAMES Orchestra.

     

    2. Flight / Have You Spoken?

    Flight - Music by Dan Jones; produced by Grant Marshall; Drew Morgan on cello; vocals by Thomas Nosek; string recordings by FAMES Orchestra; other instruments by Stew Jackson.

    Have You Spoken? - Music and guitars by Adrian Utley, featuring vocals by Thomas Nosek.

     

    3. Play Out

    Music by Stew Jackson and Dan Jones; produced by Grant Marshall; featuring Joanna Bacon, Jerome Gamble and Joe Harding on guitars; string recordings by FAMES Orchestra.

     

    4. Air

    Music by Elizabeth Purnell, string recordings by FAMES Orchestra.

     

    5. Flight / Have You Spoken? - Poetry Version

    Flight - Words by Vanessa Kisuule; Music by Dan Jones produced by Grant Marshall; Drew Morgan on cello; vocals by Thomas Nosek; string recordings by FAMES Orchestra; other instruments by Stew Jackson.

    Have You Spoken? - Music and guitars by Adrian Utley, featuring vocals by Thomas Nosek.

     

    Additional credits:

    Lee Cole - spoken voice

    Guy Hughes - spoken voice

    Nico and Maya Jerram - spoken voices

    Simon Birch - album coordinator and artwork