The Nettlefold Festival was founded in 1984 by the present Festival Directors, Simon Desorgher and Lawrence Casserley. The aim of the festival was to provide concerts of new music in an area of South London poorly served for any kind of serious music, to encourage performances of music not always well represented in the established Concert Halls, to broaden the repertoire of Electroacoustic Music, Music Theatre and related media, and to broaden the audiences for this music.
Initially concerts were held in the Nettlefold Hall, West Norwood in the Borough of Lambeth, and the festival has always received enthusiastic support from the local authority. Consistent support has also been received from Greater London Arts (now London Arts Board), a number of musical and educational foundations and trusts, the Performing Right Society and the Musicians' Union.
In 1989 the organisers decided that, if the festival would continue to prosper, two things were necessary, a more formal organisation and a new, more visible, venue. The Nettlefold Festival Trust was formed with Charity Registration and a Board of Trustees to oversee the administration of the festival. At the same time it was decided to move the festival to an outdoor site on Clapham Common, where all performances would take place inside the Colourscape walk-in sculpture - the first music festival to take place entirely within a sculpture! Since 1993 the festival has been known as the Colourscape Music Festival.
This move has increased the imaginative scope of the festival, broadened our audience base and allowed us to expand our important educational programme, enthusiastically supported by local schools (well over 1000 pupils have participated each year since 1991). In addition, with increased box office returns and a higher public profile, we have been able to raise the festival budget to a more realistic level.
In 1993 the Nettlefold Festival Trust received a substantial grant from the Foundation for Sport and the Arts to finance construction of a completely new Colourscape. This grant enabled us to complete all the design work, purchase the special material and construct the new Performance Space, which was inaugurated at the 1994 Colourscape Music Festival. In 1995 the Trust received further substantial funding from the National Lottery enabling us to complete the development project. With our own specially designed structure we plan to take the festival to sites in other parts of London, and beyond, so reaching even more new audiences for Contemporary Music.
1984 First festival; Circle, Harry
Sparnaay, first Tube Sculpture performance, Melvyn Poore,
Yoshikazu Iwamoto, Vocem and Tape Programmes presented by
Denis Smalley, Stephen Montague, Richard Orton and the
Festival Organisers 1985 Nicholas Wilson, Music
Projects/London, Tristram Cary 60th Birthday, Philip Mead
(London premiere of Stockhausen Piano Piece XII), Barry Guy
and Derek Bailey, Hugh Davies and Hans-Karsten Raecke, the
first Electroacoustic Cabaret 1986 Lysis, Pierre-Yves Artaud,
JohnWallace and Evelyn Glennie, District Six, Alan
Tomlinson, Electroacoustic Cabaret 1987 Mike Westbrook's 'The Dance Band',
Hans-Karsten Raecke, Roger Heaton and Denis Smalley, Bow
Gamelan Ensemble, Metanoia, Electroacoustic Cabaret
(premiere of Lawrence Casserley's "The Unending
Rose") 1988 Vocem, The Recedents, Rolf
Gehlhaar, Harry Sparnaay, Jane's Minstrels (London debut),
Electroacoustic Cabaret's 'Carnival of Invented
Instruments' 1989 First festival in Colourscape;
Simon Desorgher's "Music of the Spheres" and "Chakras",
Electronic Focus, Yoshikazu Iwamoto, Lol Coxhill and Louise
Tomkin, Delta Saxophone Quartet, Lawrence Casserley's
"Labyrinth" 1990 Paul Goodey, Black and White Trio,
Alejandro Viñao, Jane's Minstrels, London Flutes,
ETC...., Lol Coxhill and Louise Tomkin, Bill Posters Will Be
Band 1991 Trevor Wishart, Electroacoustic
Cabaret, Nicola Walker Smith, Will Menter's 'Resonance',
Simon Desorgher's "Music of the Spheres" and Lawrence
Casserley's "Los Hijos del Sol", Inanna, Harmony
Band 1992 Festival for Art and the
Environment; Emily Burridge, Sounds Positive, Jeff Higley,
Ayub Ogada, Huellas, Ricardo Gallardo, Paul Barker's "The
Return of Mullock", Hugh Davies and Max Eastley, George
Crumb's "Vox Balaenae" 1993 "Siwrnai - Odyssey of Light",
Melvyn Poore (premiere of Lawrence Cassetrley's "UbAtAbU"),
Ensemble Bash, Vocem, Sounds Positive Schools Project, Rolf
Gehlhaar, Jamboree with Edwin Roxburgh, Barry Guy, Vanessa
Mackness and Faceless Theatre Company 1994 LLorenç Barber, Melvyn
Poore's "Happily Ever After", Smith Quartet, Lip Lap Lop
Lup, Matthew King's "The Snow Queen", Barnaby Oliver and
Andy Visser "...a few of our favourite things...", Barry
Anderson Tribute 1995 Inauguration of new Colourscape
Performance Sculpture; Srawånå Gamelan and
Kenneth Tharp Dancers, Richard Durrant, Elinor Bennet, Jenny
Roditi Schools Project, Michel Waisvisz, LJCO 25th
Anniversary - Barry Guy's "Gaia" 1996 Croydon Festival; LLorenç
Barber's City Symphony "The Grand Design", Richard Durrant
(premiere of Lawrence Casserley's "The Garden of Forking
Paths"), Simone Rebello, Melvyn Poore's "Happily Ever
After", Jamboree with Barry Guy, Alan Tomlinson, Vanessa
Mackness, Maya Homburger, Simon Desorgher and Lawrence
Casserley Clapham Festival; Mark Latham,
Alan Tomlinson, Ensemble Bash, Johannes Bergmark,
Hans-Karsten Raecke, Orbestra, Electric Tubes 1997 Anglo-Spanish Weekend: Kreutzer
Quartet, Marco Socías, Carol Morgan, Drake Music
Project, Evan Parker and Lawrence Casserley, Sounds Positive
Education Project, Brian Wilshere "Lost in Corridors of
Colour" 1998 New festivals in York and Fenland
- Clapham features new project in outer London
boroughs. 1999 Tenth Anniversary festival on
Clapham Common - York and Fenland continue - Outer London
Colourscape Weekends in Croydon and Ealing - Bedford
Millenium Festival and Jeunesse Colourscape Festival in
Vienna 2000 New festival in Liverpool - Fenland and York continue -
Clapham features collaboration with Tanz Atelier Wien 2001 Festivals in Crystal Palace, Liverpool, Fenland, York and
Clapham - beginning of Regional Arts Lottery Programme
project to create more new Colourscape variations - York
festival features Lawrence Casserley's 60th birthday
celebrations
Jane Manning, OBE - Leading Contemporary Soprano, founder of Jane's Minstrels and indefatigable campaigner for British music.
Edwin Roxburgh - Composer, Conductor, Oboist, Professor and Adviser for Twentieth Century Music at the Royal College of Music.
David Elliot - Local Lambeth arts promoter, organiser of the Lambeth Orchestra and experienced administrator.
Simon Emmerson - Composer and Director of the Electroacoustic Music Studios at City University, London.
Anthony Burton - BC Producer and supporter of contemporary music.
Lawrence Casserley - Composer and Performer of Electroacoustic Music, formerly Professor and Adviser for Electroacoustic Music at the Royal College of Music, developer of Electroacoustic Performance Instruments.
Simon Desorgher - Composer and Flautist, South London music teacher and musical entrepreneur.
Jean Sharkey - Experienced Local Government Arts Officer and former London Borough of Lambeth liaison to the festival.
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