| Escape Artists | In Summer 2003, Escape Artists was commissioned by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Mental Health Care NHS Partnership to map local provision of the Arts for mental health service users. The research showed a lack of such facilities due to the resources available, and a huge demand for music based projects in particular, so The Cambridge Cantata was born: a long term series of workshops exploring the creative potential of local mental health service users and community groups culminating in a final performance at Kings College Chapel, Cambridge, bringing together musicians, community groups and concert goers. Escape Artists, based in Cambridge, works through the arts to break down barriers and encourage social inclusion and empowerment across many marginalised groups. |
| "I've always had a strong affinity with Cambridge, both through my own life and my time with Syd. His was an immense talent cut cruelly short." | | Roger Waters on his new role as an Escape Artists patron |
Cambridge Cantata is a celebration of the city’s people, life and culture, through the language of music. Escape Artists, a local theatre company and the driving force behind Cambridge Cantata, will present the song of the city in September, where it will receive its world premiere in a musical extravaganza in the stunning surrounds of King’s College Chapel.
 | | Cambridge Cantata |
The concert, which took the city as its inspiration, draws influence from a variety of different music – from the warmth of renaissance to the swing of blues and rock. Cambridge Cantata was produced through a pioneering music project, created in response to commissioned research that Escape Artists carried out within the local Mental Health Service. Composer / Animateur Simon Gunton, with a team of professional musicians, delivered a series of artistic workshops with local MHS users, exploring and unlocking participant’s creative potential with very positive results. Simon Gunton was involved in the music for all of the Lord of The Rings and Harry Potter films – he also put together the children’s band for the recent remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The evening will feature an array of music and styles including the Boy’s Choir of King’s College Chapel singing classic Pink Floyd rock songs. Cambridge Cantata (or Song of Cambridge) offers a fusion of sound both classic and contemporary, whilst exploring Cambridge’s fascinating history; from the building of the chapel itself hundreds of years ago, to the poignant issues of a modern city. Some of the Highlights include... Edi Bei Thu Heavenly Queen A spiritual from 13th century Renaissance England. This piece is quite special, as such little secular music survived from that era. Huesca The Long Road to Huesca was written by late poet John Cornford, a student at Trinity College Cambridge, to his fiancé while fighting in the Spanish civil war in 1937. This poignant poem has been adapted to a song and, remarkably, will be sung by the niece of Cornford’s loved one, Kate Williams. Grantchester Meadows Originally by Pink Floyd legend and patron of the Cantata Roger Waters, has been specially re-worked by Simon Gunton evoking the quiet paradise of the Cambridge Meadows on a summer afternoon.
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