The Hallé orchestra and Manchester-based recording studio and YouTube music platform Low Four have released four new short films documenting an ambitious collaborative project with emerging artists from across the city.

 

The four films are available now on Low Four and Hallé YouTube channels:

 

 

Electro-soul singer Ellen Beth Abdi, producer glue70, jazz-infused electronic band Elf Traps, and alt-pop duo Jemma Freese & Jennifer Walinetski were selected to take part. Each artist was invited to compose, arrange and record two new tracks with the world-renowned Hallé orchestra. All four videos are available now on the Low Four and Hallé YouTube channels.

Former Hallé Youth Choir member Ellen Beth Abdi described the experience as “a dream come true and a real full-circle moment.” Abdi re-imagined Thickskinpeel from her debut album, adding tuned percussion, bassoon, cor anglais and clarinet to her existing band. She also reunited with the Hallé Youth Choir on a previously new choral track, Morpion. Hallé Youth Choir Director Stuart Overington, whom also taught Ellen when she was in the choir said: “It has been wonderful to showcase such a talented alumni like Ellen, and to also open the eyes of our fifteen and sixteen-year olds to what could be possible for them.”

Supported by the PRS Foundation, Low Four produced the four films and led the artist-selection process. Low Four Co-Director Dan Parrott said: “Working with classical musicians of this calibre is often out of reach for independent artists, and to collaborate with one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious orchestras is a dream come true for many.” Hallé violist Chris Emerson added: “It has been far from one-way. This has been an incredible opportunity for us to work on something so different from our day job.”

Electronic producer glue70 (Conor Miller), whose music has amassed millions of streams, described the process as unlike anything he had done before: “Looking at each person playing each part, trying to dissect it and then put it back together as a full arrangement, it is just insane.” Chris Emerson supported his orchestration: “For the first track we reorchestrated a piece he had already released. The second one was a brand-new composition. He just became a composer.”

Jazz-electronic duo Elf Traps, drummer Rob Turner and keyboardist Liviu Gheorghe, reflected on navigating the space between classical precision and jazz freedom. “Improvised and classical music can be chalk and cheese, but it is also a good exercise to try and find the middle ground.”

Again, learning flowed both ways. Hallé percussionist Dave Hext, who worked with both Ellen Beth Abdi and Elf Traps, laughed: “It must be quite unnerving working with people who are so inflexible in a way, because we are so used to playing to a beat and not improvising at all.” Recently retired bass clarinettist Jim Muirhead added: “When you work with a great drummer like Rob [Turner] and all the intricate cross rhythms he can generate, it is very exciting.”

Alt-pop duo Jemma Freese & Jennifer Walinetski revisited two tracks from their studio album. Both musicians frequently arrange in music software Sibelius using MIDI mock-ups, but hearing their work played by the Hallé was transformative. Walinetski said: “You hear it through Sibelius a million times, but it is never going to compete. Hearing it played live for the first time, it was just like – wow, this is cool!”