Coventry City of Culture: Finale of Signature Event revealed
Multiple pieces of music will play simultaneously, at 20:21 next Saturday
Last updated 27th May 2021
The people of Coventry are being invited to join together and play their part in the final moment of Coventry Moves – the signature event for the year as UK City of Culture.
It will begin at 20:21, and is called Coventry Moves Together.
It's hoped the whole city will form an orchestra – simply by tuning into one of the stream.
The track has been split into multiple streams and will come together as a full piece of music. It includes the voices of Coventry schoolchildren.
Composer and sound artist Dan Jones, who has worked in film and on other major commissions for UK City of Culture 2017 and Paralympic Games, has created this.
The piece has been inspired by the legendary Coventry-born composer and mathematician, Delia Derbyshire.
It is being implemented with the support and collaboration of local businesses and services such as libraries, faith groups, retail units, hotels, supermarkets, music venues, charities, transport networks and police, ambulance and fire services, which will join with the whole city in broadcasting one of the streams.
The aim is to reach 350,000 individuals from all communities on their own doorsteps, in their gardens and at workplaces across the city. The piece will later be shared with the rest of the world through broadcast and online – but only after it has premiered on the doorsteps of Coventry.
Over the course of the last two months, Dan Jones worked with pupils at local primary schools to record contributions that will take centre stage in the piece. The work will build towards an ecstatic crescendo and final fanfare that brings with it the spirit of optimism and welcomes a future full of possibilities.
Dan said:
“We are turning Coventry and its radio stations into a giant surround sound system brought together by the people of Coventry using every sound source they can lay their hands on; car stereos, phones, TVs, radios and more.
The more people who participate, the more magical the effect will become as the tunes and sounds echo from one device to another, as if between different players in an orchestra.
It’s a reflection of the idea of community itself - our reliance on each other in good times and tough.
Most of all, thanks to the participation of the kids, it’s a herald of our future together, and all the promise that holds."
Chenine Bhathena, Creative Director of the Coventry City of Culture Trust, said:
“We are delighted to reveal Coventry Moves Together, the finale to an audacious day full of extraordinary surprises around the city.
Conceived entirely during lockdown, Coventry Moves Together will mark a historic moment of shared experience, enabling the entire community to move as one and welcoming in the city’s year as UK City of Culture.
“We want every person in every community to be able to take part in this incredible moment for Coventry and to start talking to their neighbours now about how they might share this special moment in a safe way.”
Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.