Deborah Shaw (artist Aurora Engine) is set to premiere a powerful new work celebrating Railway200, exploring rail history through music while amplifying voices often unheard.
The composition explores sounds of the railways, whilst reimagining stories of trains, industry and voices within railway communities with a particular focus on the North East.
The work – featuring song, harp, Tesseris string quartet and collected sounds from railway environments – will tour County Durham venues in partnership with the Stockton and Darlington Railway 26miles Heritage Project, funded by the National Heritage Lottery Fund.
The concerts will head to Shildon Locomotion Museum and Newcastle’s Victoria Tunnel (Ouseburn Trust), as well as local schools, care homes and heritage site Tanfield Railway.
The Shildon Locomotion performance will take place on November 29 and is free to attend. Thornhill Primary, St Johns Primary and Holly Lodge Care Home are also stops on the tour.
The music itself echoes the rhythms and sounds of locomotives, and pays tribute to local engineers Timothy Hackworth and George Stephenson. It explores the impact of engines on us, and the environment, past and present, as well as exploring human stories of camaraderie, work, friendship and redundancy.
Deborah is asking the public to engage with a call out for train sounds supported by Shildon Locomotion Museum and train celebrity Tim Dunn. The public are invited to upload rail sounds recorded on their phone. You can upload sounds here at www.auroraengine.com/upload.
South West Durham News covering news across County Durham.
